Correspondence.

officer of the Lodge was in his proper place in the Lodge during tho ceremony . The W . M . —who by the way does not reside in the town where the Lodge is held , but who lives in another town several miles distant , and is irregular in his attendance even at the monthly meetings of the Lodge—was , however , present on the occasion of which I speak , but being incapable of conducting the initiation efficientl y , he was obliged , during the ceremony , to resign his chair to . his immediate predecessor in office , whose protege he is , and wiio was chiefly instrumental in securing his election .

The Senior Warden was prevented by circumstances from being present , and the W . M . took his place during the initiation . Such a public and nnmistakeable exhibition of incompetency must infallibly diminish the respect felt by the members of this Lodge for their W . M ., who thus acknowledged himself unfit for the office which he had aspired to and obtained , nor can it add fo the consideration in which the office itself is held in this Lodge , when the members see that incompetency to fulfil its duties forms no bar to the possession of its honors and privileges . Neither J . W .,

S . D ., J . D ., or J . G ., were present at all during the evening . Surely , Sir , these are proceedings which call loudly for interference on the part of the superior authorities , and the more so as it is not long since that a fully equal amount of incompetency was as publicly exhibited by the then W . M . of another Lodge in this Province , and it will hardly bo believed that this W . M . was shortly afterwards selected by the W . D . P . G . M . for high office iu our P . G . Lodge . I have long been of opinion that it may be taken to be an axiom in Masonry that

, the decline of the moral and material prosperity of a Lodge bears an exact proportion to the indifference of its members to the conduct of its business and efficient working of the ceremonies , and estimating the present position of some of the Lodges in this province by this standard , Ihe truth of the axiom is sufficiently evident . I would , therefore ! , earnestly urge upon all true Masons to lose no time in uniting to devise some acceptable means whereby proceedings so injurious to the best interests of the Craft may be arrested and prevented , and in a future letter I will

venture to suggest to my brethren of this province a course of action which , in my opinion , would tend greatly to mitigate the evil , and which could he easilj adopted until some better means could be devised , or until Grand Lodge could be moved to act in the matter . I am , Sir , and Brother , Yours fraternally , A PAST MASTER OF A YORKSHIRE LODGE . 20 th Nov ., 1855 .

LODGE OFFICERS

To the Editor of the Masonic Mirror . SIR , —I am a London Mason , and the affairs of the Lodge in which I was initiated are conducted in every way most proper—there are Secretary and Treasurer , and payments of the dues arc acknowledged by a printed receipt , and the accounts audited annually . I was last year induced to join a Lodge in a province adjacent to the metropolis , and for my entrance fee and subscription got no acknowledgment . In paying my

subscription this year , I asked the Secretary , who is also Treasurer , for a receipt , and judge my surprize on being told "he never gave receipts . " I thought this very unusual , and mentioned it to two other members , and they informed me they got no receipts , and that no receipt book was kept , in the Lodge ; and one of them , a P . M ., said , "The entries in the cash book are all lumped together , so that we don ' t know who pays and who does not . " He also said the same brother has otiier Lodges which he manages in the same way ; that when any enquiry is made as to the finances of the Lodge , the answer is , " 1 am your only creditor , " and always a balance against the Lodge deters further enquiry . The system of uniting the offices of Secretary and Treasurer is very pernicious , and