Freemasonry In Suffolk.

passing over the Boys School would not induce members to relax in their support of that Institution . Bro . Lord HENNIKER , indeed , went further still , ancl remarked that the Report of the Committee of Investigation , instead of inclining them to withhold their subscriptions , should cause them to redouble their

efforts on its behalf . This is the right note to strike , and contrasts favourably with the resolutions passed by sundry lodges and others not to subscribe further till certain changes had been effected . However , we must not allow ourselves to introduce

matters of a controversial character into a picture which is so full of bright promise . We , therefore , congratulate Suffolk on what it has done since the summer of 1888 , and express a hope that its future records of work may be always as gratifying as they were on this occasion .

A New Lodge Under United Grand Lodge Of Victoria.

A NEW LODGE UNDER UNITED GRAND LODGE OF VICTORIA .

The first new lodge under the constitution of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria was consecrated at the Masonic Hall , Melbourne , on the 6 th May last , in the presence of Bro . Sir W . J . CLARKE , Bart ., M . W . G . M ., and a considerable muster of his Grand Officers . When the ceremony was ended , Bro . M . H .

DAVIES , Speaker of the Legislative Assembly , was installed m the chair of K . S . The lodge thus constituted is named The Davies , in honour of the brother who will preside over it during the first year of its existence ; while the brethren composing

it constitute a majority of the members of the Combermere Lodge , which has elected to remain in its old allegiance to the United Grand Lodge of England . It seems that , at the time the preliminary steps were being taken which have since resulted in the establishment of the United Grand

Lodge of Victoria , great pressure was brought to bear on the Combermere Lodge , No . 752 , which before this secession took p lace must have been both numerous ancl influential . Indeed , according to a long letter written by our worthy friend , Bro . W . F . LAMONBY , a P . M . of the lodge , and published in the

Australasian Keystone of the ist June , the pressure must have been of an unusual and even violent character , as he speaks of " gross misrepresentations in the shape of pains and penalties " being " insidiously spread amongst the young and inexperienced members ; " " older members " being " subjected

to vilification , bullying , ancl vulgar abuse ; " a disgraceful canvassing and touting circular ; " and " the surreptitious removal of the lodge warrant . " This is certainly strong

language , and as unpleasant to read as it is strong . However , notwithstanding all this , the lodge retains its old status , and , the warrant having been restored , we presume the hubbub may have calmed down a little ; and as Bro . Sir W . CLARKE is still a member , we hope the relations of the Combermere , and the

beiges under the Victorian Constitution will be all the more friendly for this little tiff . Some one has said that " the quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love , " ancl in this case , no doubt , the past explosion will cause the old love to be firmer than ever .

But , be this as it may , the Victorians are richer by a lodge composed of 60 former members of the Combermere , and the latter , or what remains of it , is still English . If differences , both great and small , always ended thus , how much more agreeable a place to live in this world of ours would be .

Election Or Appointment?

ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT ?

The mind of our worthy contemporary , the Australasian Keystone , appears to be very seriously exercised as to the course which the United Grand Lodge of Victoria will pursue with reference to its Grand Officers . Will it adopt the plan which finds favour here of electing the Grand Master and Grand Treasurer annually ,

and leaving the appointment of the others to the Grand Master ; or will Grand Lodge resolve on electing all , or the majority of them , as is the practice under other Constitutions ? South Australia and New South Wales have adopted the latter course , but our contemporary considers the English plan " has

many advantages . " In the first place , it says , "it prevents personal estrangements , bickerings , and the general unpleasantness which would necessarily accompany competition for every office in the Grand Lodge , " while the other plan " would completely cut out from office unassuming , though worthy and

hard-working members of country lodges , " " encourage cliquism ancl log-rolling , and tempt Masons to follow the usual practice of canvassers , who trust more to defaming their opponents than extolling their own candidates . " This is not precisely the

way in which the Australasian Keystone has set forth the advantages of our plan . In its nervous anxiety to speak favourabl y of this , its utterances have become slightly mixed ; but this is clearly itsmeaning and intention , and we are pretty much of the same opinion .

