-
Articles/Ads
Article Original Correspondence. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Page 1 of 2 Article ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Page 1 of 2 Article ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original Correspondence.
and maltster at Newmarket , who , through no fault of his own , was reduced from a good position to indigence . Just before his death he , as a patient at Guy ' s Hospital , underwent a severe operation . His daughter , Ida Mary Bryant , is now since his death left an orphan without either
father or mother , and is now an applicant for the Masonic Girls' School , and this being thc third , and unfortunately the last application , I shall be very grateful to any brother whose votes are not promised if he will forward them to mc , or use his influence in procuring her election . I am Sir , yours fraternally ,
J OHN- RE \ D , P . M . M . ( No . 22 ) , P . M ., P . Z . ( No . 720 ) , 30 , Past Mark Grand Organist , etc ., & c Indian Office , Westminster , 28 th March , 1876 .
To Ihe Editor of The Freemason Dear Sir and Brother , — Will you allow mc to call thc attention of thc subscribers to our Boys' School to the case of James Edgar Tannic , a candidate for election on 10 th inst . I have known the boy's father in such very different circumstances , when his hand was always open to help any case of
disiress , and the strain upon the mothers resources is so heavy , having to support both husband and family , and the boy is such a bright intelligent lad , so likely to prove a credit to thc school , that I do earnestly hope all brethren who possibly can will give him their votes . I am , yours fraternally , W . H . Gl'I . I . IFORD . Montefiore , 1079 .
Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .
The General Committee of this Institution met on Saturday last in thc board-room , Freemasons' HaU , Bro . Sigismund Rosenthal in thc chair . The other brethren who attended were Bros , the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford , P . G . C . ; Raynham W . Stewart , P . G . D . ; John Symonds , P . A . G . D . C : William Paas , P . G . D .: H . Browse ,
P . G . D . ; Benj . Head , P . G . D . ; Lieut .-Col . Creaton , P . G . D . ; S . Rawson , P . D . G . M . China ; Hyde Pullen , P . G . S . B . ; Richard Spencer , P . G . S . ; Herbert Dicketts , P . G . S . ; John Boyd , P . G . P . ; Jesse Turner , Walter Wcllsman , Robert B . Webster , Geo . J . Palmer , W . Peartree , , | . Iloith Ross , John Constable , Collard Moutrie , J . G . Chancellor , F . H . Ebsworth , Capt .
Wordsworth , George Kenning , II . W . Hunt , Leopold Ruf , j . E . Frost , F . Adlard ' E . M . Haigh , P . G . S . ; II . Massey ( " Freemason " ) , and F . Binckes ( Secretary . * ) Two boys were placed on the list for election , and the case of one was deferred for better reading . Two outfits were granted to boys who had left Ihe Institution and obtained * situations , thc icpoits from their employers being of
the most gratifying character . The business paper for the Quarterly Court ncxt Monday was settled , the business being to elect a Treasurer for thc ensuing year ; to elect 11 brethren on thc General Committee ; to declare two additional vacancies in the Institution caused by the withdrawal of two boys ; to confirm the purchase of Kent House , and to consider thc notice of motion by Dr .
