Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Approaching Elections Of The R.M. Benevolent Institution.
THE APPROACHING ELECTIONS OF THE R . M . BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .
THE MALE FUND .
The annual elections of candidates on the two Funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution are appointed to be held at Freemasons' Tavern , on Friday , the 16 th May , when , considering the very large number of applicants , and the paucity of the vacancies to be filled , a more than usually keen contest may
be anticipated , especially among the Widows , who are more formidable in point of numbers than the men , and have fewer vacancies to compete for . For the Male Fund the number of candidates was declared in February as 68 , and the number of vacancies as 14 , namely , 11 immediate and three deferred ; but
since then five deaths have been reported , and as the vacancies thus caused are certain to be filled up as well as any which may occur in the interval that remains , and as one if not two candidates have died since the list was made , the probabilities are in favour of the ratio of competitors to vacancies being as about
three to one . Of the 68 candidates on the list , 21 hail from London , while there are six others in which London'has an interest conjointly with one or more Provinces . The Provincial and District candidates are 41 in number . Of the 21 London candidates , No . 5 brings forward 93 votes as the result of four
previous trials , while No . 7 , whose name has been on the list for the same number of years , has 6 7 6 votes in hand . Nos . 16 , 17 , 19 , 21 , and 22 have been candidates at two previous elections , No . 16 having the goodly score of 177 8 votes to his credit ; No . 17 , 1241 votes ; No . 19 , only 43 votes ; No . 2 r , 10 S votes ; and No .
22 , but 47 votes . No . 24 , with 177 votes to his credit ; No . 31 , with 1 745 votes ; No . 32 , with 630 votes ; No . 34 , with 239 votes ; and No . 3 8 , with 7 65 votes to the good , were candidates for the first time in May , 1889 ; and Nos . 47 , 4 8 , 49 , 51 , 54 , 55 , 62 , 64 , and 6 7 are new applicants , whose petitions have been
accepted since the last election . The half-dozen cases in which London has only a part interest are No . 13 , who belonged to lodges situated in London , Surrey , and Warwickshire , and brings forward 13 61 votes from two previous attempts ; No . 30
( London and Hampshire and Isle of Wight ) , with 1717 votes to the good from last election ; and No . 3 6 ( London and Kent ) , with 73 6 votes ; and No . 44 ( London and Durham ) , No . 45 ( Lincolnshire , London , and Middlesex ) , and No . 57 ( Kent , London , and Surrey ) , all of whom are new cases .
Of the 41 Provincial candidates , there are as many as seven from Devonshire , namely , No . 4 , who has stood five elections already , and has only 117 votes in hand ; No . 14 , who brings forward seven votes from his two previous attempts ; No . 18 ,
who has 86 votes to his credit , as the result of the same number of trials ; No . 26 , who has five votes in hand ; No . 37 , who has none at all from the election in May , 1889 ; and Nos . 42 and 43 , who are both on the point of making their first attempt . North and East Yorkshire and West Yorkshire are both of them
responsible for five candidates , those from the former Province being No . 2 with 60 votes , resulting from seven previous trials ; No . 6 , with 35 votes , from four ; No . 9 , with 17 votes , from three ; No . 11 , with 47 votes , from two ; ancl No . 25 , with none from last year . The West Yorkshire five are Nos . 27 , 28 , 29
( with 1808 votes in hand ) , who were candidates last year , and Nos . 40 and 5 6 , who are fresh cases . There are half-a-dozen Provinces which send up each two applicants , namely : Hants and I . of W ., which is responsible for No . 1 , whose name has been on the list since some time previous to the 1881 election , and
who brings forward 6 4 6 votes , and No . 8 , who started as a candidate in 188 7 , and has 88 4 votes to his credit . Northumberland sends up No . 3 , who has 226 votes in hand from six previous elections , and No . 59 , a new applicant ; Berks and Bucks , No .
10 , who has 3 8 from three , and No . 15 , who has 557 votes from two previous elections ; EastLancashire , No . 12 , with three votes brought forward from 1888 and 188 9 , and No . 68 ; Kent , No . 20 , who was a candidate for the first time in 1888 , and has 43 votes .
