The Masonic Mirror.

of £ 15 shall be made in such salary until the sum of £ 600 is reached , AA'hich shall be the maximum salary . " It had been considered that the minimum salary of tho Grand Secretary should not be less than £ 450 per annum , tho Board believing that sum would not bo too much for a very responsible office .

The motion having been seconded , Bro . HENRY G . Warden , rose to move as an amendment that there should be no mini . mum salary , but that on appointment tho Grand Secretary should receive a salary of £ 600 per annum , which would only be an adequate amount for a gentleman of liberal education and in the prime of lifo . Were such a sum given no gentleman

Avould hesitate to give up any other employment , and devote himself entirely to the duties of his office . Ho should move that the salary of the Grand Secretary be £ 600 for the present , us well as for tho future . Bro . WYNNE , P . M ., Y-. u-boro' Lodge , seconded the amendment . Bro . HAA'ERS , P . G . Warden , suggested that this amendment

could not be put , as no notice of it had been given . Bro . WARREN said as the business paper was only put into their hands on entering the room , it ivas impossible for them to know Avhat was going on , and therefore no notice of an amendment could possibly be given . Bro . SYMONDS said he agreed with Bro . Warren that it was

objectionable that thoy had no notice of what was coining on , but at the same time they should be careful how they increased grants of money unless notice of such increase had previously been given . Were that to bo allowed , a brother who was absent might say that had he been aware that such an increase was about to be made , he should have been in his place to oppose it . He would suggest , however , to Bro . Warren that it was competent for him to move that that part of the report should

be referred back to the committee for further consideration . Bro . HAVERS , P . G . W ., said he agreed with Bro . Warren that ifc ivas a great grievance that the members of Grand Lodge had no notice of what was about to be proposed , or could they give notice of an amendment unless it Avas submitted to the Board of Masters , and some years ago ho proposed a

resolution to meet this very objection , but Grand Lodge rejected it . Bro . WATCREN said if he ivas precluded by these rules from moving bis amendment , at tho next Grand Lodge he would propose a rule to meet the difficulty . The D . G . MASTER said this Avas not simply moving an amendment Avithout notice , but ifc was for the increase of a

grant money ; therefore the rule did not apply to any other question but to a grant for money . Any other amendment could be put and discussed by the Grand Lodge . Bro . Colonel LOAVEX COLE , P . G . W ., said he looked upon this merely as an arrangement for the future , and not that their present G . Sec . should be paid £ 600 per annum . As it was

niez-ely an arrangement as regarded the salary of a future G . Sec , he hardly thought the amendment came into the category of a grant of money . Bi-o . JOSEPH SHARP , D . C . L ., looked upon it as a defect that the brethren had no opportunity of giving notice of an amendment on anything that Avas to be brought before them at

Grand Lodge , and that appeared to him to be a great mistake . As to the objection of Bro . Warren , ho thought it Avould be better to send the question back to the Committee of General Purposes for them to consider the mode in which justice could be done ; for it Avas admitted by all the brethren that the . present system contained a certain amount of evil .

It was then moved and seconded , as an amendment , that the report be referred back to the Board of General Purposes . Bro . HOPWOOD , P . G . D ., said he entertained a strong opinion

that when a man was in the prime of life lie Avas the man the most fitted for the discharge of his duties , and he could then fulfil them ivith the largest amount of satisfaction , and he ought to be fully and fairly remunerated without regard to future service . When ho was entitled to further remuneration that ought to be considered , but ifc ought not to be held out as an inducement for a man to obtain an increased salary

for a man to keep in an office when he became effete and was worn out . He looked upon it as bad policy to offer rewards for a continuance in office Avhen a man ivas unfitted for his duties , merely for the sake of obtaining an increase iu his salary . Ho hoped that this question Avould be considered fairly , and that they Avould have an opportunity of properly considering

it in Grand Lodge . Bro . HAA ' ERS said he could not take the same view of this question as had been taken by Bi-o . Hopwood , and he Avould ask whether ifc Avas not the rule in all public establishments that a man should get an increased salary for long service . He agreed with Bro . Sharp and also Avith Bro . Warren that

these were difficulties the members laboured under in respect of notice of motion , for they Avere in this position that they could not bring anything before the Grand Lodge unless it had previouly been submitted to a Board of Masters . He agreed Avith them as to the difficulty , but he did not agree that there had been any wrong doing on the part of the Board of General

Purposes as the rule was made by the brethren themselves-Even if it was a bad law , as they had themselves made ifc , they must obey it as ifc was no act of the executive . Ten years ago he ( Bi-o . Havers ) proposed a resolution to avoid this evil in Grand Lodge , but they rejected ifc . When they got a proper man to perform the duties of Grand Secretary at onco for £ 450 , Avith a prospect of succeeding to the larger sum of

£ 600 , ho believed ifc would be an inducement to him . to work , and an earnest that he ivill be remunerated in a proper manner , They might get a man Avho might turn out to be unable to perform the duties of Grand Secretary aud quite unfit for them , and if they were to give him £ 600 at the commencement he might turn out not to be worth 600 pence , and they would not

then like to turn him off and get rid of him . Therefore , under all the circumstances , he thought it better that there should bo a progressive increase of salary . Bro . MtfEi'ON thought by the scale proposed ifc Avould take too many years to arrive at the maximum salary . A Brother thought that £ 600 a year Avas an inadequate salary

for a gentlemen to perform such important duties as those of Grand Secretary , and be hoped an advance of 50 guineas a year for three years would be adopted . Bro . TOMKINS , G . Treas ., Avas of opinion that the snbjeet Avas worthy of consideration , but could be better discussed in a small body who could talk the matter over . He thought it quite

impossible to settle tho salary in a body where there might be 500 different opinions . Bro . VICTOB , WILLIAMSON , P . G . W ., wished to correct au impression that the Grand Lodge ivas not paying liberally when they proposed to make an increase of £ 15 in the second year , of the Grand Secretary's salary . When lie looked at the

salaries paid in tlie ' government offices—and he believed their worthy brother , the Deputy Grand Master , would correct him if ho Avas wrong , —the advance of salary there was only £ 10 , and they all knew ivhat competition there AVUS amongst the highest and best educated in the land to obtain these government appointments . Again , amongst members of the bar , they know Avhat competition there Avas for offices of small salary and considerably less than £ 400 a year . Therefore , he did not see ivhy Grand Lodge should pay higher prices than