Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Boys' School Provisional Management Committee And Its Censors.
THE BOYS' SCHOOL PROVISIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AND ITS CENSORS .
Very unfair treatment is being meted out to the Provisional Management Committee of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . When nearly two years ago this body was appointed to reorganise the administration of the School , and place it on a footing which should be satisfactory to the Governors and
Subscribers , it vvas recognised on all hands that the task with which it was entrusted was both an onerous and a responsible one , and that it would require clever handling in order to carry it out successfully . It was known , however , that the Committee was for the most part composed of men of large and varied
experience , of sound common sense , and good business habits , and a feeling of confidence existed among the brethren interested in the welfare of the School that the duty it had undertaken would be performed thoroughly and well . That confidence has not been belied . The Committee has laboured
hard , and with a zeal , an ability , and a singleness of purpose which reflects the highest credit on its members , both individually and collectively . The Head Master and his Assistants are declared to have already greatly improved the tone of the School , while the report we published last week
of the result of the Cambridge Local Examinations , in December , 1890 , shows that the standard of educational proficiency has been more than well maintained . The offices of the Institution , now under the control of the new
Secretary , are in good working order , while the Regulations have undergone a thorough revision , and in this new and revised form have been sanctioned and approved by the Governors and Subscribers in Quarterly General Court assembled . Nor in the meantime has the Finance Sub-Committee been idle . A new
system of account-keeping has been adopted , and is carried out under the supervision of a professional accountant , and the audited statement of account and balance-sheet , with the signature appended of that accountant , and verified by the Finance
Sub-Committee , make it clear , as we stated in the article we penned on these documents a little while ago , not only that the funds at the disposal of the governing body have been wisely administered , but also that a distinct advance in the direction of
a greater economy has been made . In short , the Provisional Management Committee , which is on the eve of retiring in order to make way for the newly-sanctioned Governing Bodies , is able to show that the duties which nearly two years ago it undertook to perform have been performed both generally and
parti-. "" v wun a considerable amount 01 success , and we doubt not that when its task is completed it will receive , as it richly deserves to receive , the sincere thanks of the whole body , or at a'l events of an overwhelming majority , of the Governors and Subscribers .
Under the circumstances which we have been careful to c escribe with accuracy , and without any approach to exaggeration , 1 Tf ^ '" reason have been expected that a Committee , which a . done , and was doing , its work so well , would have received ncouragement and support from all quarters , or at all events of th ' p . kce of tlie recognised difficulties by which the path ... i , " rov isionaI Committee was beset , the spirit of partisanship
th A ^ ^ ^ ^ decency to remain quiescent , at least until plef Committee was in a position to render a final and compla accou . nt of its stewardship . In the interests of that fair ex y on which Englishmen pride themselves , we had a right to \ in . s . uch forbearance , but the expectation has not been realised .
count A ^ ' sional Management Committee issued its first aci 88 Q- 7 ! ance -sheet—for the half-year ended 31 st December , about r ^^^ at ithad reduced the expenditure to some where atlcj j ~ 39 per boy , the spirit of partisanship appeared on the scene , ^ rou ^ e ^ kk unblushing effrontery that the claim was apreposor > e ; that the milk bill , or some such item , was ridiculousl y
The Boys' School Provisional Management Committee And Its Censors.
