Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Yorkshire.

item I would only ask Treasurers if they have diligently and consoienoiously used every effort to prevent brethren from falling into arrears . I have often impressed them with the necessity and the duty of asking for payment of subscriptions early in the financial year ; it is the only way in which a condition of affairs which is , to say the last of it , discreditable to us , can in the future , be prevented .

Then , as to annnal returns . Let me remiud , or if necessary , inform AVorshipf ul Masters that on the 1 st December in eaoh year , the Secretary of every Lodge is supplied with the forms both for this Province and for London , with speoial envolopos for each set . The forms for Provincial Grand Lodge returns , I may also say , are carefully written out by our Provincial Grand Secretary , in order to

secure aocnraoy . This must be a material and valuablo help to Lodge Secretaries ; notwithstanding this it is yet the fact that , at the expiration of the fixed limit , viz ., 31 st January of this year , 22 Lodges have neglected this simple duty ; and in some instances it took many days and much correspondence to obtain the returns . This should not be , and indeed would not be , if only Worshipful

Masters would read and carry out Provincial bye-law 46 , and otherwise fully aoquaint themselves with the duties and responsibilities of the office tbey were elected to fill . One of the first duties of a Worshipful Master , for instance , after investing hia Officers , should be to sign the return of Past Masters and Wardens , a return which should have been previously prepared by the outgoing Secretary , and

see that it is sent off by post the following day . Changing every year , how few Worshipful Masters know this or act upon it . AgaiD . This same bye-law 46 declares that a copy of every Lodge summons should , month by month , be sent to the Provincial Grand Secretary . If this is neglected , and there can be no excuse for Secretaries , as printed addressed envelopes are supplied for the

purpose , information of the work and the progress of the Lodge is withheld , and particulars which havo been found most valuable in supplementing or conlirming defective or doubtful returns are kept back from the office , and thus inquiry , correspondence , and expense are caused which might othorwise be avoided . Unless Masters of Lodges take a personal interest in these things

it is impossible that the organisation of the Province can be maintained at its proper standard . Though the matter is so simple and the trouble so slight , yet year by year the neglect continues . Then , as to quarterages , the Law distinctly says " 6 d per quarter or any portion thereof . " Yet it frequently happens when an initiation takes place towards the end of a quarter , the necessary 6 d is not paid ,

costing a letter' and postage to obtain what is legally due . Let me also remind Worshipful Masters that an interval of twenty-eight days must intervene between an initiation and a passing , or bet wee a a passing and a raising , and no dispensation can shorten that interval . In respect to the necessary inquiry ( bye-laws 30 and 31 ) in the

case of candidates for initiation or joining , there seems to bo some laxity . The law is very clear and precise , and states that in the oase of a candidate seeking admission to the Craft , or wishing to enter a Lodge as a joining member , iuqniry shall be made of the Lodges in the town from whioh the candidate comes , and proper printed forms are provided for that purpose , which may be obtained

of the Provincial Grand Secretary at a nominal cost . Through the publicity given to acoounts of Lodge meetings in other than Masonic papers the outside world knows more of our proceedings than is at all necessary or expedient , and many are doubtless attracted to our ranks by the advantages which they think

they can thereby obtain . I would therefore say suffer no reports of your Lodge gatherings to appear in non-Masonic papers ; and when it becomes necessary to make inquiry as to any one from another town wishing to join you , seo that such inquiry is fully aud amply made , and , if there is a doubt , then give , not the candidate , but the Craft , the benefit of that donbt .

Where a Lodge is not progressing , or is not in affluent circumstances , there is perhaps a temptation to lightly interpret this Jaw ; but it should be remembered that by admitting an unworthy member though it may be a temporary gain to the Lodge in question , it is a permanent and serious injury to the whole Craft . After what I said at Leeds in April , and at Bradford in October of

last year , on the subject of exclusions , it is not necessary I should add anything to-day . I have reason to hope that those words were not without effect , and the time is nob far distant , I trust , when there will exist TO Lodge in this Province to whioh such remarks can havo any possible application .

Brethren , it is not my intention to trespass upon the ground of tha Chairman of our Charity Committee , bat I venture to state that out three Masonic Institutions aro in a flourishing condition . Last year we largely concentrated our donations on behalf of the " Old People , " and purchased the " Thomas William Tew Presentation " for Mon

at a coat of £ 1 , 155 . This year we propose to give our chief support to the Girls' School , and . as Treasurer of that noble Institution , I am glad to hear that no less a sum than 1 , 100 guineas has been already subscribed and mainly paid , and the votes used for the election last week .

