The Pension Question.

THE PENSION QUESTION .

We learn from the report we have received of the annual dinner of the Langton Lodge of Instruction on Thursday , the 20 th inst ., but which we are unable to publish till next week owing to the unusually heavy demands on our space , that a scheme has

been proposed ancl sanctioned by the Provisional Management Committee of the Boys' School , which , if it be successfully carried out—and of this there seems to be very little doubt—will prove highly advantageous to the Institution , and at the same

time enable it to confer on Bro . BlNCKES for life a suitable provision such as his 28 years' service justify . We have already announced in our report of the Boys' School General Committee on the 7 th inst . that , in consequence of the largeness of the

minority which voted against granting a pension of £ 350 a year for life to Bro . BlNCKES , the Provisional Committee has determined on recommending to the Quarterly General Court on the 31 st prox . a diminished pension of £ 250 .

The idea which has since been forwarded and sanctioned

by the Committee is that a sum of £ 2500 should be raised by the lodges to enable the Provisional Committee to secure to Bro . BlNCKES a life annuity of £ 250 . It is calculated that in the provinces alone , if each lodge contributed only £ 2 ios . each ,

upwards of £ 2500 would be obtained , while the London lodges would be able , and no doubt willing , to contribute their share towards the fund . The advantage that would result from this scheme would be , firstly , that a suitable provision would be made

for Bro . BlNCKES for the rest of his life , and the Institution would not have the stigma cast upon it of sending away an officer who had done them great service in his day without any recognition ; and secondly , that the funds of the Institution would

not have the very considerable annual charge of £ 250 placed upon them , and would remain as' free as they are now for the purposes of the Institution . That the scheme is an excellent one , and capable of being carried out satisfactorily ,

there can be very little question . Indeed , a distinguished member of our Order has offered to write a cheque for the full amount ( £ 2500 ) , so that Bro . BlNCKES may retire at an earl y date , provided he receives some guarantee from responsible members that the amount shall be returned to him within six

months . The reader must not , however , run away with the idea that this question of pensioning Bro . BlNCKES has been shelved . On the contrary , the Provisional Committee will propose , and are pretty confident of carrying , a resolution to the effect that Bro .

BlNCKES retire on a pension for life of £ 250 a year . But if the scheme is successful , then , as we have said , the annual charge of £ 250 on the funds of the Institution will cease , and the objection which has been raised by many brethren to the grant of pensions

from the funds of the Charity will disappear . We may add that should more than £ 2500 be obtained , the excess will be paid over to the School ; and we may also mention that , in connection

with this question about his retirement , Bro . BlNCKES , so far from placing obstacles in the way of the Provisional Committee , is rendering them every assistance in his power .

It is not always that a scheme of this kind , which works out so well on paper , is successfully carried out , but in this case we earnestly hope that it may be adopted , seeing that it is practically a contribution to the funds of the Institution , for in the

almost certain event , of the resolution of a grant of £ 250 a year being carried , the Boys' School will be relieved to that extent ; and , what is of still greater moment , it will tend to restore and

cement that feeling of brotherly love which should be " the distinguishing characteristic of a Freemason's heart . " At this season of " Goodwill toward men , " we heartily commend this scheme to all whom it may concern .

Freemasonry In 1889.

FREEMASONRY IN 188 9 .

The feeling with which we enter upon our task of reviewing the course of Masonic events during the year which is now so nearly concluded is by no means one of unalloyed satisfaction . We have no reason whatever for believing that the position of the Craft is less firmly established than it was a twelvemonth ago , that its influence has been materially disparaged , or that the respect in which it has generally been held by the bulk of our fellow-countrymen has been impaired to

any appreciable extent . Indeed , we have good grounds for gratification at the increased efficiency in the performance of their duties which has been exhibited by the old lodges , as well as at the success that has generally attended those which have been constituted during the year . We do not regard the severance of the tie which has hitherto connected the lodges in the great Australasian colony of Victoria as in any way constituting a loss to the Grand Lodges in the Old Country . It

diminishes the number of their lodges , but it strengthens instead of diminishing their influence . We do not regard it as a loss when our sons and daughters marry or are given in marriage and set up establishments of their own , but rather that they help to extend the influence of the family of which , though in a separate and independent position , they still remain members . The Australasian Grand Lodges are a part of us , and always will be so , though they will never again look to the