Ramsay that the four senior members of the House Committee retire 1 very year , but to be re-eligible ; and that thc four members who have attended fewest times during thc year retire , and to bc ineligible for twelve months . Thc West Yorkshire question with respect to the charges of Bros . Tew and Perrott was then taken into considcralion , and a conversation ensued as to the best means of
dealing wilh it at the Quarterly Court . Thc Rov . A . F . A . Woodford , P . G . C , said he had meant to give notice of motion for tlie next court , if it had not been that Bro . Browse had mentioned before this committee his views on the undcsirability of taking any notice in respect of the action of the brethren of West Yorkshire in respect to thc Boys' School , lie thought there was a great deal
of force in what Bro . Browse had said , and he was rather inclined to be guided by the general feeling of thc committee on Bro . Browse ' s observation , that by taking any steps upon the West Yorkshire brethren ' s proceedings the committee would be plaving into those brethren ' s hands . He wished to place before the brethren what the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire had done—according to
his view , irregularly . That Provincial Grand Lodge had passed resolutions appointing : ' , committee of investigation and authorising them to report upon thc Boys' School . That committee , appointed in bis humble opinion unconstitutionally , and ultra vires , and in express defiance of Lord Zetland's dictum when G . M ., hid issued a report whioh the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire
had adopted and approved of . Practically , the object of the West Yorkshire brethren was to consider thc whole administration of the Boys ' School . This question arose out of a pamphlet which had been issued about a year ago addressed to thc Vice-Presidents of West Yorkshire , and complaining of gross abuses in the management ofthe Boys' School . This pamphlet
was followed oy another in which the writer stated that West Yorkshire would not be satisfied unless the Secretary of thc institution was removed , the Mouse Committee had resigned , the matron had been removed , and the head master re-instated . They appointed a committee at a meeting of thc Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire at Sheffield to consider the question . That committee met , and the brethren
composing it , gave in a report , in which it was staled that the expenses of the Boys' School were out of all proportion ; that a great deal more ought to be done with the nnney which was subscribed ; that there was a great ' . aste of funds ; and that the whole administration of the establishment required to be looked into . That report had been received , ordered to bc put on the minutes , and was accepted unanimously by the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . The Provincial Grand Lodge passed reso-
Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
lutions to tbis effect , —That they accepted the report , that they ordered it to be printed , as he said before , for the use of the province , thai they ordered a copy to be sent to every Provincial Grand Master in England , and the W . M . of every lodge ; and they called upon every life governor of the Province of West Yorkshire to come up to London to support it . They had even asked that their report
should be put on the agenda paper of Grand Lodge . He might say as regarded this , that it seemed the most extraordinary proceeding , and one which , in his long apprenticeship to Freemasonry he had never heard the like of before . Previous to thc final meeting of this Committee of Investigation at Leeds , one ofthe members printed a pamphlet , which was called untruthfully "The Report of
the Investigation Committee of West 1 orkshire . " It was really nothing of the sort , for it was only the evidence of one brother before the committee , and some statistics based on another brother ' s statement . The brother stated in tbis pamphlet that the reason he had been induced to act as he had was his dissatisfaction with the proceedings which had taken place at the Boys' School since 186 * 5 .
The circulation of that pamphlet was stopped , and the pamphlet , as far as possible , was suppressed . This was done , and it was very difficult to obtain a copy ; but several of the brethren had , nevertheless , seen it . Bro . Binckes had seen it ; he ( Bro . Woodford ) had seen it ; and Bro . Wordsworth hud seen it . Bro . Wordsworth could confirm what he ( Bro . Woodford ) said , that the writer in this
pamphlet brought forth serious charges against the whole administration of the Boys' School . The question , therefore , now was , could anything be done by thc brethren with respect to tbe action of the Province of West Yorkshire . He had long been connected with West Yorkshire , and he could give the brethren some information as to what the province had done with reference to the Masonic charities .
Originally , about nineteen years ago , Bros . Symonds and Hopwood went down to Sheffield when they were beginning . 1 movement to support thc metropolitan institutions . They then moved to give 100 guineas to the Boys' School . Ncxt year they moved to give 100 guineas to the Girls ' School . That had resulted , as the brethren were aware , in the return of many thousands of pounds from West
Yorkshire to the metropolitan institutions . In 1861 * 1 he was requested by the Marquis of Ripon to draw up a statement of the comparative cost of the institutions , and having done so he was in a position to bear his testimony to the absurdity of the present movement , the utter unreliability of the statistics , and the fallacy of any brother getting up and starting a theory
that a maximum of education should bc obtained for a minimum of cost . This was really practically among the recommendations of this committee , that if the brethren vvould only reduce the expenses of the Boys' School to their minimum they could educate a much larger number of boys for the present expenditure . Could any brother think that a brother putting forward a statement of that kind knew
