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LEADERSThe New System of Masonic Relief ... ... ... ... 509 Freemasonry in Oregon ... ... ... ... ... 510 Book of Constitutions , 1723—1896 ... ... . „ ... ... 5 10 Consecration of the Truth Chapter , No . 1458 ... ... ... ... 511 Royal Ark Mariners ... ... ... ... ... ... 511 M ASONIC N OTESCongratulations to Her Majesty on having completed the Longest Reign 513 Regular Meeting of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 ... ... 513 Resignation of Bro . Sir H . Thoby Prinsep as District Grand Master of Bengal ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 ' 3 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 ' 4 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 514 Opening of New Masonic Rooms at Truro ... ... ... ... 514 Board of Benevolence ... ... ... ... ... ... 514 Allied Masonic Degrees ... ... ... ... ... 514 Craft Masonry ... .,. ... ... ... ... 514 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 516 Lodges and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... 516 Presentation to Bro . Sheriff Elect R . H . Rogers ... ... ... 516 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 518 CONTENTS . PAGE .

The New System Of Masonic Relief.

THE NEW SYSTEM OF MASONIC RELIEF .

Our readers will doubtless have gathered from sundry articles which have appeared from time to time in our columns that an attempt is being made by the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin to induce the other Grand Lodges in the United States to unite with it in reducing the free and unfettered relief which it

is the duty of every Mason , within the limit of his means , to dispense to worthy brethren in distress to an organised system of Charity . As far as we are able to judge , this system , as proposed by Wisconsin , has just this one principal characteristic

—there is in it nothing whatever of the true spirit of Chanty . The following will illustrate this most clearly . A Mason , who is sojourning in a foreign country or in some part of his own

which is remote from his home , finds himself in temporary difficulties , and learning that there is a lodge in the neighbourhood , he applies to it for help in his time of need . Inquiries

are made , with the result that he is shown to be a worthy brother , while as to his being in difficulties , the fact speaks for itself . He is accordingly given such an amount of help as the lod ge and its members are in a position to afford and as will enable

him to meet the more pressing emergencies of his distress , and there , according to the true idea of Masonic Relief , the matter e"ds . The Grand Lodge of Wisconsin , however , has evolved from its inner consciousness a new and startling idea , to wit ,

that the lodge , which , in relieving this poor brother , has performed a simple act of duty , becomes , ipso facto , entitled in its turn to be relieved from the burden it has voluntarily imposed ° n its own funds . In other words , the lodge which helps a

poor Mason on his way , does so , not because it is actuated "y the spirit of Charity , not from any sense of respect for the Masonic obligations of its own members , but because it is C | ititled under the new Wisconsin law to claim

re-imburseinent of its expenditure from the lodge of which the poor way-, arer was , or is a member . In fact , the expenditure of the relievln g lod ge is in the nature , not of a gift , but of a loan , and the l 0 s t curious part of the scheme or arrangement is that the

n ge which is ^ called upon to repay the money—or in the event the . lod ge being unable to do so , the Grand Lodge from which wlcl s its charter—has no voice whatever in determining its a , nount .

, "us is the new idea of Masonic Charity as it is understood } isconsin—that " it is the duty of every lodge to take care ls own members in distress , wherever they may be , In case

The New System Of Masonic Relief.

of its inability so to do , this duty devolves upon the Grand Lodge from which it holds its charter ; it being understood that in no case is the lodge furnishing relief and asking re-imbursement to go beyond actual necessities , without express authority from

the rc-imbursing body . " But we are glad to say it has not found favour with the Grand Lodges of the United States , nearly all of which have formally pronounced it to be an innovation . One of them—the Grand Lodge of California—has endorsed it , but

at the very next annual communication after that at which the proposal was so endorsed , it devolved upon the Grand Master to announce that one of its lodges , which had previousl y been in a flourishing state , " had been so borne down by the burden of

support of one of its members " as to have become " substantially dead . " As for the Grand Lodge of Maine , which has exhibited the most determined opposition to the proposal , at its session in Portland , on the 7 th May last , it appointed a Special Committee

consisting of Bros . JosiAH H . DRUMMOND , EDWARD P . BURNHAM , and ALBRO E . CHASE to consider and report upon the subject , and from this report , which is published in the " Freemason ' s Repository" for last month , it is evident that

these distinguished brethren are entirely opposed to any such monstrous departure from ancient usage . They point out that " every Master Mason knows that he is under obligation to relieve a distressed worth y brother to the best of his ability ( of

which he is the sole judge ) and having done that , his duty is performed . " Moreover , it is " an individual duty , " from which " no power on earth" can relieve him , nor is it "limited to members of his own lodge , " but " extends to every brother ,

'beneath every clime . ' " The " original plan of Masonry , " they say , " never contemplated ' organised Charity , '" and "just so far as it , "—i . e ., " organised Charity "— " departs from being merely an aid to the individual Mason in the performance of its duty , it

departs from ' the . original p lan of Masonry . ' As regards the Charity Funds which lodges and Grand Lodges have accumulated , the Report points out that they were " intended solely to give more prompt and efficacious relief to any distressed brother

without regard to his Masonic home , nor have the Committee been able to discover any indication in any charter or code of laws " that a member of the lodge had a right to ask a preference over any other worthy Mason , till since the advent of the

imitation societies which are now so numerous . " True , a " Masonic Board of Relief" was organised in Boston in 1819 " for the sole purpose of aiding ' stranger brethren , ' " but it seems to have been established in great measure to prevent

fraud and imposture , while though this Board existed for more than half a century , and " expended thousands of dollars" in dispensing its aid , " during the whole time no request , or even suggestion , of reimbursement was ever

made . " Doubtless , " the organisation of a method of affording relief is very desirable , but it in no manner changes the character of giving relief ; the fact that the relief is afforded by ' an organised Charity' no more entitles it to reimbursement than

the giving of relief by an individual Mason entitles him to it . Among the other pronouncements made by this Committee in their report , we notice that they dissent entirely from the following proposition as laid down by the authors of the

Wisconsin idea , namely : " It is not disputed that the relief of a distressed worthy brother is a duty devolving either upon the individual Mason or upon the lodge . // naturally jollows , then , that the brother has claim jor relief , and that claim must be upon the lodge" As the Committee argue , no such conclusion