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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 9 of 15 →
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Provincial.
if they had not hitherto given the same amount of aid to the charities that London Brethren had done , it Had arisen from their not having the same opportunities of observing the advantages conferred upon the Graft by those institutions , an ^ their attention not being so often called to their requirements . The committee who had drawn up the circular to which be had alluc ^ gestions to which he would call their attention , though he did not feel they could agree to them as they now stood . In the first pace the committee recommended
" that corresponding secretaries be appointed in every province by the Provincial Grand Lodge , subject to the approval of the general committee of each school . " Now lie felt they place the Provincial Grand Lodges in a false position , were they to make appointments which might be ignored or set aside by a committee in London , who could not by possibility know the merits or standing of the Brethren so well as the Lodge apppointing him . The committee then proceeded to define what should be theduties of the secretaries as follows : —
" . 1 .. To attend the meetings of the Provincial Grand Lodges , and to visit from time to time the private Lodges of the province , in order to advocate the interests of the schools , to afford information , to procure stewards for the annual festival dinners , and to solicit donations and annual subscriptions from individual Brethren , as well as from Lodges , Chapters / and ether Masonic bodies . " 2 . To distribute copies of the rules and regulations , lists of subscribers , annual reports made at the festivals , & c . " 3 . To be empowered to give printed receipts for money received by them /'
The circular further said' « ' That for the purpose of providing for travelling and other incidental expenses , the corresponding secretaries be allowed the usual per centage on subscriptions and donations remitted by them . " He was certainly of opinion , that any gentleman who took upon himself the duties of such a secretaryship , ought to be reimbursed any expenses to which he might be put , but he did not think any gentleman they could appoint , would consent to accept a percentage on the receipts . He should be glad to see some plan originated in Wiltshire , for the better support of the charities , and he would suggest that some plan
should be organized by which each Lodge in the province might become an annual subscriber to the various charities . If they should appoint such a committee as he had suggested , he should be most happy to report their decision to the Lodge of which he was Master , and use his best exertions to remove the stigma , which he felt now rested on their province , in common with other provinces . He knew , however , that they had only to bring the matter forward amongst the Brethren , to assure its being liberally responded to , as when he stood as Steward for one of the charities , he was nobly supported by the province , and had one of the largest , if not the largest , list of subscriptions presented at the festival .
Bro . Budd ( as we understood ) stated that the Lodge with which he was connected ( Fidelity , No . 961 , Devizes ) , had just given £ 10 to the Aged Freemasons' Fund believing that they were thereby supporting the best institution . The R . W . D . G . M . did not consider one fund as better than another ; all their charitable institutions were equally good . Bro . Biggs , Prov . G . Purst ., would have great pleasure in seconding any proposition , which would have for its object the removal of the stigma under Avhich they
then laboured , and for which they ought to give no cause , the very foundation of their Order being in benevolence . lie believed one of the best ways of meeting the case , would be to place the country Brethren , on a par with the London Brethren , by making the quarterly contribution to the Fund of Benevolence equal . This would give them an additional fund of something like £ 2000 per annum ,
which might be applied to the support of their charities , though ho did not say that that should be taken to prevent the giving of private contributions . The R . W . D . Prov . G . M . would remind their worthy Brother that the provincial Brethren only paid half as much as the London Brethren as quarterage to the Fund of Benevolence of Grand Lodge , because they had also to support their Provincial Grand Lodges . He did not think the proposed plan of doubling their quarterage * The circular was published in extenao at page iifcl of the Magazine *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
if they had not hitherto given the same amount of aid to the charities that London Brethren had done , it Had arisen from their not having the same opportunities of observing the advantages conferred upon the Graft by those institutions , an ^ their attention not being so often called to their requirements . The committee who had drawn up the circular to which be had alluc ^ gestions to which he would call their attention , though he did not feel they could agree to them as they now stood . In the first pace the committee recommended
" that corresponding secretaries be appointed in every province by the Provincial Grand Lodge , subject to the approval of the general committee of each school . " Now lie felt they place the Provincial Grand Lodges in a false position , were they to make appointments which might be ignored or set aside by a committee in London , who could not by possibility know the merits or standing of the Brethren so well as the Lodge apppointing him . The committee then proceeded to define what should be theduties of the secretaries as follows : —
" . 1 .. To attend the meetings of the Provincial Grand Lodges , and to visit from time to time the private Lodges of the province , in order to advocate the interests of the schools , to afford information , to procure stewards for the annual festival dinners , and to solicit donations and annual subscriptions from individual Brethren , as well as from Lodges , Chapters / and ether Masonic bodies . " 2 . To distribute copies of the rules and regulations , lists of subscribers , annual reports made at the festivals , & c . " 3 . To be empowered to give printed receipts for money received by them /'
The circular further said' « ' That for the purpose of providing for travelling and other incidental expenses , the corresponding secretaries be allowed the usual per centage on subscriptions and donations remitted by them . " He was certainly of opinion , that any gentleman who took upon himself the duties of such a secretaryship , ought to be reimbursed any expenses to which he might be put , but he did not think any gentleman they could appoint , would consent to accept a percentage on the receipts . He should be glad to see some plan originated in Wiltshire , for the better support of the charities , and he would suggest that some plan
should be organized by which each Lodge in the province might become an annual subscriber to the various charities . If they should appoint such a committee as he had suggested , he should be most happy to report their decision to the Lodge of which he was Master , and use his best exertions to remove the stigma , which he felt now rested on their province , in common with other provinces . He knew , however , that they had only to bring the matter forward amongst the Brethren , to assure its being liberally responded to , as when he stood as Steward for one of the charities , he was nobly supported by the province , and had one of the largest , if not the largest , list of subscriptions presented at the festival .
Bro . Budd ( as we understood ) stated that the Lodge with which he was connected ( Fidelity , No . 961 , Devizes ) , had just given £ 10 to the Aged Freemasons' Fund believing that they were thereby supporting the best institution . The R . W . D . G . M . did not consider one fund as better than another ; all their charitable institutions were equally good . Bro . Biggs , Prov . G . Purst ., would have great pleasure in seconding any proposition , which would have for its object the removal of the stigma under Avhich they
then laboured , and for which they ought to give no cause , the very foundation of their Order being in benevolence . lie believed one of the best ways of meeting the case , would be to place the country Brethren , on a par with the London Brethren , by making the quarterly contribution to the Fund of Benevolence equal . This would give them an additional fund of something like £ 2000 per annum ,
which might be applied to the support of their charities , though ho did not say that that should be taken to prevent the giving of private contributions . The R . W . D . Prov . G . M . would remind their worthy Brother that the provincial Brethren only paid half as much as the London Brethren as quarterage to the Fund of Benevolence of Grand Lodge , because they had also to support their Provincial Grand Lodges . He did not think the proposed plan of doubling their quarterage * The circular was published in extenao at page iifcl of the Magazine *