The Recent Festival Of The Girls' School.

though it was consecrated only a few months since . Comp . J . Derby Allcroft , Past Grand Treasurer , as Steward for the Aldersgate Chapter , No . 1 , 657 , raised £ 131 5 s , while Comp . H . B . Marshall , Grand Treasurer—though his namo figures among tho Middlesex Stewards—may bo mentioned

here as contributing 100 guineas in his character of representative of Chapter No . 1 , 777 . As to tho provinces , Essex appropriately headed the list with £ 1 , 000 , West Yorkshire being next with £ 900 . Kent raised over £ 561 ; Gloucestershire , £ 417 18 s , since increased to £ 429 9 s ; East

Lancashire , £ 365 ; Derbyshire , £ 356 ; Middlesex , £ 354 ; West Lancashire , £ 316 ; Hants and Isle of Wight , £ 295 ; South Wales West , £ 262 10 s ; Suffolk , within a few shillings of

£ 248 ; and Snssex , £ 237 . Among individual Provincial Stewards the credit of having raised the largest amount belongs to Bro . Rev . J . Marsden , who , as representing the Western Division of South Wales , took up £ 262 10 s .

We have mentioned that Bro . Hodges is entitled to our heartiest congratulations at the success which attended this Festival , bufc we should not be doing him justice if we closed these few remarks without bearing testimony to his unremitting exertions to insure this snccess . He enters

into the spirit of bis duties most thoroughly , and spares himself neither time nor trouble when he sees or thinks he sees a way of doing some service , be it never so small , to

the Institution with which he has now been associated for close on six years . He has done well in this instance , ancl we sincerely trust we may never havo a less successful result to chronicle on his account .

Annual Report Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

WE look forward with pleasure to the publication of the Annual Report of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . The Committee of Management invariabl y have a good account to render of their proceedings , and though there are people who will contrive to find some fault

wifch the arrangements or expenditure , we are satisfied fche bulk of the brethren will be as gratified with the present , as with preceding , records . Our attention is called in the opening paragraph to fche result of the Festival in February last , when , by the exertions of the Chairman and his Board

of Stewards , the goodly sum of £ 14 , 665 13 s was raised for the service of the Institution . This , as is pointed out , is the largest amount ever realised at a Festival of this Institution , and fully justifies the sense of satisfaction to which the

Committee have felt it their duty to give expression . It would have been well enough had previous successes been onlv equalled ; it is pre-eminently gratifying to know they have been surpassed .

The feelings with which the paragraph that follows must have been received are doubtless of a somewhat mixed character . The knowledge that the Institution was rich enough to support 332 old men ancl women , and render comfortable their declining years , must have given pleasure

to everybody , but the fact of there being still so many applicants on the lists for admission into the Institution will no doubt give rise to a certain feeling of despondency that , no matter how successful are the efforts made to help those of bur old folks who are too aged and too poor to help

themselves , there seem to be almost always at least twice or thrice as many candidates as there are vacancies to be filled . The Committee did what they could conscientiously to grapple with the difficnlty , and at their meeting immediately preceding the Festival had resolved on increasing the number

of Female Annuitants by ten . When the Anniversary was found to have been so productive they went still further , and recommended that five Male and five Female Annuitants should be elected , and the Governors and Subscribers to whom the proposal was submitted unhesitatingly acquiesced

in it . But even after this additional provision had been made , there still remained fourteen old men and fifty-four old women whose recognised claims to assistance must be

deferred for at leasfc another twelve months , and even longer in tbe case of those to whom the ordeal of the ballot may again prove unfavourable . This may very properly be described as a " lamentable fact . "

As regards the rest of the Report , we may dismiss it more briefly . It was wise to caution the friends of the Institution against relaxing their efforts . Charities of this kind are only kept on their legs by dint of extraordinary

Annual Report Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

efforts , again and again renewed . Even the biggest Festival return on record must be exhansted sooner or later , especially where , as in this case , there are more people to provide for . The paragraph about the economical administration of the funds of the Institution was very wisely

interposed . Early in the present year some one , with more leisure at his disposal than he conld conveniently manage , expressed his belief—casually no doubt , and for want of something better to do—that the cost of management was excessive ; but he did not succeed in impressing this

belief on other people , and the only result was that poor Bro . John Mason , fche Collector , woke up one fine morning very much as a man does after a severe attack of nightmare , and found his services to the Institution "were being extravagantly remunerated—that is , in the opinion of this

self-constituted critic . However , the present statement of account discloses a liberal , and therefore a wise and truly economical , expenditure , but no extravagance , and therejis every reason to believe that the hope expressed later on by the Committee about the same confidence being reposed in them in the future as in the past will be realised .

