The Recent Elections Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE RECENT ELECTIONS OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

It is fortunate for the candidates at the elections which were held at the annual general meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , on Friday , the 2 ist instant , that the vacancies on the two und . s turned out to be

substantially more numerous than as originally announced . In February , the numbers declared by the Committee of Management were on the Male Fund 13 , ancl on the Widows' Fund 18 , the three deferred annuities being : in each case included . On

the day of election they were augmented to 23 and 21 respectively , and as two widow candidates had died in the interval and one been withdrawn , the number of unsuccessful is reduced to 70 , of whom 32 are men and 28 widows . For

THE MALE FUND , as we have said , there were 23 vacancies to be filled , namely , 20 immediate ancl three deferred , ancl for these then * were 6 5 candidates , of whom 27 had taken part in one or more previous

elections , while to the remaining 3 8 the anxieties and excitement of a ballot were a new experience . London furnished 26 and the Provinces and Abroad 39 , and when the result came to be announced it was found that the Provinces with their superior

organisation for voting purposes had had rather the better in the contest . However , London had the satisfaction of placing one of its candidates at the head of the poll with 4807 votes and also secured the following places , namely , No . 3 , whicli was won

by a brother who brought forward 3345 votes from last year and augmented his total to 4597 ; No . 4 , a new case who polled right away 4463 votes ; No . 9 , who obtained 4328 votes ; No . 10 , with 4325 votes ; No . 11 , with 4307 votes ; No . 17 with

3914 votes , of which 2936 were brought forward ; and Nos . 22 and 23 , of whom the former , starting with 2094 to his credit , made up his total of 2094 from last year to 3804 , and the latter , with 247 6 in hand , finished up with 3660 votes .

Of the 14 Provincial candidates , one of five brethren from Devonshire was placed second on the result sheet , with 4695 votes , of which only 21 were brought forward , and the brother from Berkshire stood fifth , with 4407

votes . Kent , which had also five candidates , took the sixth vacancy with 4369 votes , of which 410 were already to his credit . Suffolk , which furnished two candidates , carried one of them at No . 7 , with 4 ^ 05 votes , 330 S being brought forward and

1057 polled on this occasion . The Bristol brother stood eighth with 4354 votes , and the Shropshire candidate 12 th with 4212 , of which all but five were polled at this election . Dorsetshire furnished No . 13 , whose votes amounted to 4204 , and

Hertfordshire , No . 14 , who polled right away 4200 . The brother from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight took the 15 th place with 4170 votes , and North and East Yorkshire , which sent up two candidates , the 16 th with 4145 votes . The four brethren from West

Yorkshire succeeded in winning the four places that followed , with 3911 , 38 S 8 , 3 880 , and 3 86 7 votes respectively . As regards the unsuccessful candidates , one of the two brethren from Norfolk , with -1653 votes , a Kentish brother , whose poll

amounted to 3412 , and a London brother , with 3250 , obtained the three highest places , and therewere eight other applicants who polled upwards of 1000 , while there were as many as 15 who were unable to command 100 votes . Only one out of the

first 13 candidates , that is , of those who have been before thc Governors and Subscribers for some years , was successful , while 14 out of the 32 new applicants won vacancies . However , it is

some consolation to the poor brethren who have failed to know that on this occasion they will receive each £ 5 in commemoration of the QUEEN ' S Diamond Jubilee . There were originally 52 candidates for

THE WIDOWS' K > D , but of these two died and one was withdrawn , the number that went to tlie poll being , therefore , only 49 , of whom 10 hailed from London , ancl the rest from the Provinces ancl Abroad , there

being , however , two of the latter in which the lodges in tlie Metropolis were to some extent interested . The number of vacancies to be filled , including the three deferred , was 21 , and of these London was able to secure six , one of its candidates heading

The Recent Elections Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

the poll with a total of 5523 votes ; ancl the remaining five being placed at No . 7 , with 4749 votes ; No . II , with 4282 votes ; No . 14 , with 4157 votes , of which 130 were brought forward from the election in May , 1 S 9 6 ; No . 15 , with 4020 votes ; and No . 19 ,

with 2481 votes . The candidate who had claims on London and Suffolk took the 6 th place , with 47 S 8 votes . Of the Widows , from the Provinces and Abroad , who are relieved of all further care about ballots , the lady who stood second on the poll , and

was one of two from Kent , scored 5391 votes , one of the two East Lancashire widows being next , with 5137 votes , of which all but 32 were polled on this occasion ; No . 4 , hailing from Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire , obtained 4913 votes ; No . 5 ,

from Bengal , 4855 votes ; No . 8 , one of three Sussex widows , 4644 votes , of which 940 already stood to her credit ; and No . 9 , alsofrom Sussex , 4402 votes . No . 10 came from Leicestershire and Rutland ancl received 4319 votes ; No . 12 was one of four from