small ; and that the much-vaunted new system of accounts , as it was utterly unlike what it had been accustomed to in the good old days of its account-keeping , was about as ridiculous as the milk bill . The Provisional Committee wisely took no notice of this attack , but went quietly about its task , as men of
business are wont to do , and last month it published its account and balance-sheet for the year 1890 . In the former of these documents the Provisional Committee said nothing whatever about the average cost per boy , but for our own satisfaction and the edification of our readers , we divided the " Total General
Expenditure for 18 90 " by the number of boys chargeable to the Institution ( 264 ) and educed from this the simple fact that the average cost per boy in 1890 was in round figures— £ 41 . In making this calculation we took no notice of ( 1 ) , the " Suspense Account" opened by the Committee and consisting of Under-estimate of Liabilities in 188 9 , £ 200 ; ( 2 ) , Pensions ,
£ 106 ; ( 3 ) , Repairs to Organ and Special Sanitary Arrangements , & c , £ 2184 ; the total being thereby raised from £ 10 , 822 to £ 13 , 312 * and the average cost per boy from £ 41 to £ 50 8 s . Thereupon this malevolent spirit again intrudes itself upon the scene and declares our reckoning—not that of the Committee—to be utterly
monstrous . One of the heaviest charges made against the old regime , it tells us , was that it reckoned the average cost per boy on the "Ordinary Expenditure , " taking no account whatever of the " Special Expenditure , " and here , it says , is the Provisional Committee—or a critic writing in its praise ^—doing precisel y the
same thing . To this we reply that , these evil critics are utterly and mischievously wrong , and that a comparison of the accounts just issued under the Provisional regime for 18 90 with those of any year under the old regime would have shown that their statement was as unjust as in the interests of the Institution itself it is calculated to be mischievous . The " Total General
Expenditure for 18 90 , " amounting to £ 10 , 822 , is what it professes to be , and includes everything , but the items already spoken of as constituting the extraordinary outlay ; the bulk of these latter being of a special character—for sanitary arrangements , bath accommodation , fire appliances , & c . —such as will not occur
in other yearly accounts . In the accounts for the year 1887—which were published , as usual , some weeks prior to the Festival of 1888—the Ordinary Expenditure is stated as £ 11 , 288 , the average cost per boy for 258 being deduced therefrom as £ 43 15 s ., which is diminished , by deducting the cost per boy for Rates , to
£ 41 13 s . iod . There is also a Special Expenditure not included in the Ordinary , consisting of Secretary's Travelling Expenses and annual emolument in lieu of Commission , Outfits , Gratuities , and Holiday Entertainments , Matron ' s Pension , Cambridge Local Examinations , Prizes , Votes of Thanks to Stewards , Stewards '
Visit , & c , & c , & c , and Music , amounting , with an item for "Building Account , " to £ 153 8 5 s . 4 d . On making a comparison between the accounts for 188 7 ( old system ) and 18 90 ( new system ) we find that all that is described in the former as " Special "—or rather all similar items—with the exception
of the Matron ' s Pension , are included in the General Total of the latter , while the expenditure for sanitary arrangements , fire appliances , & c , is rightly excluded , because , like the cost of a new hall or a new wing , it does not annually recur . We invite our readers to judge of this matter
for themselves . Let them compare the Provisional Committee ' s Account for 18 90 with the Account for 1887—which we have taken , because it happened to be available at the moment of
writing—or with that for any other year , and they will find the new system shows everything , with the " Special" exception we have stated , while the old system set down as special what was annually recurring and of a general character .
So much for these censors and the spirit of partisanshi p by which they have been prompted to offer their various criticisms . In this , their latest attempt , they have succeeded , by inexcusable blundering , in covering themselves with ridicule .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Boys' School Provisional Management Committee And Its Censors.
THE BOYS' SCHOOL PROVISIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AND ITS CENSORS .
Very unfair treatment is being meted out to the Provisional Management Committee of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . When nearly two years ago this body was appointed to reorganise the administration of the School , and place it on a footing which should be satisfactory to the Governors and
Subscribers , it vvas recognised on all hands that the task with which it was entrusted was both an onerous and a responsible one , and that it would require clever handling in order to carry it out successfully . It was known , however , that the Committee was for the most part composed of men of large and varied
experience , of sound common sense , and good business habits , and a feeling of confidence existed among the brethren interested in the welfare of the School that the duty it had undertaken would be performed thoroughly and well . That confidence has not been belied . The Committee has laboured
hard , and with a zeal , an ability , and a singleness of purpose which reflects the highest credit on its members , both individually and collectively . The Head Master and his Assistants are declared to have already greatly improved the tone of the School , while the report we published last week
of the result of the Cambridge Local Examinations , in December , 1890 , shows that the standard of educational proficiency has been more than well maintained . The offices of the Institution , now under the control of the new
Secretary , are in good working order , while the Regulations have undergone a thorough revision , and in this new and revised form have been sanctioned and approved by the Governors and Subscribers in Quarterly General Court assembled . Nor in the meantime has the Finance Sub-Committee been idle . A new
system of account-keeping has been adopted , and is carried out under the supervision of a professional accountant , and the audited statement of account and balance-sheet , with the signature appended of that accountant , and verified by the Finance
Sub-Committee , make it clear , as we stated in the article we penned on these documents a little while ago , not only that the funds at the disposal of the governing body have been wisely administered , but also that a distinct advance in the direction of
a greater economy has been made . In short , the Provisional Management Committee , which is on the eve of retiring in order to make way for the newly-sanctioned Governing Bodies , is able to show that the duties which nearly two years ago it undertook to perform have been performed both generally and
parti-. "" v wun a considerable amount 01 success , and we doubt not that when its task is completed it will receive , as it richly deserves to receive , the sincere thanks of the whole body , or at a'l events of an overwhelming majority , of the Governors and Subscribers .
