Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

Stewards are urgently needed , and we strongly appeal to those lodges and chapters which have not yet commissioned brethren and companions la represent Ihem at tin Benevolent Festival on the 22 nd February next , to lose no time in doinsr so . We mav

trust to the energy of Bro . TKRRY and his small , but efficient staff to do what , is possible towards insuring a good result . But we trust that energy will not be restricted to them . We

know tbey will appeal whenever they have the chance most earnestly for tlu ; support that is needed . What we are desirous of seeing is that the appeals are not made in vain , and that the responses arc' as favourable as the appeals are urgent .

The Audit Of Accounts.

THE AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS .

Certain criticisms have recently appeared in our contemporary The A ecu nn tnn I as ( o the manner in which the accounts of our Grantl and private lodges are audited . There is nothing

to complain of in the tone of the articles containing these criticisms , the sole object being apparentl y to secure a businesslike management of the monetary affairs of our lodges and an efficient annua ! audit of their accounts . The criticisms are

conceived in a perfectl y friendl y spirit , and with an earnest desire lo benefit lhe bodies they relate to . The writer , too , appears to have known where to lay his hands upon the information on which lo base his remarks , and has taken that

information from our Book of Constitutions , and in the case of private lodges from their by-laws , which , we imagine , he must have had the opportunity of inspecting . The result is that the

articles which have appeared in our contemporary are not onl y conceived , as wc have said , and written in a friendl y spirit , but they will also be found lo contain correct information on a matter

to which very few brethren g ive a thought at any time , or , at all events , onl y very occasionally . As regards Grand Lodge and the arrangements it has made for the control and audit of ils own accounts , which arc dealt

with in the second of the two articles that have appeared , our contemporary has no serious fault to find . It considers the provisions made in our laws for collecting lhe revenue of Grand Lodge and making payment of the moneys it has voted are of

such a character that " there is no danger of any irregularities creeping in . " They constitute " what is at all events a workable —if not an altogether business-like—system , " and as the Book of Constitutions provides for the annual audit of the accounts b y

a " professional auditor , " we may assume lhat The Accountant is on the whole satisfied with our arrangements , there being only one point which appears to it inexplicable , and that is " why it should be considered part of the Secn-tani ' i , duty to handle

money ; this it regards as "a question which will probabl y remain unanswered till the end of time . " Perhaps it will satisf y our exigent critic if we state that the reason will perhaps be

found in the fact that the Grand Secretary is the one permanent executive officer of Grand Lodge , Article 21 Book of Constitutions providing that he "shall be appointed b y the Grand Master , as a vacancy occurs , and shall continue without

reappointment during the p leasure of the Grand Lodge , " while the Grand Treasurer is elected annuall y and under the system which has been in vogue for several years past , a different

brother is so chosen every year , there being no longer any monetary responsibility attaching to the oflice . In fact , the Grand Secrelarv is virtually Secretary and Treasurer of Grand

Lodge . As regards the audit of private lodge accounts this is provided for , as Thr Accountant points out , in Article 177 of out Book of Constitutions which lavs down "all money received or

paid for or on account of a Lodge , shall he lrom- lime to time regularly entered in proper books , which shall be the property of the Lodge . The accounts of the Lodge shall be audited at least once in every year , b } 'a Committee appointed bv the Lodge-. "

Here again , however , as our contemporary remarks , thelodge by-laws generall y provide that the Secretary shall receive all the moneys , while the 1 reasurer makes ( lie payments when thev have been sanctioned bv the . Master . This system , too , it

considers not onl y unbusinoss-Iike , but also as not affording the necessary security ( or the . lodge funds , while as , generally , there is no provision for thi' moneys of a lodge being deposited at a bank , there is always to a certain extent

The Audit Of Accounts.

the risk that in the event of lhe Treasurer dying , or being at any time involved in monetary difficulties , such moneys ma } ' not be recoverable , or recoverable only in part , and possibly after some trouble ami delay . Our contemporary holds that some

belter system of control and audit should be enforced on private 1 lodges , and that if none olher can hi hit upon , thc system which is adopted in the case of Grand Lodge should be applicable to private lodges . We raise no objection to the statements of our

contemporary , which are , in thc main , correct , or to its further statement that the accounts are audited annually , in accordance with the law , b y a Committee , which , in the majority of cases , consists of the principal officers and three other members of the

lodge , the Treasurer and Secretary being also included in the said Committee in some lodges , but generally , wc think , for the purpose of offering any explanations that may be . called for . But , while wc raise no objection , on general grounds , to these

