The Recent Elections To The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE RECENT ELECTIONS TO THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

The Annual General Meeting of the Governors and Subscribers to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution was held at Freemasons' Tavern on Friday , the 17 th instant , when 20 men and 20 widows were elected to fill a corresponding- number of vacancies on each Fund , there being , however , in each case only 17 vacancies to be filled immediately , the remaining three

being deferred , that is to say , they will be filled as they occur without further reference to the ballot . There was , as may be imagined , a full attendance of those interested in the result of the polling , and the excitement was , as invariably happens when the number of candidates is largely in excess of the number to be elected , very great . For the

MALE FUND there were , as we have just said , 20 vacancies , the Committee of Management having boldly determined on creating five additional annuities , thereby raising the number of old brethren on the Fund from 195 to JOO . The Province of Kent had the good fortune to secure the post of honour by

placing one of its five candidates at the head of the poll with 5170 votes , it being the applicant ' s first attempt to win admission to the benefits of the Fund . The second and third places were also taken by new candidates , one of three from Warwickshire being placed at No . 2 with 4885 votes , and the Hanls and Isle of Wight brother at No . 3 , with 4606 votes . A second Kent

brother came next with 4562 votes , but of these 2492 were brought forward from the elections in 18 9 , 3 and 18 94 , while the remaining 2070 were polled on Friday . , No . 5 , who was one of two East Lancashire candidates , and an applicant for the first time , obtained 4 , 395 votes , and No . 6 , from Wiltshire , who started with 279 votes from last year , had that number

increased to 43 , 31 . A new candidate , who hailed from Derbyshire , stood seventh , with 4 , 323 votes , and another of the like description , who was initiated in Bombay , and subsequently joined lodges in Northantsand Hunts and Cornwall stood next with 4129 votes . One of the two candidates hailing from North and East Yorkshire , who brought forward 38 votes from 1 S 93 and 1804 ,

increased bis total to 3979 votes and thereby secured the 9 th vacancy . The tenth place fell to the solitary West Yorkshire candidate for whom his Province polled 3946 votes . No . n , from Shropshire , was placed next in order with 3943 votes , and was followed by one of two brethren from West Lancashire , who started with 979 votes in hand from five previous ballots , and

had the good fortune to augment his total by 2940 votes to 3919 . A new applicant from Middlesex stood at No . 13 with , 3870 votes , and one of three previously unsuccessful candidates from Cornwall at No . 14 , with , 36 , 38 votes , of which 2442 were already standing to his credit from last year ' s ballot . The brother who came next was one of 15 candidates hailing from London ,

and won his vacancy right off with 3600 votes , while a second Warwickshire candidate , who brougrt forward 2280 votes from last year was close up with 3589 , who was still more closely followed by a second London brother with . 3 . 5 S 5 votes . The three deferred annuities were secured by two out of five Suffolk brethren with 3565 and 3378 voles respectively , and one of two

candidates from Nottinghamshire , who polled only 29 votes at bis first attempt last year , but was successful in winning a further 3228 votes on this occasion , making his final total 3257 . It will thus be seen that out of a list reduced by deaths from fit to 58 , of which latter number 15 were furnished by London and 43 by the Provinces and abroad , London was only able to win

two vacancies , while the remaining iS fell to the Provinces . This does not 'ipeak volumes in favour of the London management of its votes , especially when we lind that the five highest unsuccessful candidates , who polled 3181 , 3146 , 2666 , 2403 , and 2023 votes respectively , all hailed from London . The other candidates who made a fair show were No . 26

( Suffolk ) with 1890 votes , No . 2 j ( London ) with 15 , 33 votes—of which 1386 were brought forward from 1892 , 18 93 , and 1894—No . 28 ( London ) with 14 ( 19 ; No . 29 ( Guernsey and Alderney ) with 116 3 votes , and No . 30 w'th 1021 voles . Of the remaining 28 , there were only six that obtained ° ver 500 votes . It is also to be noted that only seven out of 26 candidates

surviving from last year were able to win places , and amongst these seven is | ° be found only one out of the first 11 on the list , that is , of brethren who 'ad been candidates for periods ranging from 3 to 12 years , while of the 'lew candidates , as many as 13 obtained annuities . As regards the votes ,

ere were 14 g (_ S brought forward and 9 6 , 183 issued for the election , giving a ° tal available of 111 , 151 votes . Of this number , 1117 , 238 werp passed by the trutineers , so that 3 . 913 were unused or spoiled . 1 'or the 20 vacancies on the

, WIDOW ' S FUND . re were 51 candidates , and here again there will be noted a marked dis-Portion between the successes achieved by tbe old candidates , exactly one

