The Board Of Benevolence.

fund would tempt people to enter Masonry and be productive of mischief , a fear which is not altogether absent from the minds of the brethren of the present day . Grand Lodge , however , came to the conclusion that it was not desirable to apply a fund which had been created for the relief of necessitous Freemasons and their widows to any other

purpose , and events proved the wisdom of this decision . At the end of the century it was found that notwithstanding great care had been exercised in the distribution of the fund , the demands for relief had so largely increased with the increase in the number of Freemasons that the

accumulated fund had only reached about £ 50 , 000 , just one-half the amount which had been predicted by Bro . Clabon . In 1870 , the annual income had reached £ 5000 a year , and important alterations in the rules were made , giving both the Board and the Grand Alaster powers to grant

larger sums to applicants without reference to Grand Lodge , as well as more clearly defining the various rules in force at the time . Up to this period the Lodge of Benevolence as it was then called , had been presided over by a Grand Officer specially summoned for each meeting to act as Alaster , as well as two Grand Officers to act as Wardens , but it became

BRO . JAMES II . MATTHEWS , PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD . evident that this system had outgrown the needs of the time , and that the decisions on points of law or order of the different brethren who from time to time were called upon

to act as Master , given as they were on the spur of the moment without time to consider the construction of the Constitutions , were not unfrequently inconsistent with e : ich other . At the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge in

March , 18 70 , a resolution was submitted to Grand Lodge , and unanimously carried , that in future a President or Alaster should be appointed by the Grand Alaster , and that a Senior and Junior Vice-President should be annually elected by Grand Lodge . This arrangement has proved to be an

eminently practicable one , and has largely contributed to the efficient working of the Board . Bro . Clabon was appointed the first President under the new arrangement , and continued to act in that capacity until ¦ bin death , when he was succeeded by Bro . Joshua Xunn . On

the death of Bro . Nunn in 1886 , Bro . Robert Grey , P . G D ., was appointed with the newly created Grand rank of " President of the Board of Benevolence , " a position he continued to occupy with distinguished ability and unwearied devotion to the duties of the office for a period of ten years , and on his

retirement was promoted to the rank of Past Grand Warden . Bro . J . H . Matthews was appointed in 18 9 6 , bringing with him that business acumen and knowledge of men and things acquired in the well-known firm of Grindley and Co ., Bankers and Indian Agents , of which he is the head , together with those qualities of sympathy and tact which are so necessary in such a position , and his occupancy of the chair has

BRO . DAVID D . MERCER , I ' . G . STD . lilt .- ¦( I'liala Klihi Par / rail Co . ) been exceptionally successful . Sums averaging a total of nearly £ 1000 a month , are disbursed to deserving applicants , and the whole work of the Board is , under his direction , carried out efficiently and in a manner that rellectsthe highest credit on all concerned .

BRO . HENRY GARROD , l ' . G . BURST . In this connection we should not omit to mention that the onerous duties of Senior and Junior Vice-President have been respectively carried out with marked ability and devotion by Bros . David D . Mercer , P . G . Std . Br ., and Henry Garrod ,

P . G . Purst , whose long experience and ripe judgment are of the greatest value to this important section of Alasonic work . < a >