anything about educational establishments , or was a fit judge of thc expenditure , when he made such a proposition as this—which he ( Bro . Woodford ) would leave entirely to the practicil knowledge of brethren around the table . Another asserted openly , that living in London was cheaper than it was in the province . And another charge was that the Institution did not make contracts with
wholesale houses . Now , those were the kind of arguments that had weighed apparently with the brethren of West Yorkshire . The statement was maiL- that Ihe administration of the establishment was radically wrong , and that things were going on which were utterly improper , that Bro . Perrott had been dismissed owing to the improper action of the House Committee , who were let ! by Bro . Binckes ; that he
was a victim and a martyr , and that nothing less than his reinstatement would satisfy thc justice of the case . Such were the complaints assiduously circulated , which had led to the demand for investigation iy West Yorkshire . Now ihe question came before the brethren , could anything be done to meet this feeling of West Yorkshire ' , which his brother Wordsworth
vv . nild bear him out in asserting was very strong indeed just now ? Could any thing be done to put an end toil ? He would venture to suggest , however , that if the Lffc Governors of the province had come up that day to move a resolution for a committee of enquiry , they vvould have : been too late , as they had put the carl before the horse , and they ought to have come forward
twelve months ago and enquired before making these stitemcnts ; but after all these statements had been made " ad invidiam , " they had no right to come now aud invoke the laws of the institution and ask for a committee of enquiry . The question was whether any resolution the bretlir . n might pass at a Quarterly Court would meet the necessities of the case as legarded West Yorkshire . lie
should himself personally have been unwilling to take an active part in tlie matter , but as the matter had been placed before > he brethren by West Yorkshire , he felt it his duty as thc old chairman of their Charity Committee to express his regret at the course they had followed , and he was prepared to take upon himself , as a life governor , the responsibility of moving a resolution at Ihe Quarterly
Court to the effect . 1 hat having 111 view recent imputations cast on the administration of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , this Court deems it to bz its duty to express its unabated confidence in the House and Audit Committees and executive . " He ventured to think that if they passed that resolution at the Quarterly Court it would attain Ihe end desired . There were a great
many brethren of the Province of West Yorkshire who were rather led away by the statements that had been made , and wh : > believed lhat there was something remaining behind , simply because the statements he had alluded to had been repeated usque ad nauseam . No proof had been offered ; statements merely made and reiterated that the things were so . He had spent a great deal of his Masonic life in West York-
Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
shire , and he did not wish to come forward that day and do anything which might raise a spirit of controversy , but , from what he knew of West Yorkshire , he could say there was a great deal of uneasiness among the brethren there in these matters . They hardly knew what to believe , and he thought therefore that if the brethren came forvyard and passed his resolution at the Quarterly Court declaring
their unabated confidence in the management of the Boys ' School it would have now the end desired for . They were bound , as brother Masons , in his opinion , to support their House Committee and thc executive , believing that they had done their duty . He for one should certainly oppose any committee of enquiry , believing that the proper time was passed and gone . ( Br-:. Woodford concluded
by again reading his notice of motion ) . Bro . John Constable , P . M . 185 , said that , maintaining as he did that the charges made in thc pamphlets above alluded to were most unjustifiable and unwarrantable , he had great pleasure in seconding thc vote of confidence , if it was necessary , and passing at the same time a few remarks on the subject . He trusted that some effort would
be made at last to set aside the feelings which existed in West Yorkshire , and that the brethren present vvould lose 110 opportunity of reinstating the confidence which should exist , and which had hitherto existed in the House Committee , and also in thc Secretary . ( Hear , hear ) . Bro . Jesse Turner said he could not help thinking that there was such a thing to be observed in this matter as dignity .
The HouseCommittee and thc auditors could very well afford to stand on their dignity . They had gone into the matter thoroughly , and done all they could to find out the truth . A committee of enquiry was appointed , and they went . into the matter , having all the documents before them . That committee , in their report , stated that they did not find that any necessity existed for calling iu the assistance of an
expert , and that thc charges brought forward from time to time by the Province of West Yorkshire had failed . He thought that the brethren , while desiring to do all the good they could , vv ; re in reality attaching a great deal of importance to the matter which did not belong to it . The assertions of West Yorkshire as to what they were going to do were mere brutum lulmen . Let it go for what it
was worth . He did not think tbe brethren of West Yorkshire would t ike it unkindly if he said that we should not suffer very much from what they said as to getting r'd of Bro . Binckes and the matron . Therefore , let that go for what it was worth . He knew what the brethren would do : they vvould support Bro . Binckes and the committee ; but he thought they had done so much in this matter that
Ihey vvould go on meddling and muddling , a-id making a small fire into a great one at the end . The best course was to let the matter cure itself . There were some fires which burnt themselves out ; but in this case it appeared to him that they were fanning the flame . Bro . John Constable asked whether a vote of confidence would not meet the matter .