Having noticed the salient features in the Report itself , we must now turn to the statements of account annexed , that of the Male Fund claiming priority of attention . The balance remaining from the previous year amounted to

£ 3 , 246 15 s 3 d , and the receipts to £ 10 , 313 lis 7 d , making a total debit of £ 13 , 560 6 s lOd . As the expenditure only reached £ 10 , 114 14 s Id , the balance to be carried forward to tho new account is £ 3 , 445 12 s 9 d , or , in round figures , abont £ 200 more at the close of the account than at the

beginning . The principal items of receipt are , — £ 800 from Grand Lodge , £ 100 from Grand Chapter , £ 7 , 020 7 s 5 d in respect of Donations and Subscriptions from Lodges , Chapters and Individuals , and £ 1 , 117 15 s 8 d in respect of Dividends on Government Stock , together with a sum of

£ 1 , 250 "Cash withdrawn from Call , " this being an item of account only . The principal Disbursements are £ 6 , 440 on account of the Annuitants , £ 679 14 s 9 d Salaries , Commission , and Messenger ; £ 141 18 s 5 d for Repairs , Painting , & c . ; £ 185 17 s lOcl Printing and Stationery ;

£ 196 15 s 5 d Postages , & c . and expenses of Election ; £ 1 , 033 15 s purchase of Stock , and £ 1 , 000 " Placed at Call , " also an item of account only . To state the case briefly there was spent in Annuities £ 6 , 440 ; in the purchase of Stock £ 1 , 033 15 s ; afc Call £ 1 , 000 ; and for all the other heads of Service together , £ 1 , 670 19 s Id .

The Widows' Fund discloses the following figures : — Balance from previous year , £ 3 , 110 6 s 3 d ; receipts—including £ 800 from Grand Lodge , £ 50 from Grand Chapter , £ 7 , 855 12 s 3 d in respect of Donations and Subscriptions , and Dividends £ 725 . 10 s , with £ 750 cash withdrawn from

call—together amount to £ 10 , 199 5 s 7 d , giving a total debit of £ 13 , 310 5 s 7 d . The disbursements reach £ 9 , 329 2 s lid , so that the balance remaining to be carried forward to the new account is £ 3 , 981 3 s , or in round figures , £ 870 more than ifc was afc the close of the old one .

The principal heads of expenditure are the same as in the Male Fund , the items being for annuities £ 5 , 629 ; for office salaries , commission , and messenger , £ 683 13 s ; for repairs , painting , & c , £ 141 18 s 5 d ; stationery , printing , & c , £ 185 17 s lOd ; postages , & c , and expenses of election ,

£ 201 19 s 5 d ; purchase of stock , £ 1 , 033 15 s ; placed at call , £ 1 , 000 ; or , as under the Male Fund , annuities , £ 5 , 629 j stock , £ 1 , 033 15 s ; at call , £ 1 , 000 ; and for all other heads of service put together , £ 1 , 666 7 s lid . The Sustentation of Building Fund Account is of little importance , but

the small balance remaining in hand of £ 73 6 s 7 d , added to the balances on the Male ancl Female Funds , helps to swell the general balance for the whole Institution to £ 7 , 500 2 s 4 d . As regards the income derived from permanent sources , it amounted for the year to £ 3 , 623 5 s 9 d , of which £ 1 , 600

was derived from Grand Lodge , £ 150 from Grand Chapter , and £ 1 , 873 5 s 9 d from dividends on Government Stock . Having considered briefly , yet we trust sufficiently , both the Report and the figures which are annexed to it , wo shall take the liberty of drawing attention to one point in

connection with the former which has probably presented itself to the mind of every brother who has had occasion , as we have , to watch the progress of the Institution during the last few years . We allude to what the Committee

have rightly enough described in this and previous Reports as a " lamentable fact , " namely , thafc in spite of all that has been done of late to meet the demands made upon the resources of the Institution , there is almost invariably a great excess of candidates over vacancies . Bro . Lacey , io