Warwickshire , who started with 315 votes and finished with 426 9 ; No . 13 , one of two hailing from Middlesex , polled right away 4208 votes ; No . 16 , one of two West Lancashire widows , 3719 votes ; No . 17 , from Somersetshire and Dorsetshire 3520 votes ,

ancl No . 18 , from Somersetshire alone 2821 votes . The Oxfordshire widow who brought forward 439 votes was placed 20 th with 2132 , and one of five from Devonshire brought up the rear with 1768 votes , of which she had 519 to her credit from the

18 9 6 election . The three highest unsuccessful candidates polled respectively 16 9 8 ( Kent and London ) , 16 74 ( London ) , and 1211 ( Warwickshire ) , votes ; there being only one other , from London , who obtained over 1000 , though there were as many as 10 who obtained less than 100 .

For the Male Fund there were 24 , 778 votes brought forward and 109 , 46 4 issued for this election , making a total of 134 , 242 thc number that passed the Scrutineers was 105 , 960 , leaving 3524 that were unused , or spoiled . For the Widows '

Fund 4765 votes were brought forward , and 120 , 656 issued for the election , making the total available , 125 , 421 . The Scrutineers passed 91 , 682 , and there were 28 , 974 unused or spoiled ,

United Grand Lodge Of England.

UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

The following is the business to be transacted in Grand Lodge on Wednesday next , 2 nd June : 1 . The minutes of the Quarterly Communication of the 3 rd March for confirmation . 2 . The minutes of the Grand Festival of the 28 th April for confirmation .

3 . Appointment and investiture of President of the Board of General Purposes . 4 . Election of members of the Board of General Purposes . 5 . Election of Grand Lodge Auditor . 6 . Election of members for the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons .

7 . Report of the Board of Benevolence for the last quarter , in which are recommendations for the following grants : The widow of a brother of the Stuart Lodge , No . 540 , Bedford ... £ 50 0 o The widow of a brother of the Victoria in Burma Lodge , No . 832 , Rangoon ... ... ... ... ... 75 o o The widow of a brother of the Vitruvian Lodge , No . 338 , Ross ... 60 o o A brother of the Perseverance Lodge , No . 213 , Norwich ... 75 o o

The widow of a brother of the Union Lodge , No . 247 , Demerara 60 o o A brother of the Eccleston Lodge , No . 1624 , London .., ... 75 o o A brother of the Royal J ubilee Lodge , No . 72 , London ... Co o o A brother of ih ; John Hervey Lodge , No . 12 C 0 , London ... 60 o o A brother of thj University of London Lodrje , No . 2033 , London ... 60 o o A brother of Ihe St . Augustine ' s Lodge , No . 1941 , Rugeley ... 50 o o A brother of the Sincerity Lodge , No . 1 74 , London ... ... 60 o o The widow of a brother of the Humber Lodge , No . 57 , Hull ... 50 o o

8 . REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GENERAL PURPOSES . To the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England . The Board beg to report that it received a complaint from the Warrant

Officers' Lodge , No . 2346 , against its late Treasurer , Bro . George Cook , P . M ., for having misappropriated the funds of the lodge to the extent of , £ 170 . The charge being admitted by Bro . Cook , who failed to attend the Board in obedience to a summons , the Board suspended him from all Masonic rights and privileges .

The Board also submit a statement of the Grand Lodge Accounts presented to the last meeting of the Finance Committee , held on Friday , the 12 th day of February instant , showing a balance in the Bank of England ( Law Courts Branch ) of ^ 8803 2 s . iod ., and in the hands of the Grand Secretary for Petty Cash ^ 100 , and for Servants' Wages . £ 100 . > ( Signed ) RICHARD LOVELAND LOVELAND , President . Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C , . 1 Sth May , 1897 . This being the last meeting of the present Board , . it was resolved unanimously ;