Bro . John Symonds , P . A . G . D . C , said he apprehended that at a Quarterly Court it would be perfectly competent to any subscriber to move for a committee of enquiry without previously giving notice . Whether that would be an expedient course or not he would offer no opinion . It was , however , the rule in all charities , and there was nothing in the laws of the Masonic Institutions to prevent it
Now , they must be prepared to deal with such a motion if it was brought forward . However , he was not going to express an opinion as to how that matter should be dealt with , or whether a committee should be granted or not . They did not know that any such motion would be made ; he only said it would be competent to any subscriber to make it . He vvould pass to another matter . He
found in the report which had been sent out by certain bre . thren who were constituted a Committee of Investigation , a letter addressed to Bro . Binckes , and signed by brethren who were described as Life Governors of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and members of the Committee of Investigation appointed by the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . He had always said , whenever
he had heard of the app . iintment of a Committee of Investigation on the part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire , that we could not recognize such a committeethat if we were to do so it vvould be quile competent for the Province of Kent at another time , or the Province of Devon at another , and so on for thc whole forty provincesthroughout England , to be continually appointing committees of
investigation ; but he likewise said that if any brother of West Yorkshire was placed on such a committee , although that committee were not recognised , and was a subscriber to the institution , he woulel be entitled , as a subscriber , to have an answer to any enquiry he might make . In the present case he found there were nine brethren from West Yorkshire who signed themselves Life Governors of the
Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and members of the Committee of Investigation appointed by the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . Tlieir tacking on those words " members cf thc Committee of Investigation , & c , " should not have prevented Bro . Binckes from replying to them as Life Governors . Bro . Binckes explained that the letter was sent to him .
and accompanying it was a letter from the Secretary to the committee , that he should esteem it a favour if Bro . Binckes would address his communication to his ( the Secretary ' s ) office . Consequently he considered that that was nothing more or less than an official communication , and , acting under a resolution of the General Committee , he was precluded from answering it in any way . They did
not apply as Life Governors , but through their official Secretary , who was a paid officer , and not a subscriber to the School at all . Bro . Symonds contended that though Bro . Binckes might have been right in ignoring Bro . Quarterman , the Secretary , he was not right in ignoring the signatories who were subscribers . Bro . Quarterman was not entitled to have the information , but the Life Governors were .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original Correspondence.
and maltster at Newmarket , who , through no fault of his own , was reduced from a good position to indigence . Just before his death he , as a patient at Guy ' s Hospital , underwent a severe operation . His daughter , Ida Mary Bryant , is now since his death left an orphan without either
father or mother , and is now an applicant for the Masonic Girls' School , and this being thc third , and unfortunately the last application , I shall be very grateful to any brother whose votes are not promised if he will forward them to mc , or use his influence in procuring her election . I am Sir , yours fraternally ,
J OHN- RE \ D , P . M . M . ( No . 22 ) , P . M ., P . Z . ( No . 720 ) , 30 , Past Mark Grand Organist , etc ., & c Indian Office , Westminster , 28 th March , 1876 .
To Ihe Editor of The Freemason Dear Sir and Brother , — Will you allow mc to call thc attention of thc subscribers to our Boys' School to the case of James Edgar Tannic , a candidate for election on 10 th inst . I have known the boy's father in such very different circumstances , when his hand was always open to help any case of
disiress , and the strain upon the mothers resources is so heavy , having to support both husband and family , and the boy is such a bright intelligent lad , so likely to prove a credit to thc school , that I do earnestly hope all brethren who possibly can will give him their votes . I am , yours fraternally , W . H . Gl'I . I . IFORD . Montefiore , 1079 .
Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .
The General Committee of this Institution met on Saturday last in thc board-room , Freemasons' HaU , Bro . Sigismund Rosenthal in thc chair . The other brethren who attended were Bros , the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford , P . G . C . ; Raynham W . Stewart , P . G . D . ; John Symonds , P . A . G . D . C : William Paas , P . G . D .: H . Browse ,
P . G . D . ; Benj . Head , P . G . D . ; Lieut .-Col . Creaton , P . G . D . ; S . Rawson , P . D . G . M . China ; Hyde Pullen , P . G . S . B . ; Richard Spencer , P . G . S . ; Herbert Dicketts , P . G . S . ; John Boyd , P . G . P . ; Jesse Turner , Walter Wcllsman , Robert B . Webster , Geo . J . Palmer , W . Peartree , , | . Iloith Ross , John Constable , Collard Moutrie , J . G . Chancellor , F . H . Ebsworth , Capt .
