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Our Institutions And The Critics.
Thomas Cubitt , and Geo . P . Gillard , " as members of the " Audit Committee , " and dated " 28 th January , 1888 . " The " Farm and Stock , & c , Account , " contained in this statement , was the subject of comment by Bro . Viscount Ebrington , P . G . M . Devonshire , who was Chairman of the Festival held in Freemasons' Tavern on the 27 th June , 1888 , and was fully explained
by the Secretary . Moreover , the whole statement , so far as the expenditure was concerned , was set forth in a Tabular Statement compiled by Bro . Greatbatch , which appeared in our columns as an advertisement on the 23 rd June , 1888 , and in which it was attempted to be shown that such expenditure , as compared with that of certain other institutions , was
excessive . There is no Statement of Accounts in the Boys' School List of Subscribers for 1888 , and therefore , according to this enlightened Critic , none is issued . So much for the assertions of this individual , for the present at all events . Critic No . 3 . writing about the collectorship of the R . M . B . I ., states
as follows in respect of its Receipts and Expenditure * . " With regard to the statement of receipts , may I ask why the expenditure is not given ? Surely there is not a shareholder in any company in the world that would accept such a bare statement from their directors , and why should we , as donors , be expected to accept receipts only
without seeing the other side of the ledger ? It is high time that this state of things should be altered , and properly qualified auditors appointed to go through the accounts and issue a balance-sheet in the ¦ customary way . " The writer of these remarks , who no doubt expects the public he is addressing will accept him at his own valuation as a
competent critic , whose opinion is worth respecting , has wilfully and deliberately ignored ( a ) Rule 16 of the Rules and Regulations of the R . M . B . I ., which provides that " Three Auditors shall be annually elected by the Subscribers at the Annual General Meeting "; ( b ) the fact which is set forth in the " Report of the Proceedings of the Governors and Subscribers at the
Annual Meeting , held at Freemasons' Hall , London , on Friday , the iSth May , 1888 , " and will be found at the bottom of . page 23 of the " Annual Report , Regulations , and Lists of Governors and Subscribers , " published in the summer ot last year , that " Bros . A . H . Tattershall , John Newton , and John J . Berry , were severally proposed , seconded , and declared
re-elected Auditors for the ensuing year' ; ( c ) Rule 45 , which provides for the appointment of a Finance Committee , to meet quarterly and to examine every voucher ; and ( d ) Rule 47 , which says "The Accounts of receipts and disbursements of the Male Fund , and of the Widows' Fund , shalt be kept separate and distinct , and a general
statement of the finances of the Institution shall be annually prepared ; and , after having been duly audited , shall , together with a Report of the Proceedings of the Committee of Management , be presented to the Annual General Meeting in May , and to Grand Lodge in June following . " These Statements of Accounts were presented at the said annual meeting , and will
be found at pages 20-23 of the said Report of its proceedings , while a reference to the Proceedings of United Grand Lodge at its Quarterl y Communication on 6 th June , 18 S 8 , will show that the Report and Statements
were presented in accordance with the above Rule 47 . So much for Critic No . 2 , who has made the very important discovery that something is wanting in the organisation of the R . M . B . I ., which is expressly provided for in the Rules and Regulations of that Charity and carried out by the authorities .