The Approaching Elections Of The R.M. Benevolent Institution.
and No . 66 , a new case ; and West Lancashire , from which we have Nos . 58 and 6 3 , both of whom will try their fortune for the first time on this occasion . The remaining candidates under this head are from Essex ( No . 23 , with 411 votes from last year ) , Lincolnshire ( No . 33 , with 6 votes in hand ) , ancl Bengal ( No . 39 ) ,
Shropshire ( No . 41 ) , Durham ( No . 4 6 ) , Cheshire ( No . 52 ) , Oxfordshire ( No . 60 ) , together with the following , which have claims on more than one Province , that is to say , No . 35 on
Cheshire and East Lancashire ; No . 50 on Gloucestershire and Berks and Bucks ; No . 53 on Cambridgeshire and Northants and Hunts ; No . 56 on West Yorkshire and East Lancashire ; and No . 61 from Guernsey and Devonshire .
The above is a brief sketch of the manner in which the 68 cases on the list are distributed , and , as we have said , there is every chance of close on one-third of them being among the successful , the number of appointments , including the three deferred , being already 19 . Here , of course , there are no last
cases , as at the School elections , but we trust those Governors and Subscribers who have not yet promised their votes will do something to clear the list of those approved candidates who
have already been upwards of four years before the public , and who , to judge from the votes which most of them have succeeded in obtaining , appear to have but little prospect of securing any of the prizes .
THE WIDOWS' FUND . The widow candidates have almost invariably mustered in greater force than the men , but this year they are more numerous than—if our memory serves us rightly—they ever were before . The list contains 8 4 names , but we believe one has died , so that there will actually be 8 3 widows competing for the 10 vacancies
—seven immediate and three deferred—which were declared in February , and which , as no deaths have occurred in the interim , remain unaltered . Thus the proportion of candidates to vacancies will be between 8 i- and 83- to one , or considerably worse than the proportion of last year , when the candidates were 81 , and the number elected 13 .
As to the distribution of the candidates , London furnishes 31 , and has an interest in five other cases , while the Provinces make up a total of 48 . Taking the London candidates , we find that Nos . 2 and 3 have been trying to obtain admission , one since 1881 , and the other since 188 3 , and that the former has 94 votes to
her credit , and the latter 972 votes . No . 11 , who will make her sixth attempt in May next , brings forward 992 votes , while No . 12 , after a similar experience , has only 37 6 on account . No . 16 , who made her debut in 188 7 , brings forward 206 votes ; while No . 19 , who has been a competitor at three previous
elections , starts with a substantial array of 239 6 votes in her favour . Nos . 21 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 28 , and 30 began their careers as candidates in 1888 , No . 21 bringing forward i 960 votes ; No . 23 , 1263 votes ; No . 25 , no less than 2443 votes ; No . 26 , 975 votes ; No . 28 , 1090 votes ; and No . 30 , only
97 votes . The following were candidates in May , 188 9 , namely : No . 35 , No . 3 6 ( with 241 votes in hand ) , No . 37 ( with 7 6 votes ) , No . 40 ( with 215 votes ) , No . 41 ( with 520 votes ) , No ' . 43 ( with 272 votes ) , No . 44 ( with 1305 votes ) , No . 47 ( with 1070 votes ) , No . 48 and No . 52 ( with 523 votes ); and
Nos . 65 , 66 , 6 7 , 70 , 71 , 74 , 75 , 79 , and 8 3 are new candidates , whose claims to the benefits of the Institution were recognised some time during the past year . Of the five part London and part Provincial applicants , No . 4 6 , hailing from Cheshire and
London , starts with 543 votes in hand ; No . 54 , from London and West Lancashire , has 116 votes to the good ; No . 56 , from London and Essex , has 231 votes ; while No . 6 4 , from YViltshire , Berks and Bucks , London , & c , & c , ancl No . 7 6 , from London and North and East Yorkshire , are new candidates .
Turning to the Provincial candidates , we find Kent responsible for nine , namely : No . 5 , who has 8 3 votes from six previous elections ; No . 9 , who has 2100 votes , and No . io , 575
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Approaching Elections Of The R.M. Benevolent Institution.
