The Recent Elections.

THE RECENT ELECTIONS .

THE two Elections which have just taken place in respect of our Masonic Schools , and the admittance of candidates to their great privileges , must suggest perforce certain considerations to thinking minds .

Bat before entering upon them , we think it right to add that in our opinion the present arrangement , with an intervening Sunday , entails some hardships and unreasonable expense on our Provincial brethren , and ought at

once to be rectified . We trust that the present joint deliberative Committee may hit upon some convenient and reasonable arrangement for all the subscribers , whether Metropolitan or Provincial . We must not shut

our eyes to a fact now patent , among many others , at these elections , namely , that the interest and influence of the Provinces are growing with giant strides , and that by the principle of voting combination , which even now is

apparently understood by few , and a mystery to many brethren in the Metropolis , the most remarkable results are yearly achieved , and are still more likely to be achieved in the future . Indeed , there is no limit to their realistic success .

Por as each succeeding year adds to their " voting force , " so each year reveals still more salient and striking proofs of their vigour , their harmony , and their unity of action ; their means of combination , and their " grand battalions " of numerical strength .

So that , whatever arrangement is ultimately arrived at , it seems to us the main point after all is the convenience of our Provincial voters , who from their zeal , energy , and activity deserve every modification which it is possible to afford , or be arranged for them .

A good deal is often said by persons who are run away with by "ideas" as to our Charity voting and our Charities as a whole , and complaints are made , very undeservedly we think , as to the system of election now

in vogue . But we believe that the most cynical and grumbling must agree in this , that our Elections are most fairly conducted , and that the candidates fully

deserve the great privileges they obtain , by the kindness and perseverance of their friends when elected into our admirable Charities .

It is impossible , of course , always to ascertain the fact , and secure the result abstractedly , that the absolutely most deserving candidate shall win in the struggle , for in the concrete such a " survival of the fittest" is impossible and unattainable .

So many considerations are involved in the abstract proposition , and so many qualifications and claims have to be weighed in the balance , that it becomes a matter of utter impossibility for us to arrive at a common standard and agreement on such a vexed question .

But this other fact we think we may fairly predicate with tolerable accuracy and certainty , that all proper candidates so elected are relatively , to their supporters , whether triumphant or not , the most deserving candidate .

Bro . Horace Brooks Marshall , at the Girls' School Election , mentioned the four last time cases , as on that ground most deserving of support ; and assuming that they were thoroughly fitting and legitimate

candidates , no doubt he was right in his appeal . We all of us , from election to election , regret the fact that many cases come up time after time without a chance or hope of success , and that many a first application ousts the last chance candidate entirely .

The Recent Elections.

But our experience in elections shews us this , that while in somo cases , where the utmost vigour , energy , and interest are exerted or displayed , there are other cases where , for somo occult reason or another , neither individual support nor local voting power seem to be aroused or evoked .

We all admit that there are necessarily " cases and cases , " bat some successes , as some rejections , are to ua inexplicable and unaccountable . Yet we may all feel pride in this fact and assurance ,

that no fairer elections ever take place , year by year , than our Masonic Elections iu April , May and October . Two curious points connected with our Elections deserve noting

before we conclude . One is the extraordinary number of vote abstentions ; the other is the carelessness of the conductors of elections , by which so many voting papers are rendered " null and void . "

The " errata " alluded to are generally the result of hurry and anxiety , sometimes , perhaps , the outcome of

inexperience . As to our non-voting friends , we hardly know what to say . We remember a good story of other years which seems to cap our climax well to-day .

" What have become or your Voting Papers r " Well , my dear fellow , I never read printed circulars or papers ; I have no doubt they were thrown into the waste-paper basket , and duly carried out and destroyed by a handy housemaid . "

Let us hope that our very good brother is now wiser in his generation , and duly preserves and carefully fills up his Masonic Voting Papers , often of inestimable value to > some deserving candidate .

"A Very Pretty Quarrel, As It Stands."

"A VERY PRETTY QUARREL , AS IT STANDS . "

11 HE majority of our readers have undoubtedl y perused the correspondence which has appeared at considerable length in recent issues of tbe FREEMASON ' CHBONIC LE , relative to the so-called vexed question of tho legitimate "Mother Lodgeship of America . " The subject is one to

which greater prominence has been given than some might consider warranted by the interest taken in it by the general body of Masons in thia country , or on the other

side of the Atlantic for the matter of that ; bufc our object , in giving publicity to fche many voluminous communications sent to us—and which continue to arrive— -waa purely to see if any new facts could be elucidated that

would be of help to the Masonic student and edifying to the ordinary , though perhaps not very deeply-read , observer . But throughout the piece there has been a vastly greater amount of cry than wool , and the

disputants remain in the position of men " constrained against their will , " who " are of the same opinion still . " In that interesting pose we feel we shall be compelled to allow

them to remain , at any rate until some of the temper and acerbity is eliminated from their effusions , some of which have been consigned nolens volens to the limbo of the waste-paper basket .

We have always regarded it as the prerogative , as well as the privilege , of the journalist to exercise with judicious firmness his censorship over matters submitted to the public through the columns of the paper over which , he

presides . It is almost unnecessary to repeat here that during