Critic No . 3 is another kind of person altogether . He is not at all surprised at his own stupidity , but he decidedly objects to our dubbing him " silly . " He tells us he is greatly bewildered by a plain statement of fact , with which everyone , we suppose , is tolerably familiar , namely , that " the actual amount received" by the Girls' School "in donations and
subscriptions during the whole year "—that is , in 1888—" was only ^ 44 , 660 14 s . lid ., while the total of donations and subscriptions at the Centenary Festival on the 7 th June last was announced as amounting to upwards of ^ 50 , 500 . " He has " always thought that an ' undertaking to contribute a certain sum and its payment' were one and the same thing . " And he adds , most
pathetically , " I have never , and cannot find any one who has , heard of a percentage of promised donations and subscriptions being always in arrear , or that such arrears fluctuated between hundreds and thousands of pounds . ' * Happy man 1 to have lived so secluded from the world as never to have realised what is within the experience of most men of business , certainly of
most secretaries of charitable institutions which are mainly supported by voluntary contributions . There is hardly one such official who would not readily surrender a tithe , or even a greater proportion , of his well-earned salary if only he knew that every sum entered on his Festival Stewards ' lists was either paid , in course of being paid , or would be remitted to him
at an early date , without any application on his part or on the part of " Mr . Collector . " It is sufficiently well known for us to be justified in describing it as a matter of everyday knowledge , that there is always a considerable proportion of arrear subscriptions and donations , the bulk of which are paid ultimately , but not in time to be always traceable as items in
the particular total of which they were announced as parts . At all events , it is clear that the authorities of the R . M . B . I . were aware of the fact when they passed their Rule 29 , "that all annual subscriptions shall be payable on the first of June in each year , and every new subscription or donation shall entitle the Subscriber or donor to vote immediately on its payment ; but no
one shall be entitled to vote on any occasion whose subscription shall be in arrear . " * The same may be said of the authorities of our two Schools , who have provided in their respective codes of Regulations that " No votes
shall be given , nor shall any privileges of any kind or description be acquired in respect of any promised donations and subscriptions * until the respective amounts thereof shall have been actually paid to the Institution . " * We fear it is not much good our pointing these things out to a man who admits
Our Institutions And The Critics.
that he is exceptionally ignorant ; but vve are desirous that none of our readers shall be misled by his display of ignorance into the belief that payments and promised payments are the same thing , and arrear donations and subscriptions unheard of by the officials of our Masonic Cnarities , or undreamt of in their philosophy . The truth is that this matter of arrears
would never have attracted any notice but for the magnitude of the sum announced at the Centenary Festival and the delight which some ill-natured people take in depreciating whatever is worthy of admiration and respect . The same person is funny at our expense for stating—what is a factthat we " know something about these matters , " and with that exquisite
refinement of feeling which characterises the man of ignorance , he asks in the same letter— " Why should any scribbler be favoured with information more than any other contributor ? . . . Do the shekels he gives in charity weigh heavier than mine ? " Our answer to this clumsy attempt
at an apology for his own ignorance is , that we—" the scribbler , " in question—have always made it our business to ask for information when we have needed it , and have obtained it forthe asking ; and that every other contributor , by following our example , may obtain the knowledge we have pleaded guilty to possessing .
A fourth Critic—to whom , however , a reply has been vouchsafed by an outsider—is indignant because two months have elapsed since the Philbrick Committee of Inquiry into the management of the Boys' School held its first and second meetings on the ist and 2 nd November , and no report as to " the result ot this solemn conclave" is as yet forthcoming . Asa
Governor of the Institution he might easily have learned that the meetings of this Committee were continued well into the month of December , and he might easily have surmised tnat even such capable men as Bro . Philbrick and his coadjutors must have time to digest the mass of evidence that has been taken in order to do themselves
jnstice and deliver a clear and exhaustive report on the evidence so taken . But to have taken steps to ascertain or surmise anything of the kind might have given this Critic some trouble , and therefore he starts by giving publicity to the indignation he feels , and
then has to be told there is no ground whatever for the display of any such feeling . To this we may add that a further meeting—or meetings—of this Committee has been arranged to be held shortly , and it is impossible , therefore , that any report can be submitted to theQuarterly Court which will be held this day ( Friday ) .
1 here is yet another writer who merits our attention . He considers we are wrong in expressing it as our opinion , that " it reflects great credit on the Girls' School Secretary and his staff , that they should be able to record payment of so large a proportion of the Returns at the aforesaid Festival , " and he asks " what have they done to influence one penny of the
£ 44 , 660 14 s . iid . that has been received ? Has not that amount come into the Institution ' of its own free will and accord ? ' and would it not have been possible to secure the other ^ 6000 if a proper system of collecting had been in vogue ? " To this we reply that all donors and subscribers entered in the School Festival Stewards' Lists who are dilatory in paying their
promised contributions , are applied to by letter , the applications being in some cases repeated even to the fifth or sixth time , while those donors and subscribers who reside in the London district are visited by one ot tne
clerks , who thus varies his routine ot duty in the office by a round ot duty as " Mr . Collector . " This Critic has only to apply at the offices ot the Girls' or Boys' School , and he will have our statement verified , either by the Secretary , or , in his absence , by a member ol his staff .
