The New Zealand Question.

Committee will have the kindness to point out why it is that with £ 1750 in hand "the Charity of the Craft" in New Zealand should need any " stimulating or fully carrying into effect" If less than £ 150 is all that is required in a year for the relief of local distress , then the District Grand Lodges , as they do what is

required of them , do not need to be stimulated further ; and , if more is needed , they have but to take it out of the balance of £ 1750 in hand , which balance , moreover , forms only part of the local assets . If we analyse the figures in these statements still more closely , we shall see that the 79 English lodges , which are

contained in the five District Grand Lodges , muster 4028 subscribing members ; that the receipts of those District Grand Lodges amounted in 1888 to £ 157 8 13 s . 4 d . ; their remittances home to £ 91 18 s . 4 d . ; their benevolence to £ 143 ; their expenses for general purposes to £ 563 us . ; and their balances in hand to

£ 7 80 4 s . The three District Grand Lodges under the Grand Lodge of Scotland , with 48 lodges and 2625 subscribing members , received £ 1384 3 s . iod . ; remitted home £ 14 6 14 s . ud . ; expended in benevolence £ 1 13 s . iod . ; and for general purposes £ 364 12 s . 3 d ., the balances in hand at the close of the

account being £ 871 2 s . iod . The one Irish Provincial Grand Lodge , with 15 lodges and 810 subscribing members , received £ 214 13 s . 8 d ., remitted home £ 5 8 us . 6 d ., and spent . £ 3 is . in benevolence and £ 53 15 s . for general purposes , leaving a balance in hand of £ 99 6 s . 2 d . It is evident , therefore , that , if

the three Constitutions are compared together , it will be found that the English lodges are decidedly better circumstanced . They have by far the largest number of lodges and members , while their remittances home are proportionately less , and their expenditure in benevolence infinitely greater—indeed , the

amounts thus expended by the Irish and Scotch Constitutions are hardly worth mentioning . This , however , is a detail of comparatively no importance . The point to which we wish to draw particular attention is this : The allegation that in the establishment of a Grand Lodge of New Zealand " lies the only hope of

stimulating and fully carrying into effect the Charity of the Craft , " is not true , and for this reason that , after defraying all expenditure , including that on benevolence , there still remains in hand a balance of £ 1750

—to say nothing of the other assets which are known to be available . Our New Zealand brethren , therefore , cannot justly complain of their remittances to the home Grand Lodges being any obstacle to the satisfaction of their charitable desires or

intentions . If they ought to have disbursed more on benevolence than the £ 147 14 s . iod ., which is included in the statement of this Committee , it cannot be for want of ample funds and to spare , that they have not done so , or because their remittances have in any way crippled their resources for doing what is necessary in the way of Charity .

As for the comparison which the Committee are desirous of instituting between West Lancashire which , with a smaller number of lodges , does so vast an amount of local service with its Educational and Benevolent Funds and its Provincial Grand

Lodge Fund of Benevolence , and New Zealand , which does so little , we are afraid we must ascribe the fault to other causes than are alleged by the Committee . The remittances to the Grand Lodge from the Province of West Lancashire are far heavier , as they include quarterages to the Fund of Benevolence than are

those of New Zealand ; but , notwithstanding this additional burden , it has found it possible to establish its local Charitable Institutions . Perhaps , if our New Zealand brethren will put their shoulders to the wheel , and see what they can do in the field of Charity in which West Lancashire has so greatly

distinguished itself , they will discover that very little stimulating is required when they have once made up their minds to do the thing that is right . They will also , in all probability , discover that the Masonic separation of their colony from the United Kingdom is not necessary in order to stimulate their zeal for the cause of Charity .

It must not be assumed that because we have thought it necessary in the exercise of our discretion to confute these reasons which the Committee allege render it necessary that New Zealand should have a Grand Lodge of its own , we are not alive to the fact that if the brethren in that Colony are anything like

unanimous in their desire for this change , it will come inevitably , as it has come already in the other Australasian Colonies of South Australia , New South Wales , and Victoria . And when it does come we shall as cheerfully recognise . the new body as we have

the new Grand Lodges in the three Colonies we have named . What we have sought to point out is , not that the proposed separation is out of the question and will be resisted , but that these particular reasons which the Committee are urging in its favour are untenable .

