The Lodge Of Benevolence.

THE LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .

EROM our Report elsewhere of the proceedings of the Lodgo of Benevolence on Wednesday , ifc will be seen thafc the unuaually large number of fifty-six cases of distressed Masons , & c , & c , was submitted for the consideration of the brethren . Four of these were deferred , and

one was dismissed , while in the other fifty-one cases relief was voted , or grants were recommended to the extent of no less a sum than - £ 1 , 630 . As the number of applicants was about twice as large as it usually is , it is nofc surprising the aggregate of the grants and votes should be

proportionately great . We have frequently expressed our entire confidence in the wisdom and discretion of the body charged with the administration of the Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence . We are well satisfied that every case which is brought under its notice is most carefully inquired into ,

and that the amount of each vote is strictly in accord with the needs of the applicant . At this meeting , the Lodge sat for five hours and a quarter—a fact which fully bears out the opinion we have just expressed . Yet it is impossible to record this opinion

and the facts as they are stated elsewhere without experiencing some sort of feeling that the remarkable numerical increase in our ranks which has been made during the last few years is not entirely the subject of congratulation which many are inclined to believe ifc is .

All is nofc gold that glitters , and among the 10 , 000 initiates per annum of 1875-81 there must have been a very large number who could nofc have spoken the exact truth when they asserted , as they were bound to do , thafc it was with wholl y disinterested motives they sought

enrolment in our Fraternity . We are well aware there has been very serious depression in almost every branch of trade and commerce throughout the whole country for an unusually lengthened period , and ifc is in the order of things that Masons should have their share in the general

suffering as well as the rest of the community . Moreover , under the most favourable circumstances , increased strength must of necessity entail an increase in the demands made from time to time on the resources of Grand Lodge for the purposes of benevolence , as well as on those of our

Charitable Institutions . But when we have made every allowance for the inevitable , the vast amount of help of every kind that is being sought is hardly to be explained by existing circumstances . The number of those who are now on the strength of our several Institutions is quite fifty per cent , above what ifc was about the time -when the Prince of

Wales was installed G . Master . There is a capital sum of £ 50 , 000 available for the Fund of Benevolence , which the administrators very wisely refrain from trenching upon , and -will leave undiminished , except under the severest

pressure . A glance , however , at the Grand Lodge accounts will show that the Income of the Fund has latterly been insufficient to meet the heavy demands made upon ifc . Of course , when applications for help are made , they must be met to the fullest extent commensurate with their

respective merits . Ifc is no fault of the Lodge of Benevolence if the number of cases brought under its notice is excessive . Lodges , however , will do well to be more than

The Lodge Of Benevolence.

ever on the alert in respect of the admission of candidates . It is unnecessary to enlarge on the merits of Caution , that virtue which is so strongly impressed npon our attention at

the very threshold of our Masonic career . It is desirable , however , we should from time to timo remind our readers , in general terms , of tho groat necessity there is at all times , but more than ever now we have become so numerous a Society , that this said virtue of Caution shonld bo most scrupulously and religiously observed .

Benevolent Fund Of D.G.L. New South Wales.

BENEVOLENT FUND OF D . G . L . NEW SOUTH WALES .

ITS PROPOSED EXTENSION .

EROM the Reports of the Quarterly Communications of this District Grand Lodge , held at Freemasons ' Hall , Sydney , on Monday , 16 th May , and Monday , 15 th August , we are pleased to learn that the brethren in the colony working under the English Constitution are about taking steps to enlarge the sphere of operations of

their Fund of Benevolence , so as to be able " to extend permanent assistance to indigent Freemasons and their widows . " From the reports ifc would seem that the subject was mooted in District Grand Lodge in consequence of a proposal having been made that the brethren of the three

Constitutions ( English , Scotch , and Irish ) working in the colony should amalgamate in order to establish a system of Alms-houses , such proposal being considered in some quarters , as stated by Brother Elkington D . G . S . of Works ( E . G . ) , really for the purpose of making

room for some gentleman as Superintendent . He further pointed out , thafc in his opinion the brethren who had instituted the movement , who were themselves members of the English Constitution , had ignored the privileges of their District Grand Lodge , and

District Grand Master , in suggesting the amalgamation of three sections of Freemasons of the colony in the proposed undertaking . He considered thafc the English Constitution had no need for amalgamation , as was proved by the very satisfactory Balance Sheets set forth by

the District Grand Treasurer , and further considered it must be patent to all thinking brethren thafc the aid of any other Constitution outside their own could only be of a negative character . Bro . Elkington , who throughout his remarks on the subject appears to have been somewhat

warm , describes the original proposal as the action of a small section of disappointed and disaffected brethren , endeavouring to strike a blow at the rest of tho English Constitution in the Colony . Not being on the spot , or in possession of anything like full

particulars , we may perhaps err in our remarks , but we cannot help thinking thafc the speaker to whom we have referred has adopted a somewhat un-Masonic line of argument . Reviewing" the case it would seem that certain

brethren of New South Wales have suggested the establishment of a Masonic Asylum , or as they term it—system of Alms-houses—and naturally , we think—they have proposed to make the fund as cosmopolitan as possible . Hence they

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