But , says this most accurate of Critics , elsewhere in his valuable communication— " It has hitherto been the custom to recognise the close 01 the year as closing the record of that year ' s Festivals . " No one , however , lias ventured to lay it down as a law absolute that all promised contributions included in the totals as announced at the year ' s Festivals must be paid on
or before the 31 st December or written off as " bad debts "—or , as , lor the sake of euphony , this Critic prefers to call them " the deficiency . " Indeed , as regards this particular Festival—the Centenary ol the Girls' Schooland the promised contributions as yet unpaid , a large proportion of these , amounting to about £ 3000 , is , as we pointed out in our article of the Sth
instant , on " Masonic Benevolence in 1888 , " Association Money , and will be paid over to the Institution as the Life-Governorships and Lif e-Subscriberships are balloted for and assigned ; while , as regards the balance of the alleged or apparent " deficiency , " we are able to inform our readers that quite ¦ £ 1000 in respect of donations and subscriptions to this Festival was paid in
advance during 1887 , and that a further sum of between £ 500 and , £ 600 has been received on the same account since the 31 st December ; so that after these three amounts—the Association money , the payments in advance , and the payments since 3 ist ult . —have been added together , there remains only from £ 2000 to £ 2500 to come from other than Association sources—tne
Centenary total , now that the final corrections have been made , being , in round figures , £ 51 , 500 . Possibly some one , who is more than usually sapient , may suggest that Association money , as it takes so long a time to collect , should not be included in the Festival Returns . If sj , there will , sooner or later , be an end of these useful organisations , which enable men
ol small means to act as Stewards and qualify as Life Governors or Life Subscribers without too serious a stress on their purses , and thus tne Charities will find these very fruitful sources of income closed to them . But , after all , we must never lose sight of the fact that the contributions to our Festivals are voluntarily made , and if some of the donors and subscribers
prefer paying through the medium ot Associations , or if they ask for a little or even a long grace in completing their promised payments , they are entitled to the consideration they ask for . The Secretaries ol our Institutions know too well the value of these little acts of kindly consideration and forbearance to refuse the services and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Institutions And The Critics.
Thomas Cubitt , and Geo . P . Gillard , " as members of the " Audit Committee , " and dated " 28 th January , 1888 . " The " Farm and Stock , & c , Account , " contained in this statement , was the subject of comment by Bro . Viscount Ebrington , P . G . M . Devonshire , who was Chairman of the Festival held in Freemasons' Tavern on the 27 th June , 1888 , and was fully explained
by the Secretary . Moreover , the whole statement , so far as the expenditure was concerned , was set forth in a Tabular Statement compiled by Bro . Greatbatch , which appeared in our columns as an advertisement on the 23 rd June , 1888 , and in which it was attempted to be shown that such expenditure , as compared with that of certain other institutions , was
excessive . There is no Statement of Accounts in the Boys' School List of Subscribers for 1888 , and therefore , according to this enlightened Critic , none is issued . So much for the assertions of this individual , for the present at all events . Critic No . 3 . writing about the collectorship of the R . M . B . I ., states
as follows in respect of its Receipts and Expenditure * . " With regard to the statement of receipts , may I ask why the expenditure is not given ? Surely there is not a shareholder in any company in the world that would accept such a bare statement from their directors , and why should we , as donors , be expected to accept receipts only
without seeing the other side of the ledger ? It is high time that this state of things should be altered , and properly qualified auditors appointed to go through the accounts and issue a balance-sheet in the ¦ customary way . " The writer of these remarks , who no doubt expects the public he is addressing will accept him at his own valuation as a
competent critic , whose opinion is worth respecting , has wilfully and deliberately ignored ( a ) Rule 16 of the Rules and Regulations of the R . M . B . I ., which provides that " Three Auditors shall be annually elected by the Subscribers at the Annual General Meeting "; ( b ) the fact which is set forth in the " Report of the Proceedings of the Governors and Subscribers at the
Annual Meeting , held at Freemasons' Hall , London , on Friday , the iSth May , 1888 , " and will be found at the bottom of . page 23 of the " Annual Report , Regulations , and Lists of Governors and Subscribers , " published in the summer ot last year , that " Bros . A . H . Tattershall , John Newton , and John J . Berry , were severally proposed , seconded , and declared
re-elected Auditors for the ensuing year' ; ( c ) Rule 45 , which provides for the appointment of a Finance Committee , to meet quarterly and to examine every voucher ; and ( d ) Rule 47 , which says "The Accounts of receipts and disbursements of the Male Fund , and of the Widows' Fund , shalt be kept separate and distinct , and a general
statement of the finances of the Institution shall be annually prepared ; and , after having been duly audited , shall , together with a Report of the Proceedings of the Committee of Management , be presented to the Annual General Meeting in May , and to Grand Lodge in June following . " These Statements of Accounts were presented at the said annual meeting , and will
be found at pages 20-23 of the said Report of its proceedings , while a reference to the Proceedings of United Grand Lodge at its Quarterl y Communication on 6 th June , 18 S 8 , will show that the Report and Statements
were presented in accordance with the above Rule 47 . So much for Critic No . 2 , who has made the very important discovery that something is wanting in the organisation of the R . M . B . I ., which is expressly provided for in the Rules and Regulations of that Charity and carried out by the authorities .
