Votes In Perpetuity.

VOTES IN PERPETUITY .

THE canvass far votes , and the working of an election for one or other of the Masonic Charitable Institutions , has come to be looked upon more as a matter of business than one of benevolence , and as year by year

organization among voters becomes more complete , the value of odd votes will be increased , and the ability of any one not associated with an " organization" to carry a candidate will be still further weakened . It is the boast of

many of the Provincial Charity Committees that their business is conducted on the strictest commercial principles , and that their every action in the collection and disposal of votes is governed by the most stringent rules of

accountancy . It is not then to be wondered at that the loss of votes consequent on the death of subscribers has attracted attention , or that the subject is looked upon as one calling for most anxious thought . When the relative value of every vote is taken into consideration by the

members of the various Charity Committees of the

Provinces , and calculations made on the basis that all will be available when the day of election comes round , it not infrequently happens that death has created a great falling off in the returns and a consequent upsetting of calculations .

In view of the system of combination which now exists , the death of a brother who has been selected by the members of his Lodge to represent them at one or other of the Festivals means the loss of votes which all have striven

to accumulate ; votes secured not as consideration for personal donations , but on account of Stewardships , and in recognition of large totals sent up by a Lodge or Lodges . If these losses are worthy of consideration where onJy a few

votes is concerned , how much more so is it when a brother is entitled to a large number in his own right . Many of the Provinces have in their midst one or more brethren whose votes form a considerable featnre in their annual

calculations , and in a short time these votes accumulate to such an extent as to be all but sufficient to carry a case at an election . It is in such cases as these that the forfeiture of votes by death presses heavily , and where

some effective system of assurance may be looked forward to . The brethren of one of our Provinces have already gone so far as to formulate a scheme which shall save them from the loss of some three hundred votes per

annum in the event of the death of a worthy member of their district . This eventuality of the prospective outcome—although it is fervently hoped it may not occur for many , many years—must be faced some day , and with this

in view the members of the Province now propose , with the sanction of the brother in question , to insure his life for such a sum as shall place them in a position to purchase at his decease a similar number of votes to that he now holds .

When once their project becomes known , others doubtless will be found to adopt a somewhat similar course , and we shall then have to consider what effect these perpetual votes will have on the general support accorded to the Charities .

Another scheme which has also received consideration is , that all the money subscribed by brethren should be paid into the Institutions in the name of one of the officials of

the Province—or rather in the name of one of the Offices —irrespective of its occupant for the time being . If this plan be adopted , of course particulars of individual donations would not appear in the published

Votes In Perpetuity.

lists of subscribers to the Institutions , but a local list could be issued which would supply such information . The donors themselves wonld also lose their right of making

what use they choso of their own votes , unless somo system was inaugurated to allow them to act independently whenever they chose so to do . This , however , wo assume would be a very easy matter for arrangement .

This projected action on the part of Provincial brethren is another proof of what can be accomplished by united action , and we think if it be carried out to any extent it will have a tendency to increase the disparity which already

exists in tho subdivision of benefits amongst London and Provincial cases , which at the present time is seriously exercising the minds of so many Craftsmen . The subject is one on which discussion may be of service , and in placing the matter before our readers as soon as it has been made

known to us , we invite any of them who may be so inclined to express their opinions through the means of our corres ' - pondence columns .

The New Province Of Bedfordshire.

THE NEW PROVINCE OF BEDFORDSHIRE .

BEDFORDSHIRE , the last of the English counties to be honoured with a local Grand Lodge , has at

last been constituted a Masonic Province , and a Provincial Grand Master has just been installed at its head . Thus every Lodge in the Kingdom , outside the London limit , is now amenable to a local power , as well as to

the Grand Lodge from which it holds its warrant ; and here another link in the Masonic chain may be said to have been completed . It has long been a matter of surprise that the brethren of this district have not taken

the necessary steps to induce His Royal Highness the Grand Master to give them a local Grand Lodge , but we suppose they have had good reason for delaying what was most successfully accomplished on Thursday , at

Bedford , when the Grand Secretary of England , Colonel Shadwell H . Gierke , formally constituted the five Lodges of the county into a Province , and installed Colonel William Stuart as its first chief .

By a strange anomaly Col . Stuart , although the first ruler of Masonic Lodges in Bedfordshire , is not the first Grand Master of the Province , as explained by Col . Gierke , when he proposed the health of the new Provincial Grand

Master . At the banquet which followed the installation , Col . Gierke said that in 1799 the name of Brother William Gill appeared in the books of Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Master of Bedfordshire ; it remained on the list for

; i period of seven years , and then disappeared . In 1812 another brother appears to have been similarly honoured , Brother Andrew Denis O'Kelly then figuring as Grand Master of the Province , and holding the appointment unlil

the time of his death in 1820 ; but for all this period there were no Lodges in the Province for the Provincial Grand Master to rule over , and thus it is that Brother Col . W . Stuart is absolutely the first local ruler of the Bedfordshire Freemasons .

The ceremony of Thursday look place at the Assembl y Rooms , Bedford , in the presence of some 120 brethren ; Bro . Colonel Shadwell H . Gierke being assisted by Bros . Rev . C . W . Spencer Stanhope Past Grand Chaplain , Frank Richardson Pf ? st Grand Deacon , J . S . Cumber-