Grand Lodge.

Board of General Purposes , ancl of which he trusted they would give an earnest that night . Bro . Bass had been eleven years in their employ , but he ( Bro . Savage ) was not going to measure £ 50 as an adequate sum for what he ought to receive . If he had had the increase of £ 7 10 s . a year as he suggested , his present salary would now have been £ 197 10 s . and they proposed to give him £ 200 , which was coming very near . He believed

Bro . Little had been in tho office not quite four years . Now had they given him the £ 7 10 s ., by that time he would have had a rise of £ 27 at the present moment , hut the Boarcfonly recommended an advance of £ 26 . And it was the same with

Bro . Pendlebury . Now what could be fairer than what was proposed at the Board , no donbt six of its members objected to the report , but it only involved the postponement from one Grand Lodge to another , and it was a perfectly friendly division . But why should they be called upon to postpone for the sake of any scale a recommendation which they believed to be good ,

especially as they were to some extent dealing with the past , and what was due to these officers . If they did so the scale of advance would not be so high , and , therefore , he hoped they would adopt the report of the Board of General Purposes . He saw no reason why it should go back again , for it would not fetter the new scale by any advance they might make that

night , but would rather facilitate it than otherwise . If it was the right thing to do , he hoped they would do it that night . If it was not the right thing , then let them vote for Bro Havers' amendment , and send it hack to the Board of General Purposes . He entreated them not to postpone this , for they knew how well hope deferred had heen described . If they

agreed in his view of the question , he hoped they would not postpone it . If they believed it to be right , let them do it Avith all their mi ght . ( Hear , hear . ) A brother said he was of opinion that if they referred the subject back it would bo an act of disrespect to the Board of General Purposes , to whom they had remitted the conduct of the finances of Grand Lodge , and they had reported that these salaries ought to be increased . He cordially supported the report of the Board of General Purposes .

Bro . GEEGOEY , P . G . D ., looked upon the speech of Bro . Savage as conducive in support of the amendment , and he was surprised when he ( Bro . Savage ) expressed his intention to vote for the original motion . If he understood the amendment , it was the opinion of Bro . Havers that tho report of the Board of General Purposes did not go far enough , or he would not support it .

He understood by the amendment of Bro . Havers that he did not wish to deal piecemeal with the question , but at the same time he was opposed to precipitate generosity . He was told that the motion for adopting this report was carried in the Board by a majority of 9 to 6 , but the President and Vice-President of the Board of General Purposes both supported the

amendment , ancl in referring back the question to the Board , he believed it would lead to systematic instead of precipitate justice . Bro . Colonel COLE , P . G . AV ., said he agreed with the report of the Board of General Purposes , although it had been negatived by the principal members of it . He saw no reason why

they should negative the report , and when he saw the President ancl Vice-President of tho Board oppose it that rather inclined him to support it . The President ancl Vice-President were merely appointed to regulate the proceedings of the Board ancl not to control Grand Lodge . Were they again to refer the report to the Board hy carrying the amendment , how were they to tell but that the Board would not diminish the salary then proposed to these officers ? It was better to have a bird in the hand than one in the bush , ancl be believed that these gentlemen

would rather take what was then offered than run the chance of what they would get at a future time . There was sometimes the gentleness of the dove with the cunning of the serpent ; and he would caution those who were not used to attending the meetings of the Grand Lodge against being taken in by speeches for putting off the report for further consideration , as anything more than with a view to defeat the original motion .

Bro . HAVEES ( emphatically ) : I appeal to those who know me whether unworthy motives ought to be attributed to me . I challenge Bro . Colonel Cole to prove that I ever did an unworthy action . The G . MASTEB : I was about to rise to call Bro . Colonel Cole to order for attributing motives to Bro . Havers which were

unworthy , and could not be truly attributed to that worthy brother . Bro . Colonel COLE said he had no intention of attributing any unworthy motives to Bro . Havers , and if any expression of his could be so considered , he begged to retract it . He moved the amendment in language free from any personality and objections ,

ancl he ( Bro . Cole ) thought he had also expressed himself consistently with the words of it . Bro . MASON said that evening the question had been sub « mitted to them for an increase of the salaries of their officers , whom they knew had performed their duties well . He was in

favour of an increase of these salaries , and he was glad to see that an increase had been proposed by the Board of General Purposes , ancl had it been proposed he should have been disposed to have voted for even a larger increase . They , however , came there to do their duty in the Grand Lodge and to their Order , ancl did not go there for the purpose of increasing the salary of

one officer because he was a personal friend , but to do that which was right . Let them see then what had been done by the Board of General Purposes . He was a member of the Board of General Purposes , and he felt that this report did not carry conviction to his mind to enable him to come to a clear and impartial opinion on what should be submitted to Grand Lodge . He was

not opposed to an increase when it was brought before the Board , but he felt that they had not the facts before them to come to a conclusion whether these were the maximum , ancl moreover , salaries that ought to be received , as he desired to give every officer a fair , liberal , and generous salary , so that he might be carefully provided for in old age . He was in favour of the

amendment proposed by Bro . Havers , whose integrity no one could question , on the ground that the question had not been fairly put before the Board of General Purposes . Bro . HOOPER , G . S ., No . 23 , thought if they were to send back this report to the Board of General Purposes , they would to a certain extent be fettering the Grand Lodge on the next

occasion . Bro . SYMONS , P . G . Dir . of Cers ., said that Grand Lodge was willing to be just , for not one had raised an objection to increase tho salary of every one who was entitled to such advance , ancl the only difference between Bro . Savage was , that he wished to raise the salaries then , ancl settle the principle afterwards , while Bro . Havers desired ; to settle the principle

first , and raise the salaries afterwards . Bro . SAVAGE said that if the principle had been settled some years ago , these brethren would then have been in possessson of the increase that was then proposed , which was a strong reason why the whole question should be referred here . One brother had said that if this report was referred back , it would

be ah insult to the Board of General Purposes , hut after what had been said by the President ancl Vice-President of that Board no such feeling was likely to arise . Bro . PEBEINS . P . G . W ., said he did not see any sacrifice of