Under the circumstances which we have been careful to c escribe with accuracy , and without any approach to exaggeration , 1 Tf ^ '" reason have been expected that a Committee , which a . done , and was doing , its work so well , would have received ncouragement and support from all quarters , or at all events of th ' p . kce of tlie recognised difficulties by which the path ... i , " rov isionaI Committee was beset , the spirit of partisanship
th A ^ ^ ^ ^ decency to remain quiescent , at least until plef Committee was in a position to render a final and compla accou . nt of its stewardship . In the interests of that fair ex y on which Englishmen pride themselves , we had a right to \ in . s . uch forbearance , but the expectation has not been realised .
count A ^ ' sional Management Committee issued its first aci 88 Q- 7 ! ance -sheet—for the half-year ended 31 st December , about r ^^^ at ithad reduced the expenditure to some where atlcj j ~ 39 per boy , the spirit of partisanship appeared on the scene , ^ rou ^ e ^ kk unblushing effrontery that the claim was apreposor > e ; that the milk bill , or some such item , was ridiculousl y
The Boys' School Provisional Management Committee And Its Censors.
small ; and that the much-vaunted new system of accounts , as it was utterly unlike what it had been accustomed to in the good old days of its account-keeping , was about as ridiculous as the milk bill . The Provisional Committee wisely took no notice of this attack , but went quietly about its task , as men of
business are wont to do , and last month it published its account and balance-sheet for the year 1890 . In the former of these documents the Provisional Committee said nothing whatever about the average cost per boy , but for our own satisfaction and the edification of our readers , we divided the " Total General
Expenditure for 18 90 " by the number of boys chargeable to the Institution ( 264 ) and educed from this the simple fact that the average cost per boy in 1890 was in round figures— £ 41 . In making this calculation we took no notice of ( 1 ) , the " Suspense Account" opened by the Committee and consisting of Under-estimate of Liabilities in 188 9 , £ 200 ; ( 2 ) , Pensions ,
£ 106 ; ( 3 ) , Repairs to Organ and Special Sanitary Arrangements , & c , £ 2184 ; the total being thereby raised from £ 10 , 822 to £ 13 , 312 * and the average cost per boy from £ 41 to £ 50 8 s . Thereupon this malevolent spirit again intrudes itself upon the scene and declares our reckoning—not that of the Committee—to be utterly
monstrous . One of the heaviest charges made against the old regime , it tells us , was that it reckoned the average cost per boy on the "Ordinary Expenditure , " taking no account whatever of the " Special Expenditure , " and here , it says , is the Provisional Committee—or a critic writing in its praise ^—doing precisel y the
same thing . To this we reply that , these evil critics are utterly and mischievously wrong , and that a comparison of the accounts just issued under the Provisional regime for 18 90 with those of any year under the old regime would have shown that their statement was as unjust as in the interests of the Institution itself it is calculated to be mischievous . The " Total General
Expenditure for 18 90 , " amounting to £ 10 , 822 , is what it professes to be , and includes everything , but the items already spoken of as constituting the extraordinary outlay ; the bulk of these latter being of a special character—for sanitary arrangements , bath accommodation , fire appliances , & c . —such as will not occur
in other yearly accounts . In the accounts for the year 1887—which were published , as usual , some weeks prior to the Festival of 1888—the Ordinary Expenditure is stated as £ 11 , 288 , the average cost per boy for 258 being deduced therefrom as £ 43 15 s ., which is diminished , by deducting the cost per boy for Rates , to
£ 41 13 s . iod . There is also a Special Expenditure not included in the Ordinary , consisting of Secretary's Travelling Expenses and annual emolument in lieu of Commission , Outfits , Gratuities , and Holiday Entertainments , Matron ' s Pension , Cambridge Local Examinations , Prizes , Votes of Thanks to Stewards , Stewards '
Visit , & c , & c , & c , and Music , amounting , with an item for "Building Account , " to £ 153 8 5 s . 4 d . On making a comparison between the accounts for 188 7 ( old system ) and 18 90 ( new system ) we find that all that is described in the former as " Special "—or rather all similar items—with the exception
of the Matron ' s Pension , are included in the General Total of the latter , while the expenditure for sanitary arrangements , fire appliances , & c , is rightly excluded , because , like the cost of a new hall or a new wing , it does not annually recur . We invite our readers to judge of this matter
for themselves . Let them compare the Provisional Committee ' s Account for 18 90 with the Account for 1887—which we have taken , because it happened to be available at the moment of
writing—or with that for any other year , and they will find the new system shows everything , with the " Special" exception we have stated , while the old system set down as special what was annually recurring and of a general character .
So much for these censors and the spirit of partisanshi p by which they have been prompted to offer their various criticisms . In this , their latest attempt , they have succeeded , by inexcusable blundering , in covering themselves with ridicule .