The Board Of Benevolence.

THE BOARD OF BENEVOLENCE .

ZONDON , SATVRDAT , DECEMBER 1 , 1800 .

Bro . Frederick Binckes lias given notice of motion for the meeting of Grand Loclge , on Wednesday nest , "that the powers of the Board of Benevolence he enlarged , so as to enable it to afford immediate relief to the extent of £ 20 , and to recommend eases to the

M . "W . Grand Master for relief , to the extent of £ 50 , " the present poivers being confined to £ 10 and £ 20 respectively ; all votes above that sum having to go to Grand Lodge for confirmation . No doubt the regulations for the government of the Fund of Benevolence ivere good at

the time they ivere first adopted , hut with the rapid growth and development alike of the Order and its resources , ive have long felt they ought to he altogether remodelled . The motion of Bro . Binckes ive look upon as a step in the right direction , though we coulcl have

wished he had worded it in another form , and proposed to have referred the whole matter to the consideration of the Board of General Purposes , for what is really wanted is not so much the enlargement ' of the powers of the Board , as the establishment of some system of

IMMEDIATE relief ; what is now so-called being relief delayed a month , ancl which then comes when it is often no relief at all . The Board , we heliexe , on the whole discharges its functions well , but it meets but once a month , whilst cases are constantly occurring where an

immediate two or three pounds would be of far more nse than five or ten a month hence—where , indeed , even a few shillings ivould he an essential relief . But there is no authorised body to whom to apply , and hence the distressed Mason is left without that relief we have sworn to afford

him , or he has to appeal as a mendicant to private lodges individual brethren for that relief which ought to be afforded him from the general funds—the present system only leading to imposition , and the consequent detriment of the really poor and deserving brother . At the time when

the rules of the Board of Benevolence ivere framed , the means of communication with the different parts of the country were slow ancl costly , and but comparatively feiv ever travelled more than a few miles from their regular domiciles . ' Not so now ; messages and even letters are

despatched and replied to with almost lightning speed , and the ready means of locomotion at command have made almost every man a traveller , and the world , instead of his his native village or town , has become the workshop of

the handicraftsman . Tlie result of this is , that a man is often overtaken ivith sickness and distress when far aivay from friends and home . 'At such a moment , if in London , or even within reach of it by letter , the distressed Mason naturally turns to the Board of Benevolence for relief , to receive for answer that it will meet that day

three or four weeks , when , perhaps , he may have passed to that bourne from whence no traveller returns , or , having more happily found other and better friends to assist him—if even it be only the workhouse—has been enabled to go rejoicing on his way , to regain that

independent livelihood which the hand of the Almighty had for the time deprived him of the means of doing , and to feel that though there is much that is good in the manner of distributing Masonic Charity , there is much that

requires amendment and improvement . Indeed , such is the hardship of the present system , that we have ourselves been in the Grand Secretary's office at times when pressing applications have been made for a little relief—enough for a breakfast , and to help aweary

traveller on his way to join his friends—and there has been no means of bestowing it excepting from the pockets of the gentlemen employed in the office , and who are too good Masons to allow the applicant to go away empty-handed . But this is a tax upon the resources of

the clerks which they should neither be expected or called upon to bear ; and now that a Committee of the Board of General Pui'poses has been appointed ( at least , so rumour informs us ) to consider tlie appointment of an additional clerk in the Grand Secretary ' s office , we

trust they will also consider whether it may not be well to entrust the Grand Secretary , or his assistant , ' with discretionary powers to afford temporary assistance to

applicants up to a limited amount ; remembering that one pound promptly given is often worth three times that amount at a distance . Or , what would be better , would be the appointment of a Grand Almoner , who should attend at the office one or two hours every day , and

be entrusted ivith the power of immediately relieving urgent cases , and of assisting others , until their claims for more substantial relief can be regularly brought before the Board—of course , submitting monthly a statement to the Board of the various eases relieved , and his grounds

for affording it . Such an appointment would necessarily involve some expense , but it would be money well applied , and would go far to relieve Masonry from impostors , who make a living by appealing to the brethren for aid on the plea , that the Board of Benevolence will not meet for

three weeks or a month , well knowing that to that Board they dare not appeal , as to do so would only be to expose their real character and unworthiness .

Of course , to carry out our suggestion , many details will require to be arranged and nicely attended to , and if ive abstain from now going into them , it is in the hope that , hai'ing directed attention to the subject , it may be considered of sufficient importance to attract not only

the attention of the Craft , but to lead to some practical alteration of our laws , so that the really worthy Mason shall , when in distress , never apply to the head-quarters of the Craft for relief without receiving it .