The Recent Elections To The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

half of the annuities being distributed among the 3 ( 1 widows who remained fron last year , while of the 15 new candidates losucceeded and live failed . In thiscasi also , of the 10 oldest candidates , who had been on the list for periods rnng ' mi : in the case of the oldest from 14 years down to , as regards Nos . 9 and 10 seven years , only one obtained a vacancy , and the other nine must still go 01 hoping against hope that , if they survive long enough , they may in time

succeed in being placed on the establishment . 1 lowever , in one important particular , there isa material difference in tlieresults of the polling for the two Funds , For the Men , as we have pointed out , London , with 1 . 5 candidates was able to place only two of them among the successful , while the Provinces and Abroad , which furnished 43 candidates , won iS places . But for the Widows ' Fund , 1 . ondon had the satisfaction of carrying seven out of its 1 o candidates , and the Provinces 13 out of 41 . The highest on the poll hailed from London ,

and having obtained 4907 votes at the elections in 1892 , 1893 , and 18 94 , obtained further support to the extent of 972 votes , and thereby raised her total to 5 S 7 < _ . No . 2 , who brought forward 542 votes lrom last year , camo from the Province of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , and polled in all 575 ( 1 votes , while No . 3 , London , with 2205 votes in band , finished with a total of 5697 votes . No . 4 , with claims on North and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire was a new candidate , and scored off the

reel 5523 , and No . 5—one of two candidates from West Lancashirefollowed suit by totalling up 5405 votes . The next in order was an old candidate from Durham , who had taken part in seven previous elections , and as she had had the good fortune to accumulate during those seven years 3746 votes , the Province , by supporting her with a further 1627 , raised her total to 5373 . TheNotfolkapplicant , whovvasiiewtopollingexperienccs , raised

528 9 votes and came out seventh , and an old London candidate with 25 votes in hand won the eighth place with 5277 votes , while No . 9 , from Durham , had 5130 votes polled for her . No . 10 , from West Yorkshire , had 49 88 votes in hand at starting , and a further 10 votes transformed her from an applicant for an annuity into an annuitant . One of three candidates from Kent , with , 3954 votes already lo her credit , made up her poll to 4709

votes , while No . 12 , a new candidate from West Yorkshire , was close at hand with 4701 votes . London furnished the next in order of success , the number of votes polled for her being 4694 , and West Yorkshire the next , with 4657 votes . No . 15 , from Essex , scored 463 6 votes , thc fourth West Yorkshire widow 4563 votes , and a second Kentish candidate 4552 votes , of which 796 were brought forward , and 375 6 polled at

this election . The three who will be told off to fill the Deferred Annuities as they occur , are all London candidates , and obtained 4502 votes—of which , however , 20 , 34 were the result of a previous effort—4394 votes , and 403 S votes respectively . Ol the Unsuccessful Candidates , there was only one who had the slightest approach to a chance of success , and she hailed from Madras , and polled 3018 votes . Next to her stood one of three

widows hailing from Warwickshire , who obtained 1 S 91 votes , and next to her the widow who has been for so many years on the list , and after 15 successive attempts to obtain the benefits of the Fund has at length secured 175 S votes in support ol her claims . She belongs to the London district , had 117 r ' votes at starting , and in a few months will be So years of age . There were two others—both of them candidates

remaining from the 1 S 94 election—who polled upwards of 1000 votes , namely , one of three hailing from the Province of East Lancashire , who brought forward 15 votes , and raised her total to 1435 votes , and the other , being one of seven candidates from Devonshire , and scoring 13 c 1 votes , of which 7 S 6 already stood to her credit . There was one candidate who polled 906 votes ,

but the voles given to the others were few in number . The number of votes brought forward was 27 , 777 , and the number issued for this election 94 . 618 , making a total available of 122 , 395 . But the number that passed the Scrutineers was only 113 , 308 , the number unused being 11087 , which is decidedly a higher percentage than , usual of the votes issued .

We cannot help reiterating our regret at the failure of the senior candidates lor both Funds . We know nothing of their circumstances beyond what is furnished by the Committee of Management in the printed lists of applicants which are issued with the voting papers ; but we know this much , that their claims have bsen investigated by the (' ommittee , their petitions approved , and their names ordered to bc placed on the lists for election . Yet ,

possessing no more than this very limited knowledge , we say it amounts to little less than a scandal that these poor old people should have been trotted out year after year for periods ranging from 10 to 15 years just to go through the farce of having a few more votes added to their previous polling record . It were far better their names were struck off the lists than that they should be encouraged to entertain the hope that some day or other they may wake up

and find themselves annuitants on one or other of the Funds of our Benevolent Institution . We have already said that of the in senior candidates for the Male Fund one succeeded , and of the 10 senior on the Widows' , one . For the nine unsuccessful on the former there were polled on Friday last 66 9 votes in all ; for the nine unsuccessful widows in all 715 votes . We trust that next year something will be done by the Governors and Subscribers to secure for these breihren and widows the annuities of which the Committee of Management has adjudged them worthy .