Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee 0 / good faith .

NOTICE OF MOTION AS TO THE ELECTION OP SECRETARY .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAU SIR AND BROTHER , —I find from your last publication that Bro . J . A . Birch has given notice of motion , to be brought before tho next Committee Meeting of the Boys' School , giving , in effect , tho privilege of voting by proxy to tho duly qualified subscribers of the Institutions .

Now , I should like to know when the right of a member of the General Committee to vote by proxy ceased to exist ? for , on reference to my old " Freemason ' s Magazines , " I find a few records , from which I give extracts below , showing undoubtedly that this privilego has

existed for a very long period ; and for the life of me I cannot seo why the power to do so has been abrogated , unless on tho occasion of election of the Chief Executive Officer of the Institution some gross abuse has taken place , ancl tho offenders and their successors disfranchised , liko some of the rotten boroughs , for their peccadilloes .

Extract from Freemason ' s Magazine , August 1793 . Royal Cumberland Freemason ' s School for Female Children on Qualification of Governors . IXth Clause . Thafc every nobleman , member of Parliament , Lady , Master of a country Lodge and Governor not residing within the Bills of Mortality shall have a right to vote by proxy at all ballots and elections .

£ 1 Is per annum constitutes a Governor so long as he contributes thafc sum . £ 10 10 s per anuum constitutes a Governor for Life ancl Member of the General Committee . £ 1 Is contributed annually by a Lodge constitutes a Governor during subscription ; and a further sum of £ 10 10 s within tho space of ten years , to bo a Governor and Member of the General Court so

long as Lodge exists . The Governor to havo a right to vote afc all General and Special Courts . Later , mid nearer my own timo , I find in the " Masonic Review , " 1841 , that at a Special Meeting , llth February , the office of Treasurer of the Boys' School was declared vacant ; at another Special Meeting , dated 22 nd February in the same year , it is

recorded—Brother WILLIAM HARRISON Grand Registrar in the Chair . A discussion arose on the reception oi proxies , which was opposed by Bro . Kowe , as calculated to influence tho election by votes of Governors , who gave from solicitation what they might withhold if present * and further , that there had not been timo for a vasfc body of tho subscribers to know oven of tho vacancy .

The Chairman , iu reply , stated that tho voting by proxy was tho safer mode , as it prevented the meeting being packed . Mr . llodbear pointed out the absolute necessity there was , according to the bye-laws , for the votes by proxy being taken , to which Dr . Crnccfix hesitated , but assented on being informed by the Secretary that on his { the Secretary ' s ' ) election proxies were admitted .

Also afc a General Court 12 th July 1841—Brother RODUEAR in tho Chair . Tbe word " children " being omitted in the 36 th Rule , Governors and Subscribers generally may vote by proxy at all elections . And further , in tho samo

publication—Girls School General Committee , 29 th July 1811 . Election of Secretary . Present about one hundred ancl fifty subscribers . The Provincial Grand Master for Sumatra in the Chair . The ballot commenced at twelve o ' clock and closed at two , when thero appeared

for—Brother Crew 122 Brother Patten 80 Majority in favour of Brother Crew ... 36 * * Tho numbers polled were 208 , but of theso were probably fifty proxies , chiefly from ladies . I am not in possession of any later particulars of Election of

Secretaries beyond one recorded iu the " Freemason ' s Magazine " for 8 th Juno 1861 . The election of Secretary to each of these Institutions took place at the Freemasons' Tavern , when Bro . E . II . Patten P . G . S . B . was elected as Secretary to the Girls' School , and Bro . Binckes Secretary to the Boys' School .

We all know , however , that Bro . E . Wentworth Little succeeded Bro . Patten as Secretary to tho Girls' School , aud on the occasion of his lamented decease I , along with many other brethren , was compelled to travel , when not iu the best of health , nearly 200 miles , and put to considerable expense thereby , in order to record my vote on

behalf of tho brother 1 thought at thafc time best suited to fulfil the duties of tho office Brethren who had contributed liberally according to their respective means and station in life then complained strongly at the unfair position in which they were placed , and friends of another of the

Correspondence.

candidates , who had como from tbe South , also expressed dissatisfao . tion on the question . If it was proper in 1793 ancl 18 H to confer this privilege , and brethren could be entrusted with it , surely we havo not so retrograded as to deserve virtual disfranchisement in this manner . The fact is ,

London brethren are unnecessarily susceptible as to the influence of their country fraters , as I think if a vacancy was to occur to . morrow they would continue , as metropolitan brethren , to have great influence in tho selection of the official , and by giving tho old privilege to the country brethren tho latter would feol thoy wero properly treated , and the former would come to no harm .