Wordsworth , George Kenning , II . W . Hunt , Leopold Ruf , j . E . Frost , F . Adlard ' E . M . Haigh , P . G . S . ; II . Massey ( " Freemason " ) , and F . Binckes ( Secretary . * ) Two boys were placed on the list for election , and the case of one was deferred for better reading . Two outfits were granted to boys who had left Ihe Institution and obtained * situations , thc icpoits from their employers being of
the most gratifying character . The business paper for the Quarterly Court ncxt Monday was settled , the business being to elect a Treasurer for thc ensuing year ; to elect 11 brethren on thc General Committee ; to declare two additional vacancies in the Institution caused by the withdrawal of two boys ; to confirm the purchase of Kent House , and to consider thc notice of motion by Dr .
Ramsay that the four senior members of the House Committee retire 1 very year , but to be re-eligible ; and that thc four members who have attended fewest times during thc year retire , and to bc ineligible for twelve months . Thc West Yorkshire question with respect to the charges of Bros . Tew and Perrott was then taken into considcralion , and a conversation ensued as to the best means of
dealing wilh it at the Quarterly Court . Thc Rov . A . F . A . Woodford , P . G . C , said he had meant to give notice of motion for tlie next court , if it had not been that Bro . Browse had mentioned before this committee his views on the undcsirability of taking any notice in respect of the action of the brethren of West Yorkshire in respect to thc Boys' School , lie thought there was a great deal
of force in what Bro . Browse had said , and he was rather inclined to be guided by the general feeling of thc committee on Bro . Browse ' s observation , that by taking any steps upon the West Yorkshire brethren ' s proceedings the committee would be plaving into those brethren ' s hands . He wished to place before the brethren what the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire had done—according to
his view , irregularly . That Provincial Grand Lodge had passed resolutions appointing : ' , committee of investigation and authorising them to report upon thc Boys' School . That committee , appointed in bis humble opinion unconstitutionally , and ultra vires , and in express defiance of Lord Zetland's dictum when G . M ., hid issued a report whioh the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire
had adopted and approved of . Practically , the object of the West Yorkshire brethren was to consider thc whole administration of the Boys ' School . This question arose out of a pamphlet which had been issued about a year ago addressed to thc Vice-Presidents of West Yorkshire , and complaining of gross abuses in the management ofthe Boys' School . This pamphlet
was followed oy another in which the writer stated that West Yorkshire would not be satisfied unless the Secretary of thc institution was removed , the Mouse Committee had resigned , the matron had been removed , and the head master re-instated . They appointed a committee at a meeting of thc Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire at Sheffield to consider the question . That committee met , and the brethren
composing it , gave in a report , in which it was staled that the expenses of the Boys' School were out of all proportion ; that a great deal more ought to be done with the nnney which was subscribed ; that there was a great ' . aste of funds ; and that the whole administration of the establishment required to be looked into . That report had been received , ordered to bc put on the minutes , and was accepted unanimously by the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . The Provincial Grand Lodge passed reso-
Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
lutions to tbis effect , —That they accepted the report , that they ordered it to be printed , as he said before , for the use of the province , thai they ordered a copy to be sent to every Provincial Grand Master in England , and the W . M . of every lodge ; and they called upon every life governor of the Province of West Yorkshire to come up to London to support it . They had even asked that their report
should be put on the agenda paper of Grand Lodge . He might say as regarded this , that it seemed the most extraordinary proceeding , and one which , in his long apprenticeship to Freemasonry he had never heard the like of before . Previous to thc final meeting of this Committee of Investigation at Leeds , one ofthe members printed a pamphlet , which was called untruthfully "The Report of
the Investigation Committee of West 1 orkshire . " It was really nothing of the sort , for it was only the evidence of one brother before the committee , and some statistics based on another brother ' s statement . The brother stated in tbis pamphlet that the reason he had been induced to act as he had was his dissatisfaction with the proceedings which had taken place at the Boys' School since 186 * 5 .