Critic No . 3 is another kind of person altogether . He is not at all surprised at his own stupidity , but he decidedly objects to our dubbing him " silly . " He tells us he is greatly bewildered by a plain statement of fact , with which everyone , we suppose , is tolerably familiar , namely , that " the actual amount received" by the Girls' School "in donations and
subscriptions during the whole year "—that is , in 1888—" was only ^ 44 , 660 14 s . lid ., while the total of donations and subscriptions at the Centenary Festival on the 7 th June last was announced as amounting to upwards of ^ 50 , 500 . " He has " always thought that an ' undertaking to contribute a certain sum and its payment' were one and the same thing . " And he adds , most
pathetically , " I have never , and cannot find any one who has , heard of a percentage of promised donations and subscriptions being always in arrear , or that such arrears fluctuated between hundreds and thousands of pounds . ' * Happy man 1 to have lived so secluded from the world as never to have realised what is within the experience of most men of business , certainly of
most secretaries of charitable institutions which are mainly supported by voluntary contributions . There is hardly one such official who would not readily surrender a tithe , or even a greater proportion , of his well-earned salary if only he knew that every sum entered on his Festival Stewards ' lists was either paid , in course of being paid , or would be remitted to him
at an early date , without any application on his part or on the part of " Mr . Collector . " It is sufficiently well known for us to be justified in describing it as a matter of everyday knowledge , that there is always a considerable proportion of arrear subscriptions and donations , the bulk of which are paid ultimately , but not in time to be always traceable as items in
the particular total of which they were announced as parts . At all events , it is clear that the authorities of the R . M . B . I . were aware of the fact when they passed their Rule 29 , "that all annual subscriptions shall be payable on the first of June in each year , and every new subscription or donation shall entitle the Subscriber or donor to vote immediately on its payment ; but no
one shall be entitled to vote on any occasion whose subscription shall be in arrear . " * The same may be said of the authorities of our two Schools , who have provided in their respective codes of Regulations that " No votes
shall be given , nor shall any privileges of any kind or description be acquired in respect of any promised donations and subscriptions * until the respective amounts thereof shall have been actually paid to the Institution . " * We fear it is not much good our pointing these things out to a man who admits
Our Institutions And The Critics.
that he is exceptionally ignorant ; but vve are desirous that none of our readers shall be misled by his display of ignorance into the belief that payments and promised payments are the same thing , and arrear donations and subscriptions unheard of by the officials of our Masonic Cnarities , or undreamt of in their philosophy . The truth is that this matter of arrears
would never have attracted any notice but for the magnitude of the sum announced at the Centenary Festival and the delight which some ill-natured people take in depreciating whatever is worthy of admiration and respect . The same person is funny at our expense for stating—what is a factthat we " know something about these matters , " and with that exquisite
refinement of feeling which characterises the man of ignorance , he asks in the same letter— " Why should any scribbler be favoured with information more than any other contributor ? . . . Do the shekels he gives in charity weigh heavier than mine ? " Our answer to this clumsy attempt
at an apology for his own ignorance is , that we—" the scribbler , " in question—have always made it our business to ask for information when we have needed it , and have obtained it forthe asking ; and that every other contributor , by following our example , may obtain the knowledge we have pleaded guilty to possessing .
