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r > OYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION & FOR BOYS , WOOD GREEN , LONDON , N . Office—6 , FREEMASONS' HALL , W . C . GRAND PATRON : HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN . PRESIDENT : mq ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES , HI K . G ., & c , M . W . G . M . THE NINETY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL WILL BE HELD AT THE ALEXANDRA PALACE , WOOD GREEN , N ., ON WEDNESDAY , 3 RD JULY , 1889 , UNDER THE PRESIDENCY OF The V . W . Bro . RICHARD EVE , PATRON OF THE INSTITUTION , P . G . Treasurer , Past Prov . S . G . W . of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight . President Board of Stewards—V . W . BRO . H . B . MARSHALL , J . P ., P . G . Treasurer , Patron of the Institution . Hon . Treasurer—W . BRO . CHAS . FRED . HOGARD , P . G . Std . Br ., Vice-Patron of the Institution . Full particulars will be duly announced . FREDERICK BINCKES , ( P . G . Swd . Br . ) , V .-Pat ., Secretary . , OFFICE— 4 Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C , 31 st May , 1889 . Ths services of Brethren as Stewards are most earnestly solicited . The Annual Stewards' Visit , Entertainment , and Distribution of Prizes to Pupils , -will take place at the Institution , at Wood Green , on Saturday , the 29 th June .

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ALEXANDRA PALAC E . — BROOKE'S GREAT MONKEY SHOW , organised by the Proprietors of Brooke ' s Soap . WHITSUNTIDE HOLIDAYS .-MARVELLOUS PROGRAMME . Monkeys 1000 . Splendid Exhibition of Belgian Pictures , Frederick ' s Grand Circus . De Cone , "World ' s Wizard . " Mr . fj . Ganthony ' s Skits and Sketches . Professor Singleton , Ventriloquist . M . Serveris C . Roy , Prestidigitateur . The Circassian Glinka Family . Band of Royal Horse Guards ( Blues ) . The Alexandra Palace Band . Organ Recitals . Grand Variety Entertainment . in Central Hall . Sisters La \ vrence , American Gymnasts . PROFESSOR BALDWIN'S LEAP FOR LIFE . Gorgeous Firework Display , by James Pain , "The Phantom Chase . " " The Balloon , " in large Theatre , by Strand Company . Boating on the Lakes , Switchback . Eccentric Roley Potey . Venetian Canal with Gondolas . Toboggan . Swings . Shooting Galleries , & c , & c . Trains every few minutes , from King's Cross , Broad Street , Liverpool Street , Morgate Street , & c , Sec , at through fares , including admission . One Shilling admits to all Performances . Open from 10 a . m . until 10 p . m . Admission , One Shilling . S . LEE BAPTY , General Manager .

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FRAZER'S Purify the Blood , Improve the Complexion , Insure ' T Good Health , Make Work a Pleasure , and Life SULPHUR Enjoyable . Sold by Chemists at i / ij , or post free _ . J $ Stamps from FRAZER & Co ., ig , Ludgate HilJ , TABLETS London . Agents Wanted . Liberal Terms . Whole-~"""""™""" - ^— sale : The Grocers' Association , Ltd ., London , S . E ,

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

Several Reports , Letters , & c , unavoidably stand over .

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^S^^^^^^ *^^^^_ ^ S ^^^^^^ v ^^^ _^ w _ y ^ - ^ l % ,: ' ? ki SATURDAY , J 8 , 1889 ,

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

^ OYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS . r >„ „ . ^ ° the Editor of the " Freemason . " uear Sir and Brother , Sn < F •"A straw will show the way the wind blows , " and recent e a ' ready ^ given in your columns of the h » n an enquiring member of the Craft may expect if Schooi Yv criticise the Committees of the Boys ' Dorrit v ! snou ' ^ nave over again the scene in Little Dena » W a ' ^' wedding , Barnacle Junior of the Office rvl « - h ° W not to do il at the Circumlocution youn » ' ' '' indignation , communicate to two vapid look h ^ emen > "is relatives , that there was a feller here , appoint' i ° ^ come to our Department without an that looUh an ^ Said he wanted to know » y ° know ; and youkno u ' ^ ^ e w as to break out now , as he might « now ^ . toT you never could tell what an ungentlcmanly

Original Correspondence.