The circulation of that pamphlet was stopped , and the pamphlet , as far as possible , was suppressed . This was done , and it was very difficult to obtain a copy ; but several of the brethren had , nevertheless , seen it . Bro . Binckes had seen it ; he ( Bro . Woodford ) had seen it ; and Bro . Wordsworth hud seen it . Bro . Wordsworth could confirm what he ( Bro . Woodford ) said , that the writer in this
pamphlet brought forth serious charges against the whole administration of the Boys' School . The question , therefore , now was , could anything be done by thc brethren with respect to tbe action of the Province of West Yorkshire . He had long been connected with West Yorkshire , and he could give the brethren some information as to what the province had done with reference to the Masonic charities .
Originally , about nineteen years ago , Bros . Symonds and Hopwood went down to Sheffield when they were beginning . 1 movement to support thc metropolitan institutions . They then moved to give 100 guineas to the Boys' School . Ncxt year they moved to give 100 guineas to the Girls ' School . That had resulted , as the brethren were aware , in the return of many thousands of pounds from West
Yorkshire to the metropolitan institutions . In 1861 * 1 he was requested by the Marquis of Ripon to draw up a statement of the comparative cost of the institutions , and having done so he was in a position to bear his testimony to the absurdity of the present movement , the utter unreliability of the statistics , and the fallacy of any brother getting up and starting a theory
that a maximum of education should bc obtained for a minimum of cost . This was really practically among the recommendations of this committee , that if the brethren vvould only reduce the expenses of the Boys' School to their minimum they could educate a much larger number of boys for the present expenditure . Could any brother think that a brother putting forward a statement of that kind knew
anything about educational establishments , or was a fit judge of thc expenditure , when he made such a proposition as this—which he ( Bro . Woodford ) would leave entirely to the practicil knowledge of brethren around the table . Another asserted openly , that living in London was cheaper than it was in the province . And another charge was that the Institution did not make contracts with
wholesale houses . Now , those were the kind of arguments that had weighed apparently with the brethren of West Yorkshire . The statement was maiL- that Ihe administration of the establishment was radically wrong , and that things were going on which were utterly improper , that Bro . Perrott had been dismissed owing to the improper action of the House Committee , who were let ! by Bro . Binckes ; that he
was a victim and a martyr , and that nothing less than his reinstatement would satisfy thc justice of the case . Such were the complaints assiduously circulated , which had led to the demand for investigation iy West Yorkshire . Now ihe question came before the brethren , could anything be done to meet this feeling of West Yorkshire ' , which his brother Wordsworth
vv . nild bear him out in asserting was very strong indeed just now ? Could any thing be done to put an end toil ? He would venture to suggest , however , that if the Lffc Governors of the province had come up that day to move a resolution for a committee of enquiry , they vvould have : been too late , as they had put the carl before the horse , and they ought to have come forward
twelve months ago and enquired before making these stitemcnts ; but after all these statements had been made " ad invidiam , " they had no right to come now aud invoke the laws of the institution and ask for a committee of enquiry . The question was whether any resolution the bretlir . n might pass at a Quarterly Court would meet the necessities of the case as legarded West Yorkshire . lie
should himself personally have been unwilling to take an active part in tlie matter , but as the matter had been placed before > he brethren by West Yorkshire , he felt it his duty as thc old chairman of their Charity Committee to express his regret at the course they had followed , and he was prepared to take upon himself , as a life governor , the responsibility of moving a resolution at Ihe Quarterly
Court to the effect . 1 hat having 111 view recent imputations cast on the administration of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , this Court deems it to bz its duty to express its unabated confidence in the House and Audit Committees and executive . " He ventured to think that if they passed that resolution at the Quarterly Court it would attain Ihe end desired . There were a great
many brethren of the Province of West Yorkshire who were rather led away by the statements that had been made , and wh : > believed lhat there was something remaining behind , simply because the statements he had alluded to had been repeated usque ad nauseam . No proof had been offered ; statements merely made and reiterated that the things were so . He had spent a great deal of his Masonic life in West York-
Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
shire , and he did not wish to come forward that day and do anything which might raise a spirit of controversy , but , from what he knew of West Yorkshire , he could say there was a great deal of uneasiness among the brethren there in these matters . They hardly knew what to believe , and he thought therefore that if the brethren came forvyard and passed his resolution at the Quarterly Court declaring
their unabated confidence in the management of the Boys ' School it would have now the end desired for . They were bound , as brother Masons , in his opinion , to support their House Committee and thc executive , believing that they had done their duty . He for one should certainly oppose any committee of enquiry , believing that the proper time was passed and gone . ( Br-:. Woodford concluded
by again reading his notice of motion ) . Bro . John Constable , P . M . 185 , said that , maintaining as he did that the charges made in thc pamphlets above alluded to were most unjustifiable and unwarrantable , he had great pleasure in seconding thc vote of confidence , if it was necessary , and passing at the same time a few remarks on the subject . He trusted that some effort would
be made at last to set aside the feelings which existed in West Yorkshire , and that the brethren present vvould lose 110 opportunity of reinstating the confidence which should exist , and which had hitherto existed in the House Committee , and also in thc Secretary . ( Hear , hear ) . Bro . Jesse Turner said he could not help thinking that there was such a thing to be observed in this matter as dignity .