Old Country for the laws by which they are governed or the advice they may stand in need of in the prosecution of their duties . Nor , as regards the Institutions which have been established by the Freemasons of the Old Country for indigent brethren and their families , do vvesee any cause for dissatisfaction because the voluntary contributions of the Craftsmen constitute a smaller total than last year—or , we should say rather less than the average total of ordinary years . What

has caused us dissatisfaction is the frequent exhibition of a vindictive spirit on the part of many brethren towards the officers of one of those Institutions , and the resolutions which have been adopted by many lodges and brethren to withhold , so far as they are concerned or can exercise any influence , the supplies which are still necessary for its maintenance . We do not believe that the exaggerated censure which has been passed upon those officers is in any way deserved , or that if it were

deserved , it is a righteous act on the part of any brethren that they should vent their spite against them on the Institution itself . It is the development of this bitter and vindictive feeling which has excited in vis a strong feeling of dissatisfaction . It betrays the fact , of the existence of which most of us have at some time or other had an inkling , but which has never before been so conspicuously manifest , that

many of those who have been admitted into our lodges are as far removed as ever they were from being imbued with the principles of Freemasonry . However , we must not dwell too long on matters which , as far as may be necessary or desirable , will receive fuller attention in their proper place . We have expressed ourselves generally on what has passed during the year , and shall now enter upon the details .

N CRAFT MASONRY . The number of lodges for which warrants have been granted during the year by his Royal Highness the Grand Master is 43 , or less by 13 than the number granted in 1888 . This reduction , however , is no more than might have been expected , seeing that Victoria has followed the lead of South Australia and New South Wales , and set up for itself , while steps are being taken , though with what success

remains to be seen , in New Zealand by the various Constitutions to organise themselves into a Grand Lodge . But for this , the number of new lodges would , in alj probability , have been about the same as last year . However , of the 43 lodges which have been warranted , five are located in London , namely , the Viator , No . 2308 ; the London Scottish Rifles , No . 2310 ; the London Irish Rifles , No . 2312 ; the Scots , No . 2319 ; and the Borough of East Greenwich , No . 2332 .

The new Provincial lodges muster 21 , as against 22 in 1888 , West Lancashire heading the poll with six—the Wavertree , No . 2294 ; the Scarisbrick , No . 2295 , and the Rose of Lancaster , No . 2325 , both at Southport ; the Prince ' s , No . 2316 , Liverpool ; the Horwich , No . 2324 ; and the Wigan , No . 2326 . East Lancashire has gained two , the St . Martin's , No . 2320 , Castleton , near Manchester , and the East Lancashire Centurion , No . 2322 , Manchester ; West Yorkshire two—the

Acacia , No . 3 , Bradford , and the St . Lawrence , No . 2330 , Pudsey ; Hertfordshire two , namely , the Bushey Hall , No . 2323 , Bushey , and the Ravenscroft , No . 2331 , Barnet ; and Essex two likewise—the West Ham Abbey , No . 2291 , Stratford , and the Lennox Browne , No . 2318 , Buckhurst Hill . The remaining seven lodges are distributed as follows , namely : the George Gardner , No . 2309 , Datchett , in the Province of Berks and Bucks ; the Stour , No . 2305 , Ashford , Kent ; the

St . Oswin , No . 2327 , South Shields , Northumberland ; the St . Mary's , No . 2302 , Southwell , Nottinghamshire ; the St . Alkmund , No . 2311 , Whitchurch , Shropshire ; the Bisley , No . 2317 , Bisley , in Surrey ; and the Albert Victor , No . 2328 , York . Among these 26 Home lodges are several , of which great hopes are iormed , the East Lancashire Centurion , which has started into existence under the mspices of Bro . Col . Starkie , P . G . M ., and marks the completion of a century of

lodges by the Province , ancl the Albert Victor Lodge at York , which has been named to commemorate the temporary sojourn of Prince Albert Victor of Wales n the venerable city , and has the Ven . Bro . the Dean of York , Past Grand Chapain of England , to guide it though the difficulties of its early existence , being , in ill probability , the most promising . The new lodges Abroad are 17 in number , but is four of them belonged for a brief time to the District of Victoria , and are now

) n the roll of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria , the net increase in our lodges ibroad is 13 , and the net addition to our own register 39 . South Africa has obtained an accession of four lodges , the Mount Currie , No . 2299 , in East Griquaand , the Johannesburg , No . 2313 , in the town of the same name ; the El Dorado , No . 231 4 , Malmani ; and the Royal Albert , No . 2315 , Klerksdorp . New Zealand

las gained two lodges , one in Wellington and one in Otago and Southland ; while India is enriched by three , of which one is located in Ajmere under the Dist . G . L . } f Bombay ; one in the Madras district , and in the third in the Punjab . Tasmania , West Australia , and Queensland have each gained one , and the remaining lodge—: he Victoria , No . 2329—will meet in Buenos Ayres , the capital of the Argentine Republic .