Radical of that sort would be up to next ) and was to say , I'olc here , that he wanted to know , this moment , you know , that would be jolly ; would'nt it ? " By way of deprecating wrath at my observations on the responsibilities of the Committees , I desire to say in starting , that with the exception of the two names already mentioned in your columns , I do not know even the names

of the members , and have carefully abstained from enquiring . I beg , therefore , that it may be understood that I am not in any way referring to individuals , some of whom for aught I know may be among my personal friends . It is the system which is open to the gravest censure . Writing as I do on the eve of the Special General Court , and uncertain as to whether or not the Institution may have any

Committee at all when these lines are read , I desire to make my criticisms general rather than particular . And the first thing I have to say is that no brother ought to accept a seat on a Committee of any public institution such as a Masonic Charity , unless he has time to devote to its duties . It is no doubt an honour ; but it is more , it is a responsibility . I know that the same man will

accept a seat at several boards of public companies and give a " proforma" attendance of a few minutes on the board day , rushing from one Company ' s Office to another during the luncheon hour . But he is paid for that , and his attendance is worth as much , or as little , as he gets . On the other hand , when he works for love , he ought to satisfy himself before he accepts office that he has time to

discharge its duties . But further , he ought to have independence . I am told that Committees are often packed , that there is no chance for an outsider getting on , and that independent men are neither wanted nor welcomed . Well , that is not my ovn experience of Committees of charitable societies . The man " who wants to know , you know , " sometimes makes

himself more unpleasant than useful , but none who really desire the good of an institution resent proper enquiry or criticism ; and I think that , secretly , Chairman and Secretaries despise men who are mere dummies at the Board , who only do what they are told and then walk away . Such men remind me of the cartoon in which , years ago , Punch represented Lord John Russell , as a page boy ,

seeking a situation , whom Mrs . Britannia looked over , in his buttons , and pronounced " not strong enough for the place . " At the beginning of my Masonic life , I well remember a brother , a member of my own profession , and whose name is now held in the highest honour , saying , when asked to undertake some duty— " I have made it a rule of my life never to undertake a post for which I felt I had neither time nor strength . " If this has not always been the rule of the members of the ' House and Audit Committees of the Boys' School in the past , I sincerely trust that it may be adopted by them for the future . The duties of the House Committee are referred to in the Report ( p . 7 ) , and include superintending , the regulations of the establishment , and the appointment of the

officers . The examination of the building and premises , with power to refer to the General Committee , is a special feature . It is clear , therefore , that when we read ( p . 12 ) that the accommodation provided is " deficient and unsatisfactory , neither is the best possible use made of the structure ; " and when , further on , we hear that "more intelligent supervision is requiied in regulating the

ventilation and warming of the ground-floor ; " that "the appliances provided do not work satisfactorily , and in some cases are hardly usable ; " that "the class-rooms are dark and cheerless , and only adapted to two-thirds of the numbers taught in them ; " while the library and laundry are practically unused , and other apartments ( including the room of considerable size in which the House Steward

keeps his dogs ) require to beset free ; then it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that the Committee is to blame . I do not include other matters as to which deficiency of funds might be pleaded as an excuse , such as the want of a common room for the masters , an indoor playroom , and a larger servants ' living room ; though J believe the requisite funds for these

objects would easily have been raised had the wants been made known . But the ordinary funds are ample to have provided that the gaslights should be fixed at a suitable height , and that , when half the bathroom accommodaation was removed , a substitute should have been formed so as not to leave the bathing accommodation four times too small according to the original design ( p . 14 ) . And

lack of funds cannot be pleaded to excuse the dirty state of the floors of the dining and large halls , with a staff of 29 female servants ; nor for the fact that the appliances for exinguishing fire encumber the passages , and from neglect are in a perfectly unworkable condition ( p . 15 ) . lhey ought , of course , to be constantly attended to , and here should be a regular fire drill among the boys ( as on

board ship ) if the risk of a terrible calamity is to be avoided . A lack of common sense , more than of funds , seems to have distinguished a former Committee in its attempts at domestic discip line and economy . The Report ( p . 17 ) speaks of the severe strain caused by dismissing all the assistant masters at once in June , 1887 , and it showed as

little wisdom as kindness when the boys could not eat the fish provided to stop their pudding . Was it thought that that would recommend the fish to the average boyish intelligence ? It is to be hoped the cocoa was never " bad " on the fish days , or the lads may have had to go through their day ' s work ( we wont speak of play ) on the strength of a piece of bread for breakfast and another at dinner . ^m

We are told ( p . 24 ) that the mugs are so broken that the boys don ' t get their nominal allowance of cocoa . You say it is a little matter to make a fuss about—would that it was a solitary case . The Report says it is typical—it is more , it is ominous . The conclusion of the Report as respects the House Committee is that it " should be able and willing to take

and keep the control in its own hands , be in touch withthe general life of the School , give more personal attention , and exercise an intelligent authority in the Institution . " With this no one can reasonably grumble . Coming now to the Finance and Audit Committee , its great duty besides checking the tradesmen ' s accounts seems to be , under Law 49 , to see that the receipts and

payments are correctly entered , subscriptions posted up , and ihe annual accounts propeily prepared . Bio . Philbvick ' s Committee found on enquiry for the books that no cash book was kept ( p . 33 ) , that the receipt of moneys was recorded solely by the counterfoils of the receipt books ; that there was nothing to identify any particular payment with the letter or advice covering the remittance , and

Original Correspondence.