criticisms , wc take leave to point out that our lodges arc essentially private bodies , and that the moneys they collect from amongst themselves and the moneys expended , are their own . If the dues which they

are required to pay to Grand Lodge , and in the case of country lodges , to Prov . Grand Lodge as well , are not forthcoming , there are certain penalties' imposed , and if a Iodge continues to be in arrear in this respect for any length of time , it

runs the risk of being suspended or erased . But , as regards the other receipts and disbursements , so long as the general laws of Grand Lodge are obeyed , it does not appear to

us to be the business of anyone outside to inquire how lodges receive , regulate , and control their moneys , or what kind of audit they consider their annual statements of account should

undergo . Moreover , iu the . majority of lodges , the income aud expenditure arc on so small a scale , that a simple statement of accounts , with proper vouchers for thc several payments , is all that is required . The fact whicli our contemporary recognises , that the instances are rare in which lodges lind themselves in

difficulties through the misconduct of their responsible officers is evidence enough that the system now generall y adopted , whether it be business-like , or the reverse , works well . Would a more

business-like , a more stringent system of controlling private lodge expenditure , and auditing the accounts , produce more satisfactory results ?

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The Ouaittrly Communication of United Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted " Masons of England was held on Wednesday evening , at Freemasons' Hall , Great Oueen-street , W . C . Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Prov . Giand Master oT Hants and the Isle of Wight , presided ; Bro . T . F . Halsey , M . P ., Prov . Grand Master of Herts , acted as Deputy Grand Master : and Bro . W . A . F . Powell , Prov . Grand Master of Bristol , as Past

Grand Master . Bros , the Earl of Portarlington , S . G . W ., and Sir John B . Monckton , P . G . W ., occupied the Wardens' chairs . About 1000 brethren were present , and among them were—Bros . Henry Smith , P . G . D ., P . D . P . G . M . West Yorks ; Dr . Balfour Cockburn , Dr . Lawrence , Dr . Egan ( South Africa ) , Archdeacon Stevens , R . Horton Smith , Q . C , J . J . Thomas , C . A . Ccttebnine , Henry Garrod , D . D . Mercer , W . Russell ,

Edward I . ttchworth , G . Secretary ; William Lake , Assistant G . Secretary ; J . E . Le Feuvre , R . Loveland Loveland , Q . C . ; John Strachan , Q . C . ; A . C . Spaull , J . M . McLeod , Sec . R . M . I . B . ; F . R . W . Hedges , Sec . R . M . I . G . ; Admiral Hastings Markham , A . F . Godson , Alderman Vaughan Morgan , G . Treas . ; Richard Eve , P . G . Treas . ; W . Kentish ; Sir Joseph Dimsdale , P . G . Treas . ;

the Rev . Richard Clowes ; the Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . Chaplain ; the Rev R . J . Simpson , P . G . Chap . ; G-. J . R . Tijou , Dr . Clement Godson , Frederick West , T . J . Railing , Albert Lucking , John Newton , and the Rev . J . S . Brownrigg . Bro . Thomas Fenn , P . G . W ., acted as G . D . C , and he was assisted by Bro . James Stephens , D < -p . G D . C .

Grand Lodge having been operud in form , the GRAND SECRETARY read ( he minutes of the Quarterly Communication of September ist , which were put and confirmed . Theelic ' . i n of 12 Past Masters to serve on the Board of Benevolence was tl en proceeded with . At the close of the evening the Scrutineers , who were obligated by the Acting Grand Master to give a faithful return , handed the following result to the Acting Grand Master in the Grand Master's

private room : Bros . James Bunker , P . M . 1158 ; Grorge Graveley , P . M . 89 S ; John Ellinger , P . M . 2222 ; Charles Henry Stone , P . M . 507 ; William Wills , P . M . 1901 ; William Fisher , P . M . 8 , 34 ; William lvpps , P . M . 1275 ; William H . Caton , P . M . 1365 ; George B . Chapman , P . M . ; Edward Nightingale , P . M . 87 ; Simon H . Goldschmidt , P . M . 1 . 329 ; Charles Pulman , P . M . 720 .

Bro . BEACH : I rise to submit a resolution on the part of H . R . H . the Prince of VVales , Grand Master , the purpose of which I am sure you will readily divine . It is to express our earnest sympathy with the Pro Grand Master in the sad loss he has sustained and the calamity that has befallen

him . It is not only his high position that commends him to our notice but it is his kindliness of nature , geniality of disposition , and his devotion to the Craft which have endeared him to every I'Yeemason —( hear , hear)—and I am quite sure we Freemasons here assembled claim our part to share his sorrow as we would join in his feelings in anything that has bifallen him .