THE APPROACHING ELECTIONS OF THE R . M . BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .
THE MALE FUND .
The annual elections of candidates on the two Funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution are appointed to be held at Freemasons' Tavern , on Friday , the 16 th May , when , considering the very large number of applicants , and the paucity of the vacancies to be filled , a more than usually keen contest may
be anticipated , especially among the Widows , who are more formidable in point of numbers than the men , and have fewer vacancies to compete for . For the Male Fund the number of candidates was declared in February as 68 , and the number of vacancies as 14 , namely , 11 immediate and three deferred ; but
since then five deaths have been reported , and as the vacancies thus caused are certain to be filled up as well as any which may occur in the interval that remains , and as one if not two candidates have died since the list was made , the probabilities are in favour of the ratio of competitors to vacancies being as about
three to one . Of the 68 candidates on the list , 21 hail from London , while there are six others in which London'has an interest conjointly with one or more Provinces . The Provincial and District candidates are 41 in number . Of the 21 London candidates , No . 5 brings forward 93 votes as the result of four
previous trials , while No . 7 , whose name has been on the list for the same number of years , has 6 7 6 votes in hand . Nos . 16 , 17 , 19 , 21 , and 22 have been candidates at two previous elections , No . 16 having the goodly score of 177 8 votes to his credit ; No . 17 , 1241 votes ; No . 19 , only 43 votes ; No . 2 r , 10 S votes ; and No .
22 , but 47 votes . No . 24 , with 177 votes to his credit ; No . 31 , with 1 745 votes ; No . 32 , with 630 votes ; No . 34 , with 239 votes ; and No . 3 8 , with 7 65 votes to the good , were candidates for the first time in May , 1889 ; and Nos . 47 , 4 8 , 49 , 51 , 54 , 55 , 62 , 64 , and 6 7 are new applicants , whose petitions have been
accepted since the last election . The half-dozen cases in which London has only a part interest are No . 13 , who belonged to lodges situated in London , Surrey , and Warwickshire , and brings forward 13 61 votes from two previous attempts ; No . 30
( London and Hampshire and Isle of Wight ) , with 1717 votes to the good from last election ; and No . 3 6 ( London and Kent ) , with 73 6 votes ; and No . 44 ( London and Durham ) , No . 45 ( Lincolnshire , London , and Middlesex ) , and No . 57 ( Kent , London , and Surrey ) , all of whom are new cases .
Of the 41 Provincial candidates , there are as many as seven from Devonshire , namely , No . 4 , who has stood five elections already , and has only 117 votes in hand ; No . 14 , who brings forward seven votes from his two previous attempts ; No . 18 ,
who has 86 votes to his credit , as the result of the same number of trials ; No . 26 , who has five votes in hand ; No . 37 , who has none at all from the election in May , 1889 ; and Nos . 42 and 43 , who are both on the point of making their first attempt . North and East Yorkshire and West Yorkshire are both of them
responsible for five candidates , those from the former Province being No . 2 with 60 votes , resulting from seven previous trials ; No . 6 , with 35 votes , from four ; No . 9 , with 17 votes , from three ; No . 11 , with 47 votes , from two ; ancl No . 25 , with none from last year . The West Yorkshire five are Nos . 27 , 28 , 29
( with 1808 votes in hand ) , who were candidates last year , and Nos . 40 and 5 6 , who are fresh cases . There are half-a-dozen Provinces which send up each two applicants , namely : Hants and I . of W ., which is responsible for No . 1 , whose name has been on the list since some time previous to the 1881 election , and
who brings forward 6 4 6 votes , and No . 8 , who started as a candidate in 188 7 , and has 88 4 votes to his credit . Northumberland sends up No . 3 , who has 226 votes in hand from six previous elections , and No . 59 , a new applicant ; Berks and Bucks , No .
10 , who has 3 8 from three , and No . 15 , who has 557 votes from two previous elections ; EastLancashire , No . 12 , with three votes brought forward from 1888 and 188 9 , and No . 68 ; Kent , No . 20 , who was a candidate for the first time in 1888 , and has 43 votes .