This being onr annual meeting , it is my pleasing duty to confer Provincial rank upon sundry deserving brethren . But the pleasure is largely discounted by its extreme difficulty . When I tell yon that our Bight Worshipful Prov . Grand Master has on his list upwards of 200 selected brethren , every one of whom ho would , if he could , thns honour , and that ho has only 24 collars at hia disposal , you may form some slight idea how bard is the task imposed upon him . It is true

it is four more than formerly , owing to the new regulations ; but what are these amongst so many deserving brethren ? I can only ask you to believe that we have done our best , and can assure you that I , knowing their merits , feel as keenly as themselves the disappointment of those whom the exigencies of onr Provincial Grand Master's position have compelled him to pass over . I cannot close my remarks without offering my hearty thanks to the W . M . ' s , P . M . ' fl and Brethren of the three WakefieW Lodges for

the excellent arrangements tbey have made for our comfort aud convenience to-day . Wakefield has long boon a nursing mother of Freemasonry . Within its precincts there is one of the oldest existing West Yorkshire Lodges ; and we cannot forget that this city was the original cradle and home of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West

Yorkshire as at present constituted . To the Wakefield Masoas , distinguished as they aro by their brotherly concord , their genert aa hospitality , and their ardcat zeal in all that concerns the b ; at interests of the Craft , our gratitnde is due , not for our present visit

only , but for many pleasant sojourns which we have on previous occasions made amongst them . In my own name , and in that of my Officers , I thank yon also , Brethren , for your cordial salutations , and for your kindness and patienoe in listening to this my address .

The address , which was most impressively delivered , was followed with the closest interest , and called forth many expressions of sympathy from a most attentive audience .

The acting Provincial Grand Master then called upon Bro . T . Bateman Fox P . M . 208 , Chairman of the West Yorkshire Charity Committee , to present his Report . Previous to doing so , Bro . Pox claimed the indulgence of the Brethren in order to make a few preliminary remarks . He

said—BRETHREN , —We have listened with great interest to onr worthy Deputy ' s most excellent address , and we heartily endorse every word he has said in relation to our beloved Provincial Grand Master , Bro . Thomas William Tew . We have clang to the hope that for some time at least we should

nob lose our distinguished chief—that we should see him again in our midst—that we should be cheered by his genial presence , and enlightened by his wisdom . It haa pleased the Great Architect of the Universe to order otherwise , and we oan only submissively bow to that decree .

It would not become me to take np your time in the attempt to add to the eloquent euloginm whioh Bro . Henry Smith has pronounced upon our excellent Provincial Grand Master ; I will only say that in my humble opinion it is not one whit too strong , and I will venture to add that wherever and whenever West Yorkshire

Masons meet , the name of " Tew " will always be received with reveronce and respect . But if words of mine cannot add to or improve upon Bro . Henry Smith's judicious expressions , yet they may supply a deficiency with his characteristic modesty would have ignored .

Brethren , I want to remind yon that Bro . Henry Smith too haa left his mark upon Freemasonry in West Yorkshire . I want to point out to you that his has been a valuable and distinguished Masonic career—I might almost say unrivalled in our annals . I will go further , and assert that I do not think there is a man living whose

Masonic experience has been more extensive , or whose attention to the interests of the Craft has been more devoted . Bro . Henry Smith was initiated in the Hope Lodge , Bradford , in tho year 1852 , s > o that he is a Mason of 41 years' standing . That in itself is worth jf note , but it is by no means all . Previons to 1870 ,

ho rendered f , r ... t assistance to the then Provincial Grand Secretary , Bro . Richard Heed Nelson , and on his death in that year was appointed by the Earl de Grey and Bipon to succeed him . Wo all know , brethren , tho order , the method , the system , the business precision which exist in the office of the Provincial Grand Secretary

to-day ; that organization we owe entirely to Bro . Henry Smith . On his appointment he was able to see what our condition then was and what it might be made to become ; and his comprehensive grasp , his untiring application , his unceasing attention to and mastery of detail , havo resulted in our being perhaps the best organized

Masonic Province under the banner of the Grand Lodge of England . On the retirement of the Marquess of Ripon in 1875 , Sir Honry Edwards , his successor , recognising the oapaoity and zeal of the Provincial Grand Secretary , gladly retained his services , and down to 1885 Bro . Henry Smith most efficiently discharged the duties of that

office . For fifteen years he faithfully served this Province in that capacity . In 1885 , after the installation of our present Provincial Grand Master , amid the applause of the numerous brethren assembled at Leeds on that occasion , Brother Thomas William Tew made Brother

Henry Smith his Deputy Provincial Grand Master . Eight years he has held that office , and you , Brethren , know how well and ably he has done bis duty in that most responsible post . In 1887 he received Jubilee rank as Grand Deacon of England . Throughout all his Masonic career—41 years a Mason , 15 years

Provincial Grand Secretary , and 8 years Deputy—perhaps there is no portion in which Bro . Henry Smith has shown greater interest , or displayed more marvellous energy than in his connection with the Charity Committee of this Province . From its foundation , in 1859 , in which he took an active part ,

down to to-day , our worthy Deputy s zeal has never flagged . Always present at its meetings , never absent from the elections in London , active in securing new votes and in collecting and judiciously exercising existing ones—it is largely through his efforts that the work of our Charity Committee has resulted so successfallv , and that

we stand forth possessing a voting strength and an organisation second to none in the Craft . Out of consideration to Bro . Henry Smith , Brethren , I will Lot say more—I might call attention to his personal donations to cur Charities , and to the appreciation in whioh ho is held by the Managers

of oar Charitable Institutions , of one of which he holds the important office of Hon . Treasurer , and to other matters—but I am sure you will agree with me that if at the same time that we lose our Prov . Grand Master we are also to be deprived of the aervioes of our Deputy , leaa I could not have said , and I feel confident that