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were there to do was to bring about again that feeling of Freemasonry which had existed , to cement the fraternity , and in every way to make this institution what it ought to be—a successful one . But , having said that , let him again say that he would endorse and was ready to prove to thc very hilt every statement as authentic that was made in thc report of the committee .

Every word of it was true ; every figure was true . If there was one figure there that was not correct , or one statement put forth that could not be justified by the printed reports of the institution , he would submit to any infliction and penalty the meeting might choose to put upon him . ( Hear , hear . ) Having investigated these reports , and having arrived , as he said , at the conclusion

at which he had , it was very hard for Bro . Woodford to say that when they were justifying the Executive Committee they were casting a censure on the Province of West Yorkshire . Bro . the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford rose to explain that he did not say this , but that he was unwilling to appear , even by implication , to cast a censure on the province .

Bro . Gill said he had taken the words down , and could not be mistaken . However , if Bro . Woodford now asserted that his statement just made was the correct one , he felt bound to accept it . He ( Bro . Gill ) had had the pleasure of enjoying the friendship of Bro . Binckes for a long time , and he had never entertained one unkind thought towards him . He ( Bro . Gill ) asked for nothing like the

dismissal of the Secretary , or the replacement of the committee by a new one ; but he would ask the brethren to hesitate before passing the resolution of Bro . Woodford ( Hear , hear . ) With all deference and respect to the House Committee , he would say that the House Committee did not deserve the confidence of the brethren so far as this resolution would make out , and this he would show by what

he was going to state . ( Oh ! oh ! and hear , hear , and confusion . ) He believed there was not a brother on that committee that was not a high principled gentleman . ( Hear , hear , and general applause . ) He had nothing to say against the character of those gentlemen ( hear , hear ) , but he ventured to submit that they had been remiss where the transaction of the business of the institution was

concerned , and also so far as the expenditure of the institution went . ( Loud cries of " No , no , " which were met by a few cries of "Hear , hear . " ) The matter was one entirely for the opinion of the brethren : he was not going to labour the point . The report of the institution was the basis on which they went , and should go ( hear , hear ) , and it was intolerable that the secretarial expenses should reach to over

jfjiopcrboy . ( Great uproar . ) Thc reports did not fairly state what the cost per boy per annum was ; but if the brethren would read what he believed to be a careful and truthful statement of thc Investigation Committee , they would say that the expenditure of the secretarial office was an extravagant one , and ought to be revised and ' curtailed . ( Mingled cheers and expressions of dissent . ) They did not

devote their time and their money in West Yorkshire to quarrel with this state of things ; but perhaps when he said that West Yorkshire had provided one seventh of the whole expenditure of the Boys' School , they must allow that the brethren of that province had always been liberal . Whatever Bro . Binckes had asked for at any time he had got from West Yorkshire . True , it might be said that they

had got their return . He admitted it ; the brethren of West Yorkshire were men of business , anti took care to get a fair return for what they paid . I'l this they only did what they had a right to do ; they availed themselves of privileges the Craft had given them . It must therefore be admitted that they had no interest in injuring the institution . Their true object , on the contrary , was to further its

best interests , and if there was a serious blot on the institution , they ought to do as they did now . The brethren of West Yorkshire now came , as they ought in the first instance to have come , to this Quarterly Court . ( Hear , hear ) They believed there were certain things that ought to be remedied , lt had gone forth into the province that there was extravagant expenditure in the administration of the

School somewhere , and it would give confidence to thc brethren in the provinces if a certain number of brethren from the provinces were appointed on the committee to enquire into it . ( Hear , hear , and no , no . ) He did not ask for ap investigation committee ; but place upon the House Committee such a fair " proportion of provincial brethren as would give the provinces confidence—as would give them

thc assurance that all the expenditure that was incurred was fairly and properly incurred for those for whom they cared so much , the inmates of the institution . But where there was extravagant expenditure , as he asserted and re-asserted , not only in thc Secretary ' s office but in domestic matters , then , he said , they had a right to

complain . In the institution , if they would take the pains to look , they would find—and how could it be tolerated that it should be so—that during the last ten years there had been five changes of head-masters , and twenty of assistant masters . Could it be said that the executive did not know the reason why , who had done so much for the institution ? How was it that all the masters that were

discarded went away with some unhappy grievance , and brought discredit upon the institution . ( Hear , hear , and signs of disapprobation . ) Two assistant masters had left lately , and four others would leave by the ist of May , and when he said this the brethren must admit that there was something which ought to be enquired into by this Court . He would not say where the blot was , but that it was for for the House Comittee to put their finger on the blot , and

to remove it . How could they ask the Provincial brethren's support unless they could shew them that great care had been taken in regulating the expenditure . He again asked for provincial brethren to be placed on the House Committee , and so give further confidence to the provinces by letting them see what was the inner machinery of the establishment in London . He had the confidence of his fellow-townsmen ; he was chief magistrate of his district , and when he had suggestions of complaints made to him ,

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

he had them enquired into . Thc present was a matter to be eneiuircd into with thc greatest care . He had 'had placed in his hands a statement by provincial o-cntlemen that certainly if true would be a discredit to the management of the institution .

