Resumption Of Labour.

the contrary , by extending the privileges of Freemasonry to all applicants indiscriminately , we run a good chance of lowering its character . A third point on which it is desirable we shonld offer a few remarks is , that of the expenditure of Lodge Fnnds . ¦

We are not of those who think the expenditure of every shilling should be narrowly scanned , but the distance between niggardliness and a lavish expenditure of money is very considerable . Seeing that one of the chief objects of Freemasonry is the promotion of good fellowship , there

is every reason wh y the members of a Lodge , when they have accomplished the labours of the evening , shonld devote a few hours to enjoyment round the festive board ; but this can be done at a moderate cost quite as well as by an extravagant outlay . It is no doubt a very fine thing to sit down

to banquets at a guinea or more a head , but we question if half of those who partake of them would not prefer a quieter and leas showy kind of " feed . " They could have " the feast of reason and the flow of soul" all the same , and the Lodge Funds would be all the bettor . Or , in cases

where each member pays his share of the outlay , let the older ones do all they possibly can to discourage extravagance . The Lodge will prosper none the more because its members discuss periodically a costly array of viands , and still more costly wines , while the less pretentious

dinner will enable it to be more liberal in its support of our Institutions . And this brings us to the fourth and last point on which we feel it is desirable to offer a few words of advice . Our Charities have increased in magnitude durinothese latter years , -while the demands on their resources

have increased likewise . They depend almost entirel y for support on the voluntary subscriptions of the brethren , and the amount which must be raised annually in order to keep them in their present state of efficiency represents not far short of the interest on a million of Government Stock .

We have had an instance this year of the effect which a depressed state of public affairs must have on the amounts raised at the Festivals of these Institutions , for though the aggregate of the three amounts is eminently satisfactory when we compare them with the totals subscribed as

recently as four or five years ago , still there was a very considerable falling-off as compared with the results achieved in 1877 , when over £ 35 , 000 was collected by the Boards of Stewards , while this year the amount is under £ 30 , 000 . Yet the number who are in receipt of the benefits

of these contributions is greater than ever , and the need for a more liberal support is proportionately increased . We all know how hard the Secretaries work , aud how they go everywhere and do everything they can to secure subscriptions , but we fear there are not a few Lodges who

might be a great deal more responsive than they aro , while in the case of others no response whatever is made , be the appeals never so urgent . Here , then , is ample room for improvement , and we trust that as our Lodges are now

resuming their duties , Worshipful Masters and other brethren of influence will exert themselves still more energetically in advocating the cause of these Institutions . They will never have reason to repent them of their zeal in such a cause .

Adjournment Of Lodges.

ADJOURNMENT OF LODGES .

WE promised in our report of a meeting of the Lodge of Goodwill , No . 711 , Port Elizabeth , Cape of Good Hope , to offer a few remarks on the practice which is apparently of occasional , if not of . common , occurrence , of calling off the Lodge for refreshment and completing the

tale of business set down for the gathering on the day following ; or in other words of adjourning the Lodge for twenty-four hours , when the agenda paper is too heavy

to allow of all the business being got through at one sitting . The subject has been noticed in these columns once before , and we believe there is little doubt whatever

that this adjournment of a Lodge cannot be justified . As was pointed out at the time of our former reference , a Lodge can only be adjourned till the time of its next regular meeting , and there is , fortunately , a precedent which

settles the question . At the Quarterl y Communication of Grand Lodge held on 3 rd September 185 G , it being found impossible to transact the whole of the business , a motion adjourning Grand Lodge to the 1 st October was proposed and carried , and on the latter day the brethren met together

Adjournment Of Lodges.

as arranged . However , it was argued by many of those present that any such adjournment was illegal . No settlement of the disputed point was then arrived at , but on the question being referred to the late Earl of Zetland , his Lordship convened a Grand Lodge of Emergency for