Yours fraternally , G . P . BROCKIUNK , Bolton , 15 th September 1879 .

A MASONIC MEDICAL CHARITY .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . SIR , —I so entirely concur in your editorial remarks upou the proposal of a P . M . to make " Freemasonry applicable to the wants of tho outer world , by affording assistance and relief" in times of sickness and suffering amongst the lower classes of humanity , that I am tempted to ask yon to permit me to occupy a small portion

of your valuable space with a few general observations on tho question of medical relief . I trust ifc will be understood , that in saying what ; I have to say on charitable relief in times of sickness , that I have nofc the least desire to see a bridle put upon charity , but I do most sincerely wish to seo a check put upon the vice of eleemosynary indiscriminating charity . I quite agree with "A P . M . " that our

Eoyal Masonio Institutions—for educational and other purposes to which they are devoted—are institutions that Masons may well be proud of , but I should greatly regret to see our charity extended in the direction he proposes , or have it supposed that Freemasonry is neither more nor less than a huge " benefit society , " or that Freemasons desire to run-a-mnck " with tho outside world " in minis .

tering to " all tho ills that flesh is heir to . " When , however , it is known to the brethren that in so doing thoy would but increase the evils with which gratuitous medical relief is at present surrounded , I feel sure this will not be the case . First , with reference to "A P . M . 's " proposal to add a new wing to the Eoyal Free Hospital ; this our brother will I am sure bo glad to hear has been done quite recently

by the bountiful liberality of the public , whence all good things of the kind should emanate . The additional number of beds provided have not been occupied , aud he may take it from me as a fact that the central part of this great city is already amply provided with hospital accommodation—is , indeed , said to be over-hospitaled—nofc more than one-half the beds of St . Thomas ' s Hospital are afc present

occupied , aud the actual proportionate number of the other eight large hospitals supported by voluntary contributions , as I gather from their aunual reports , must be set down as nofc exceeding three-fifths of the whole . The explanation of this probably is , that only fit and proper cases ( accidents and emergencies at all times excepted ) are admitted , after careful investigation has been made into each case .

In the out-patients' departments tho reverse holds good ; bore wo find a very plethora of miscellaneous cases , all-comers obtaining without stint any amount of indiscriminate charitable relief . Here then , our good brother will say , is an outlet for charitable help , and if a new wing is not required at tho hospital let us have " a Masonic Dispensary added to the existing Charities of the Order , "

and we shall be showing to tho outer world , " a general desire to diffuse our charity . " But here I would ask him to pause , and look a little deeper into the mysteries of the out-patient growth of the hospitals and dispensaries . It is only about half a century ago thafc out-patients' departments sprang up in connection with hospitals . In 1830 eight of the principal hospitals , St . Bartholomew ' s , St . Thomas ' s ,

Guy ' s , tho London , Middlesex , St . George ' s , Charing Cross , Westminster , Eoyal Ophthalmic , and tho Hospital for Diseases of the Chest , relieved together 46 , 435 ont-patients . In 1869 , the number rose to 277 , 891 . During that period , 39 years , the population of the metropolis had only rather more than doubled , whilst the attendances at these eight hospitals had increased more than five-fold . But it

will make the rate of increase still more apparent if I mention that at the same eight hospitals thero wero in 1870 , 43 , 368 more out-patients than in 1869 . Theso eight hospitals I have chosen simply because they were in operation in 1830 . If I had been minded to select examples in which the increase from 1869 to 1870 had been greatest , I might have made

my figures more telling , and if I had carried them on to a still later date , I might havo shown that St . Bartholomew ' s alone relieved 137 , 000 cases last year , a number about equal to one-half of the whole of those relieved by the eight hospitals * enumerated in 18 G 9 . Suffice it to say that , in round numbers , at the present time it is fairly estimated that ono out of every four persons of the whole

population of London , receive gratuitous medical relief . The enormous nnmberof one million ont of tho four million inhabitants , ancl this , bo it remembered , is quite irrespective of an especial provision made at the cost of the ratepayers to provide for the sick poor , and mostly of the pauper class , —with tho exception of thoso suffering from infectious diseases , —at a very considerable outlay . During the last fifteen

years , the various parishes havo built and provided I know nofc how many dispensaries and palatial hospitals for the really indigent poor , where they may at all times and seasons obtain the best medical aud surgical advice as a matter of right , and simply by asking for it . To what cause , then , must wo attribute the rapid and unhealthy

growth of the out-pationt departments ? simply to a desire on the part of hospital managers to outbid each other in touting for public support . Hospital authorities believe that an appeal , couched upon the thousands of patients relieved , will be more successful to extract money from the pockets of the benevolent than it otherwise