Thc Chairman reminded Bro . Gill that he should go upon strict evidence . Bro . Gill said he would certainly bow at once to the suggestion ; but he was only urging this because it would give greater force to his application that the province might be fairly represented upon the House Committee . Inasmuch as there were upon the House Committee

certain brethren who had been upon it for years , they should give place to others . There was uot a member of it who sat there for his own gratification , but believed that the true interests of the institution were being served by him . He again asked for new members to be put upon the House Committee , to shew that there was no foundation for the charges which had been made . If this was refused the

brethren would say that there was something that' was wished to be concealed . ( No , no . ) For himself he believed that there was nothing to conceal , that there was not one penny , with the connivance of thc committee , improperly expended ; but it was the reckless and thoughtless passing of thc accounts that ought to be supervised . He believed this was the feeling of ihe brethren . They ought

to be heard . Was it magnanimous on the part of thc brethren to pass a censure on thc brethren of West Yorkshire by this vote of confidence ? The Chairman said he would like to make a little suggestion here—that the words , " having in view recent imputations cast on thc administration of thc Royal Masonic Institution for Boys " sho-jld be struck out , and that it

should read , "that tins Court deems it to be its duty , " e * : c . This , he thought , would take away any sting that might be supposed , to exist in the present motion . He said this for the sake of peace . Bro . Gill : Let them in the interest of peace have no resolution whatever . ' ( No , no . ) If the brethren had no less confidence than he did it would be well . They cast

no imputations on the executive at all . It would give the greater confidence in the management if anything in thc shape of mismanagement was rectified . lie called for the brethren to vote against the motion , which was a censure on the brethren of West Yorkshire who had conscientiously signed thc report . ( Cheers . ) Col . Ridgway said he represented a province which

though not so large as Bro . Gill ' s was still a large and important one—the province ol Devon , of which he was a Past Grand Warden ; and he wished to have the opportunity of in some respects supporting , and in others of disavowing , the views which had been enunciated as the views of thc provinces . Bro . Gill had just said that they should wait before they

voted on this resolution for . such explanations as would ci-. able them to come to a sound decision on the case ; but they must riot forget that it was impossible to have explanations from a body which was accused unless they had a lawful indictment prepared against them , and unless a fair opportunity was given them for explanation . ( Hear , hear . ) Bro . Gill had also said that the Mouse

Committee as at present constituted did not give confidence to the provinces , and he had , whilst repudiating the idea of giving the power to vote upon the question , himself voted ; he had been both judge and jury , and declared that thc provinces withheld their confidence from the committee . Several points had been brought before the brethren which he would not enlarge upon . There must be

many brethren from the provinces as well as in London who would wish to speak upon matters which were fit and proper for the consideration of this Court ; but he wished to elraw attention to one or two points which he thought had been forgotten both in the excitement which had produced thc charge against the 'committee and thc charge which had not been openly preferred , and in the

excitement which had led to thc proposal of this resolution . It appeared to him that the course taken-before the late General Committee of thc Boys' School was a wise one , not to vote on a resolution or take any notice of it if not brought before them in a legal manner ; and it struck him as very questionable whether it was a proper course in defence of a body not openly attacked to propose a resolution of this

character . But since it had been proposed it was very evident that the brethren representing the provinces should not allow the resolution to be withdrawn without being thoioughly ventilated , and a condemnation to be passed on the wrong doers , if wrong doers there were , without thc charge being supported by strict evidence . The matter appeared to lie in a nutshell . [ In the first place a false

issue was before the brethren . They were asked to express confidence in a body against whom no man had had the courage to come forward in a legal way to make a charge . ( Hear , hear , and No , no . ) On the other hand there had been false issues raised in a manner unknown to Masonry , and they had been dealt with in a manner in which he believed the committee alone * \' e *

able to deal with them , by referring the charges to a select committee to examine and report upon thc specific charges . He had the honour to be nominated on . 'thai committee , and his name appeared as one . of those who signed the report ; and he did not hesitate to say from the circumstances that came before the committee on that occasion that the question was not oue of expenses or no

expenses , it was not a question of whether the House Committee was extravagant or not extravagant ; but the real question was a personal question . ( Cries of Hear , hear No , no , and gicat uproar . ) He was speaking as a man of responsibility and as hiving no feeling in the matter ,

He was not a member of the House Committee or of the General Committee except as Vice-President of the institution , and , what was more , he had been absent from London for the last seven years until recently . He therefore came to this matter with a fresh and he believed unprejudiced mind . He believed the course he took on that committee