19 th November , and gave his decision in the following terms . " It appears that at the September Quarterly Communication the Grand Lodge passed a resolution of adjournment to the 1 st of October , which , I am decidedly of opinion , was an unprecedented and illegal act ; and

consequently whatever proceedings took place at suoh adjouimed meeting are null and void . In looking over the minutes of Grand Lodge , it appears to me that the phrase to adjourn , when used with respect to Grand Lodge , is precisely analagous to its application to the House of

Commons . In that House the question is 'That the House do now adjourn , ' which only moans imtil the next legal day of meeting , and it is adjourned accordingly to that day and no other . In like manner , when the Grand Lodge adjourns , it adjourns to the next Quarterly

Communication , and to no intermediate time . I am prepared to stand by my own decision on this point , that when Grand Lodge adjourns , it adjourns to the next legal day , unless a Grand Lodge of Emergenoy be called , at which no business can bo transacted except such as appears upon

the circular by which it is convened . ' The above will be found at pp 812-313 of Oliver ' s Masonio Jurisprudence , and may be taken as our guide for the conduct of private Lodges . The Bye-laws of a Lodge specify the days on which it meets , and when the Lodge is adjourned ,

it must , in accordance with the law as laid down by the late Grand Master , stand adjourned to " the next legal day of meeting" and no other . But in the case , as reported by ns last week , the Lodge was " called off , " the announcement in the summons to members to attend containing the following

announcement : — " The Lodge will be called off , and labour resumed at 7 . 30 p . m ., on Wednesday , the 7 th "—the meeting was on the 6 th— " when those candidates who have been accepted will be initiated into Freemasonry . " It may be that , in our colonies , there are few , if any , facilities for

assembling together , and consequently we must not expect the law to be administered with that exactitude which we look for at home : but it would be rather unpleasant for the candidates , who were initiated at the adjourned meeting , if tho legality of their initiation were called in question at

some future time . According to Grand Lodge Calendar , the first Tuesday in the month is the appointed day for the Lodge of Goodwill to meet ; therefore the " calling-off" till the following evening was certainly an irregularity , which ,

in the opinion of the late Grand Master , Lord Zetland , nothing could justify . Nor , as far as we can see , was there any necessity for doing what was done . An emergency meeting could have been called for the 7 th ( Wednesday ) , and certain business set down for transaction at that

meeting . By this means , the law would have been observed , and no question affecting the validity of the gentlemen ' s initiation could possibly be raised . What we are anxious

to impress on our readers is , that it is desirable the laws should be administered as correctly and carefully as possible , instead of with an easy , good-natured laxity , as is too often the case in some Lodges .

Committee Meeting Of The Girls' School.

COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE GIRLS ' SCHOOL .

THE General Committee of the Subscribers to tho Royal Masonic Institution for Girls' met on Thnrsday , at Freemasons' Hall . Bro . J . A . Rucker presided . Thero were also present Bros . B . II . Finney , H . Hacker , Walter Sowdon , A . II . Tattersha ' . l , Joshua Nunn , E . Letchworth , H . Massey , Thos . W . White , John Boyd , Thomas Berdwin , H . A . Dubois , R . B . Webster , G . Faulkner ,

H . Potter , and F . R . W . Hedges Secretary . The chairman reported the death of Bro . C . Jardine , who was lost in tho Princess Alice . Bro . Nunn moved that a letter of condolence bo written to Bro . Jardine's widow and family , and informed the brethren that the death of Bro . Jardine was really a serious loss , for ho bad left nine children , only one of whom was earning remuneration , and that was barely sufficient to keep him . The motion , which wa 3

seconded by Bro . Thomas W . White , was carried nnanimonsly . On the recommendatien of the House Committee , Bro . Nunn gave notice of a motion for the Quarterly Court to suspend the laws of tho Institution so as to place ono of Bro . Jardine's little girls on the October list . Bro . Nunn likewise gave notice of motion for the Quarterly Conrt in October to increase Col . Creatoh ' s Com . mittce for altering the laws from five to nine members .