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

Whether it is wise or expedient to attack , through the medium of the press , the management of an Institution which has always been conducted most strictly in accordance with the Rules and Regulations that have been framed from time to time for its government , ancl which till quite recently has met with the almost

universal approval of the Governors and Subscribers is a question we shall not venture to discuss . Our own opinion is that , if any of the supporters of a Charity consider they have just grounds of complaint against its governing authorities , their first duty _ to bring such complaint officially to the notice of the said autho .

rities with a view to obtaining such redress as may be necessary ; and that it is only when all such attempts to obtain a remedy for the wrongs complained of have been ineffectually made , that an appeal to public opinion should be addressed through the columns of the press . Thus as regards the original allegation , made some

time since , and quite recently repeated , that the cost of managing the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution is out of all proportion to its yearly income , we think it would have been less detrimental if the Committee of Management had been allowed the opportunity either of disproving it , or , in the event of its being

made good , of taking the necessary steps to reduce such cost . We never heard , however , that the late Bro . BlRCH adopted this very proper course before sending his complaint about the Col - lector ' s Commission for publication by a Masonic newspaper . Of course Bro . C . LETCH MASON is in quite a different position .

His letter of the other clay is only a further contribution to a public controversy which has been long in progress , whilst his grievances are stated in sufficiently temperate language , and

with something like an attempt at argument . We , therefore , propose to meet his several complaints in a similarly temperate manner , and when he has read our statement he will probably see the desirability of withdrawing his charges .

Firstly , as regards "the dual set of accounts" which , " with all clue deference to the Committee , " he considers "is a mistake . " Law 47 lays it clown clearly ancl unequivocally that " the accounts of receipts and disbursements of the Male Fund , and of the

Widows' Fund , shall be kept separate and distinct , ' and , therefore , though it would save time and trouble to prepare only one set of accounts , the Committee have no alternative but to prepare two sets , one for the Male Fund , and one for the Female Fund , and this has been done ever since the latter was established .

Moreover , it is not always a case of the " sums in each exactly corresponding" in amount or character . The donations and subscriptions to the two Funds are not the same , neither are the Annuities or the Collectors' Commission . The Warden ' s salary is paid out of the Male Fund , and the Matron ' s out of the

Widows' Fund , while the half annuities payable to certain widows are chargeable against the Male Fund . We say again , we have no doubt it would involve less time and trouble to prepare one set of accounts , but the law—as it is , not as Bro . LETCH MASON considers it ought to be—requires two sets , and the law must be obeyed .

"The Collector ' s expenses , £ 512 19 s . " Withall deference to Bro . LETCH MASON , the question here is not whether the sum paid to this officer is great or small , but whether it is properly or improperly paid . When the last vacancy occurred in the office of Collector , a Sub-Committee of the Committee

of Management was appointed to draw up the terms and conditions on which the new Collector should be appointed . The Committee of Management adopted the recommendations of its Sub-Committee , and Bro . JOHN MASON , the present Collector , was appointed to the vacant office . Therefore , as

we have said , the question is not whether the sum Bro . JOHN MASON is paid during the year is great or small , but whether it _ - paid in accordance with the terms and conditions on which his appointment to the office of Collector was made . If Bro . LETCH MASON , or any other Governor or Subscriber tothe Institution ,

in a position to prove that Bro . JOHN MASON is paid commission ) which he is not entitled to charge or receive , the objection to this item will stand good to the extent of such improper pa )'" ment . The greatness of the sum paid only shows that Bro . JOHN MASON does his duty as Collector very well , just as the smallness

of the sum would show that he did it indifferently , or was _ ver ) unfortunate in his efforts at collecting ; or else that the sum it w his duty to collect was in itself small . Again , it is a mere statement which goes for nothing as an argument , when Bro . LETC MASON savs that the Provincial half of the donations ancl su

scriptions " is generally collected by the Provincial Stewards , an remitted to the Secretary . " Bro . LETCH MASON must be perfect well aware that for this statement of his to oossess any valu

a more precise word must be used than " general' } 1 which may mean that the whole of the Proving half is so collected and remitted ( say ) two years out of e ^ e } three , or three years out of every four ; or that ( say ) two-th-