The Approaching Elections Of The R.M. Benevolent Institution.
and No . 66 , a new case ; and West Lancashire , from which we have Nos . 58 and 6 3 , both of whom will try their fortune for the first time on this occasion . The remaining candidates under this head are from Essex ( No . 23 , with 411 votes from last year ) , Lincolnshire ( No . 33 , with 6 votes in hand ) , ancl Bengal ( No . 39 ) ,
Shropshire ( No . 41 ) , Durham ( No . 4 6 ) , Cheshire ( No . 52 ) , Oxfordshire ( No . 60 ) , together with the following , which have claims on more than one Province , that is to say , No . 35 on
Cheshire and East Lancashire ; No . 50 on Gloucestershire and Berks and Bucks ; No . 53 on Cambridgeshire and Northants and Hunts ; No . 56 on West Yorkshire and East Lancashire ; and No . 61 from Guernsey and Devonshire .
The above is a brief sketch of the manner in which the 68 cases on the list are distributed , and , as we have said , there is every chance of close on one-third of them being among the successful , the number of appointments , including the three deferred , being already 19 . Here , of course , there are no last
cases , as at the School elections , but we trust those Governors and Subscribers who have not yet promised their votes will do something to clear the list of those approved candidates who
have already been upwards of four years before the public , and who , to judge from the votes which most of them have succeeded in obtaining , appear to have but little prospect of securing any of the prizes .
THE WIDOWS' FUND . The widow candidates have almost invariably mustered in greater force than the men , but this year they are more numerous than—if our memory serves us rightly—they ever were before . The list contains 8 4 names , but we believe one has died , so that there will actually be 8 3 widows competing for the 10 vacancies
—seven immediate and three deferred—which were declared in February , and which , as no deaths have occurred in the interim , remain unaltered . Thus the proportion of candidates to vacancies will be between 8 i- and 83- to one , or considerably worse than the proportion of last year , when the candidates were 81 , and the number elected 13 .
As to the distribution of the candidates , London furnishes 31 , and has an interest in five other cases , while the Provinces make up a total of 48 . Taking the London candidates , we find that Nos . 2 and 3 have been trying to obtain admission , one since 1881 , and the other since 188 3 , and that the former has 94 votes to
her credit , and the latter 972 votes . No . 11 , who will make her sixth attempt in May next , brings forward 992 votes , while No . 12 , after a similar experience , has only 37 6 on account . No . 16 , who made her debut in 188 7 , brings forward 206 votes ; while No . 19 , who has been a competitor at three previous
elections , starts with a substantial array of 239 6 votes in her favour . Nos . 21 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 28 , and 30 began their careers as candidates in 1888 , No . 21 bringing forward i 960 votes ; No . 23 , 1263 votes ; No . 25 , no less than 2443 votes ; No . 26 , 975 votes ; No . 28 , 1090 votes ; and No . 30 , only
97 votes . The following were candidates in May , 188 9 , namely : No . 35 , No . 3 6 ( with 241 votes in hand ) , No . 37 ( with 7 6 votes ) , No . 40 ( with 215 votes ) , No . 41 ( with 520 votes ) , No ' . 43 ( with 272 votes ) , No . 44 ( with 1305 votes ) , No . 47 ( with 1070 votes ) , No . 48 and No . 52 ( with 523 votes ); and
Nos . 65 , 66 , 6 7 , 70 , 71 , 74 , 75 , 79 , and 8 3 are new candidates , whose claims to the benefits of the Institution were recognised some time during the past year . Of the five part London and part Provincial applicants , No . 4 6 , hailing from Cheshire and
London , starts with 543 votes in hand ; No . 54 , from London and West Lancashire , has 116 votes to the good ; No . 56 , from London and Essex , has 231 votes ; while No . 6 4 , from YViltshire , Berks and Bucks , London , & c , & c , ancl No . 7 6 , from London and North and East Yorkshire , are new candidates .
Turning to the Provincial candidates , we find Kent responsible for nine , namely : No . 5 , who has 8 3 votes from six previous elections ; No . 9 , who has 2100 votes , and No . io , 575