BERKELEY HOTEL ( late St . James ' s ) , 1 , Berkeley-street , and 77 , Piccadilly , London , W . First-class accommodation for residents , with a restaurant newlyattached for hi gh class luncheons and dinners , at fixed prices and a la carte . — C , DIETTE , Manager . —[ ADVT . ]

Masonic Orations.

MASONIC ORATIONS .

"One of the prominent features of Masonry is its cultivation of intimate fraternal intercourse between its members . In the lodge room , in the banquet room , and at the performance of all the ceremonies of the Craft , private and public , its aim is to bring the brethren as closely together in spirit as possible , and

minister to their pleasure and profit . This result is usuall y attained . Among the means conducing to this end are post prandial addresses , which in Masonry are ' sui generis : ' they are often the choicest of after-dinner speeches . But it is on the

more formal occasions , such as the dedication of a Masonic Hall , the constitution of a lodge , or the laying of a corner-stone that occasion is afforded for the highest and best class of speech —the Masonic oration .

" Some few brethren deride Masonic orations , alleging they are light and frothy in style , and unreliable in matter . Sometimes they are , but many more times they are not . When a competent brother , on request , essays to honour an occasion with a formal address , he does not as a rule carelessly throw together

a few inconsequential thoughts , and express them in the conventional language of the thoroughfare , but he selects some basic princi ple of the Craft , and enforces it with freshness of illustration , eloquence of diction , and earnestness of manner . When such is the case every listener is charmed , and carries away with him not merely pleasurable recollections , but permanant instruction . " It is not often that Masonic orations are gathered into a volume , although they are worthy of more than the usual ephemera ! fame accorded them . Take , for example , the addresses delivered by Bro . Joseph R . Chandler , while Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , and engaged in making grand

visitations to the different lodges in the jurisdiction . They form a volume which will never cease to be read by Craftsmen with instruction and delight . Of a kindred character is a publication we have just received from England— -the 'Masonic Orations of Bro . L . P . Metham , P . G . D . of England ; edited by Bro . John

Chapman , P . P . G . D . of Devon ; with an introduction by Bro . W , Jas . Hughan , P . G . D . of England . ' * These orations are the productions of a Nestor in Masonry , and have been delivered on various important occasions , in Devon and Cornwall , from i 86 fi to 1881 . We have been much gratified while reading them .

and we take pleasure in commending the collection to the attention of our readers . They are entertaining , profitable , suggestive , and eloquent from the first page to the last . Bro ,

Chapman merits the thanks of all Craftsmen for having edited and brought them to the attention of the Masonic world . They deserve a wide circulation , and wherever read will promote the highest interests of Freemasonry .

" We quote a few passages in order that our readers may have a taste of their quality . " In an oration delivered at the consecration of a new lodge at Plymouth , Bro . Metham thus sets forth the character and purpose of a Masonic oration :

"' The beautiful ceremony prescribed to be used at the consecration of every new lodge , includes as a prominent feature an oration on the merits of Freemasonry . We should be doing the wisdom of our ancient brethren who devised this ceremony a great injustice if we supposed that this was meant to be confined

to an eulogium on the system , or on those who profess it . The former is unnecessary , for the science of Freemasonry speaks for itself ; neither would the latter be congenial to its spirit , for the practice of Freemasonry carries with it its own reward to those who practice it aright , and they value not the praise or flattery of men . The purpose of an oration has a hig her and nobler aim ; it is contended to carry the mind back to the first principles of the Fraternity , through the quicksands which beset its course , to clear away the rocks and shoals which time has accumulated , until we reach the clear pellucid fountain frorn which flow the pure and crystal waters of Charity , morality , arK justice . It is intended to enforce on the brethren of every ne « lodge that they are to labour with ourselves to keep the broat channel clear from all impediments or pollution ; that they a ' to guard its landmarks with jealous care , and to extend | ts

principles with unflagging , self-denying zeal . Such ' > I believe , the object of this prescribed oration , and could only wish that I hacl the power of language to enforce y importance of exercising this care and jealously upon those w , now stand before me . I pray them to remember that on them thrown the responsibility of showing to the Craft at larg e ^ the confidence placed in them by their Grand Master has ' been misplaced ; that they will not be content with fount 1 5 another lodge , but that they will strive and determine to ma < daily advance in Masonic knowledge . ' ^ __ ^ --