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

was dictated by the same feelings as would have actuated any of the other brethren , a elesire to look for the one point of ' truth which as an honest man he could find , and to give his vote ' according to the evidence brought before him . The question was now narrowed from a question of expenses to one of personalities . ( Hear , hear , and No , no , and confusion . ) If they would allow him he would simply

express his opinion on the subject . The issue before thc brethren he said distinctly was not whether the expenses of this institution were too great , nor whether thc provincial brethren had sufficient weight in the management of its affairs ; but whether—and this was the light in which he viewed Bro . Woodford ' s proposition and the grounds on which healone supported it—was it Masonic or consistent with

their duty to allow a pamphlet to be circulated like the one to which attention had been drawn ? ( Continued applause , mingled with marks of disapproval . ) This was the point —a pamphlet containing charges of a very fearful character against an individual and a scries of individualswhether that should be allowed to be inculcated , or whether they should take any step or no step against the

maker of such charges . ( Cheers , and disturbance . ) He was not a man to be put down by clamour , neither was he one who would raise his voice for one moment to support anything that was not a true and ri ghteous course . Now , he said , as a member of that special committee , they had laid before them a specific and pointed charge , with which they dealt

categorically . Thc charge was distinctly that certain sums of money had not been properly accounted for . They had to ascertain whether certain charges loosely made in an irresponsible and unusual manner , or imputations which had been cast upon the committee and upon the Secretary , were correct , and-whethcr thc evidence they had would justify this j Court in repudiating such charges . So far as the evidence i

of those charges was concerned thc feeling of the Special j Committee was in f . nour of the honourable cdnduct of the i I louse Committee , of the Audit Committee , and of the Secretary . Further than that they had no right to bind the general body of thc subscribers to the Boys' School . They ; had no right to come to the Quarterl y Court to raise a false issue as to whether the school was well managed , or

whether the expenses were too much or too little , lt was not for this meeting to raise an issue whether the cost per boy was £ i , or £ 5 , or £ 10 too much ; but whether a pamphlet such as had been issued by Bros . Tew and Perrott was to be allowed to be sent broadcast through the length and breadth of the Craft and create such an agitation , as had been already raised . Bro . Gill had asked how it was

that hvc head masters and twenty assistant Masters had b ? en changed within a few years , and how at the present moment dissatisfaction was felt with tlie arrangements of the- school . 1 le ( Bro . Col . Ridgway ) knew nothing about this . If others were about to leave it was not to be wondered at at all when it was recollecteel lhat these pamphlets had been circulated with a view of casting a slur

upon thc House Commute and Secretary , and of supporting Bro . Perrott , who was formerly head master . They were not there to cast . 1 slur upon Bro . Perrott ; but it must be remembered that this school was different to such schools as Eton and Harrow , that they cculd not have at the Masonic Boys' School a kind of autocracy on thc part ofthe head masters . First of all , we had to get our funds

before we spent them , and for that purpose it was necessary that there should be no antagonism between the men who spent the money and those who subscribed it . It was not a question whether a mere Secretary should be pitted against a mere head master , but whether the committee , with that sense of responsibility and ability which they had always displayed , had discharged their duties properly .

It was unquestionabl y the fact that their Secretary bad been a very great supporter of this school , for thc brethren in the provinces knew well—without in the least descending into the arena of petty squabbles between Masters and Secretary—that whereas the school a few years ago was a small school , it was now a large school , and that whereas a few years back , when Bro . Binckes first came , the annual

subscriptions were a little over £ 1000 , they were in the last year over £ 13 , 000 , and all this was mainly owing ' to him . He had now stated thc real point for the brethren to decide upon , and he should trust to them to vote . ( Cheers . ) Bro . J . L . I line said that , as representing the largest province under thc English constitution , he had listened very attentively to what had been urged . When the

pamphlet was published copies of it were sent to him as chairman of the Charity Committee of his Province of East Lancashire , with a request that he would call his committee together to go through the pamphlet to ascertain what its merits or demerits were . The committee met 1 the pamphlet was read to them from beginning to end , and they came to a unanimous vote that in the first place

it > as very unmasonic to publish such a pamphlet ; and in thc next place to send it to other provinces . They had not heard of it before ; but he knew from the exertions he had had to make to get subscriptions that you had only got to shew a great number of , men a very little reason why they should not subscribe , ' and they readily adopted

that view . Depend upon it they would not subscribe it cause was shown why they should not , and it was for this reason , in the first place , that the pamphlet was wrong . I » the second place his committee came to the conclusion that there was nothing in the pamphlet that for oric moment should induce thc brethren to withdraw from the House

Committee and the executive that support and that confidence thej had hitherto received . This report was read at the Provincial Grand Lod ge , and it received a very hearty reception . They told the Provincial Grand Lodge what he had now told this Quarterly Court , and they were

satisfied with the result of the Charity Committees labours on that particular question . ( Hear , hear . ) He considered it was only right to make these remarks in order that it might go forth that they had enquired into this matter . The brethren of East Lancashire certainly di * 1 think that the expenses of the School might be a little bit