that the letters were not preserved . So that if accidentally or otherwise a receipt is omitted to be given , all tract , of the transaction would be lost . The bankers virtually kept the cash account of the Institution , but there was no check on them except by comparing the counterfoils with the paying in slips , and the cheque book with the pass book . This system ( or rather want of system ) is

emphatically condemned by the Report , which says ( p . 34 ) , " the facility given for irregularity and mistake is obvious . The books kept are not arranged on any systematic plan , nor are they such as would be permitted in any business establishment . " Yet the finance Committee has never accompanied their certificate of the correctness of the annual account

by any report or observations , or expressed dissatisfaction , or suggested any alteration or modification in the way the accounts are either kept or published , ( p . 40 . ) Further on the Report says ( p . 41 ) , "The Audit Committee exercises no independent authority in matters of finance , and

does little , if anything , more than vouch for the accuracy of such matters as are put before it . It does not in any way control , check , or regulate the expenditure , and in no way attempts to see , as we think it ought , that the published accounts are properly framed , and exactly correspond to the figures they have audited . "

It is not wonderful , after all that has gone before , to learn towards the close of the Report that the average annual expenditure is £ 51 for every one of the 258 boys maintained by the Institution , or that this is double the cost per child in the Yorkshire Society's School . And though . the Boys' School may be compared more favourably with the other Institutions mentioned in the Table on p . 42 , the

result is that our expenditure is 33 per cent , over the highest of all the other Institutions . In the conclusion of the Report , as respects the accounts , there can be no difference of opinion , viz ., that the Finance Committee should in future regulate the expenditure , under the House Committee , the accounts being kept by a qualified public accountant .

1 would add as a matter of general interest to those connected with Charitable Institutions that a useful little paper — "On the Auditing of Charity Accounts , " by G . Van ' de Linde—has been recently published by the Charity Organisation Society . It shows what books of account ought , from a professional point of view , to be kept by these societies . It will well repay a careful perusal .

In bringing these observations to a close I would desire earnestly to endorse what has been already suggested—" that nothing which has been written or said should lead to a slackening of interest in the School , much less to a falling off , of pecuniary support . Such a resul f , paiticularly at the forthcoming annual festival , would be disastrous . We may be sure that no money given this year will be wasted .

Bearing in mind the shock which has been given by the Report , and its possible effect on some minds , and also the necessity which is apparent for at once spending a considerable sum on the building , there was probably never a year when money was more urgently required than this . To stop the supplies is , as you say , madness . It is not a question of this or that brother's failings or feelings , but of

the boys'bread and butter . "Men may come and men may go , " but the needs of the Institution " go on for ever . " A brother who is acting as a Steward for the Boys ' this year , and who told me , after a careful study of the Report , that he considered its criticisms were amply

justified , added , that he should work harder than ever to make this Festival a success . His list already exceeds £ 100 . If all the brethren who have volunteered will take the same view , a grave source of anxiety will be removed , and the Craft will meet the crisis as Masons should . —I am , yours fraternally , F . H . ROOKE . June 3 id . " 'To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , In your leading column for to-day yau enter , I see , a protest against the course that has been adopied by certain members of the Carnarvon Lodge , No . 1572 , in confirming the action of the W . M . in withdrawing from

his Stewardship , and resolving that under present circumstances of the School no subscriptions should be paid to it . But I think you have not done full justice to the brethren in question , for you have omitted to mention that they also resolved " that the subscriptions received shall be paid into the Benevolent Fund of the Carnarvon Lodge , 1572 , and there remain at the disposal of the Subscribers . "

Moreover , the circular from the Carnarvon Lodge dated 21 st April , and printed in full on page 325 of to-day ' s Freemason , plainly shows , I think , the humane desire of its authors to cure , not kill , their patients , for they suggest not the stoppage of supplies until a cure has been effected , as you infer , but only the suspension of the payment of the subscriptions to the present managing authorities until

the remedies they recommend are adopted , viz .: ( 1 ) The resignation of the House and Audit Committees ; ( 2 ) The removal of all the officers implicated in the Report of the Investigation Committee ; and ( 3 ) the carrying out of all the reforms named in that Report . These are certainly drastic remedies , but not , in my opinion , more than the " present circumstances" of the

case seem to demand . " A wise man does not ( as you very truly say ) set about repairing his house by pulling it about his ears , but he takes counsel with himself , and probably with some experienced architect , to ascertain and remedy the defects . " But what if architect and workmen alike insist on overlooking the owner ' s responsibilities , and disregarding his wishes , andonplunginghiminto further

expenditure and inconvenience ? The specific remedy in such a case is , surely , just the one prescribed by these worthy brethren of the Carnarvon Lodge— " Employ another architect and different workmen ! " It is , indeed , much to be deplored that it has so happened that the nominations for the new House and Audit Committees occurred only seven days after the Investigation Committee ' s Report was presented , and that the election

for those Committees had followed only five days before the Special Quarterly Court , to be held on Thursday next , for the very ~ purpose of considering the charges of mismanagement against those two Committees . I know , of course , lhat the dates for both the nominations and the elections are fixed by rule , but that is not my present point . Who ( it is being asked on all sides ) is responsible for the delay of nearly six weeks between the submission and the consideration of the Investigation Committee ' s Report ? And why has its discussion by the Special Court been postponed till