The HouseCommittee and thc auditors could very well afford to stand on their dignity . They had gone into the matter thoroughly , and done all they could to find out the truth . A committee of enquiry was appointed , and they went . into the matter , having all the documents before them . That committee , in their report , stated that they did not find that any necessity existed for calling iu the assistance of an
expert , and that thc charges brought forward from time to time by the Province of West Yorkshire had failed . He thought that the brethren , while desiring to do all the good they could , vv ; re in reality attaching a great deal of importance to the matter which did not belong to it . The assertions of West Yorkshire as to what they were going to do were mere brutum lulmen . Let it go for what it
was worth . He did not think tbe brethren of West Yorkshire would t ike it unkindly if he said that we should not suffer very much from what they said as to getting r'd of Bro . Binckes and the matron . Therefore , let that go for what it was worth . He knew what the brethren would do : they vvould support Bro . Binckes and the committee ; but he thought they had done so much in this matter that
Ihey vvould go on meddling and muddling , a-id making a small fire into a great one at the end . The best course was to let the matter cure itself . There were some fires which burnt themselves out ; but in this case it appeared to him that they were fanning the flame . Bro . John Constable asked whether a vote of confidence would not meet the matter .
Bro . John Symonds , P . A . G . D . C , said he apprehended that at a Quarterly Court it would be perfectly competent to any subscriber to move for a committee of enquiry without previously giving notice . Whether that would be an expedient course or not he would offer no opinion . It was , however , the rule in all charities , and there was nothing in the laws of the Masonic Institutions to prevent it
Now , they must be prepared to deal with such a motion if it was brought forward . However , he was not going to express an opinion as to how that matter should be dealt with , or whether a committee should be granted or not . They did not know that any such motion would be made ; he only said it would be competent to any subscriber to make it . He vvould pass to another matter . He
found in the report which had been sent out by certain bre . thren who were constituted a Committee of Investigation , a letter addressed to Bro . Binckes , and signed by brethren who were described as Life Governors of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and members of the Committee of Investigation appointed by the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . He had always said , whenever
he had heard of the app . iintment of a Committee of Investigation on the part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire , that we could not recognize such a committeethat if we were to do so it vvould be quile competent for the Province of Kent at another time , or the Province of Devon at another , and so on for thc whole forty provincesthroughout England , to be continually appointing committees of
investigation ; but he likewise said that if any brother of West Yorkshire was placed on such a committee , although that committee were not recognised , and was a subscriber to the institution , he woulel be entitled , as a subscriber , to have an answer to any enquiry he might make . In the present case he found there were nine brethren from West Yorkshire who signed themselves Life Governors of the
Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and members of the Committee of Investigation appointed by the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . Tlieir tacking on those words " members cf thc Committee of Investigation , & c , " should not have prevented Bro . Binckes from replying to them as Life Governors . Bro . Binckes explained that the letter was sent to him .
and accompanying it was a letter from the Secretary to the committee , that he should esteem it a favour if Bro . Binckes would address his communication to his ( the Secretary ' s ) office . Consequently he considered that that was nothing more or less than an official communication , and , acting under a resolution of the General Committee , he was precluded from answering it in any way . They did
not apply as Life Governors , but through their official Secretary , who was a paid officer , and not a subscriber to the School at all . Bro . Symonds contended that though Bro . Binckes might have been right in ignoring Bro . Quarterman , the Secretary , he was not right in ignoring the signatories who were subscribers . Bro . Quarterman was not entitled to have the information , but the Life Governors were .