A fourth Critic—to whom , however , a reply has been vouchsafed by an outsider—is indignant because two months have elapsed since the Philbrick Committee of Inquiry into the management of the Boys' School held its first and second meetings on the ist and 2 nd November , and no report as to " the result ot this solemn conclave" is as yet forthcoming . Asa
Governor of the Institution he might easily have learned that the meetings of this Committee were continued well into the month of December , and he might easily have surmised tnat even such capable men as Bro . Philbrick and his coadjutors must have time to digest the mass of evidence that has been taken in order to do themselves
jnstice and deliver a clear and exhaustive report on the evidence so taken . But to have taken steps to ascertain or surmise anything of the kind might have given this Critic some trouble , and therefore he starts by giving publicity to the indignation he feels , and
then has to be told there is no ground whatever for the display of any such feeling . To this we may add that a further meeting—or meetings—of this Committee has been arranged to be held shortly , and it is impossible , therefore , that any report can be submitted to theQuarterly Court which will be held this day ( Friday ) .
1 here is yet another writer who merits our attention . He considers we are wrong in expressing it as our opinion , that " it reflects great credit on the Girls' School Secretary and his staff , that they should be able to record payment of so large a proportion of the Returns at the aforesaid Festival , " and he asks " what have they done to influence one penny of the
£ 44 , 660 14 s . iid . that has been received ? Has not that amount come into the Institution ' of its own free will and accord ? ' and would it not have been possible to secure the other ^ 6000 if a proper system of collecting had been in vogue ? " To this we reply that all donors and subscribers entered in the School Festival Stewards' Lists who are dilatory in paying their
promised contributions , are applied to by letter , the applications being in some cases repeated even to the fifth or sixth time , while those donors and subscribers who reside in the London district are visited by one ot tne
clerks , who thus varies his routine ot duty in the office by a round ot duty as " Mr . Collector . " This Critic has only to apply at the offices ot the Girls' or Boys' School , and he will have our statement verified , either by the Secretary , or , in his absence , by a member ol his staff .
But , says this most accurate of Critics , elsewhere in his valuable communication— " It has hitherto been the custom to recognise the close 01 the year as closing the record of that year ' s Festivals . " No one , however , lias ventured to lay it down as a law absolute that all promised contributions included in the totals as announced at the year ' s Festivals must be paid on
or before the 31 st December or written off as " bad debts "—or , as , lor the sake of euphony , this Critic prefers to call them " the deficiency . " Indeed , as regards this particular Festival—the Centenary ol the Girls' Schooland the promised contributions as yet unpaid , a large proportion of these , amounting to about £ 3000 , is , as we pointed out in our article of the Sth
instant , on " Masonic Benevolence in 1888 , " Association Money , and will be paid over to the Institution as the Life-Governorships and Lif e-Subscriberships are balloted for and assigned ; while , as regards the balance of the alleged or apparent " deficiency , " we are able to inform our readers that quite ¦ £ 1000 in respect of donations and subscriptions to this Festival was paid in
advance during 1887 , and that a further sum of between £ 500 and , £ 600 has been received on the same account since the 31 st December ; so that after these three amounts—the Association money , the payments in advance , and the payments since 3 ist ult . —have been added together , there remains only from £ 2000 to £ 2500 to come from other than Association sources—tne
Centenary total , now that the final corrections have been made , being , in round figures , £ 51 , 500 . Possibly some one , who is more than usually sapient , may suggest that Association money , as it takes so long a time to collect , should not be included in the Festival Returns . If sj , there will , sooner or later , be an end of these useful organisations , which enable men
ol small means to act as Stewards and qualify as Life Governors or Life Subscribers without too serious a stress on their purses , and thus tne Charities will find these very fruitful sources of income closed to them . But , after all , we must never lose sight of the fact that the contributions to our Festivals are voluntarily made , and if some of the donors and subscribers
prefer paying through the medium ot Associations , or if they ask for a little or even a long grace in completing their promised payments , they are entitled to the consideration they ask for . The Secretaries ol our Institutions know too well the value of these little acts of kindly consideration and forbearance to refuse the services and