The Grand Lodge, Alpina.

system of lottery which the civil committee has been forced to choose—a system , which , if it is not sanctioned by the people , ought to be still less so by Masonry . They Avished , on the other hand , that the civil committee had , several days before the drawing , announced the number of bonds which the drawing would include ; yet they explained that it was very difficult for the committee to

make this announcement in advance , seeing that subscriptions took place up to the last moment , and that a large subscription for bonds was promised from abroad by the bankers of Frankport and Milan . They recognise that the committee has acted in the exercise of its mission

with a devotion worthy highest praise , that the property of the lottery has-been managed with loyalty and exactitude , and that , moreover , the respectable names which form the committee are a guarantee against any act which could taint Masonic honour . To close this series of faults proved by the inquiry , we ought to mention that the representatives of the civil

committee , strong in the loyalty with which they filled their difficult and ungrateful task , and in the feeling of having conscientiously performed their Masonic and civil duties , have regarded the inquiry ordered by the managing council as a measure injurious to them , as placing their honour and reputation in a doubtful light in theeyes of Masons , declaring that though they did

right , and only represented thecivilinterests of the building , they were not bound to give explanations . But your committee , by its president , appealing to their Masonic feelings , made them understand that this inquiry took place in their own interest , iu that of Genoese Masonry in particular , and of Masonry in general , and with the object of putting an end at once to the calumny and

serious rumours spread 011 the occasion of the third drawing ; andtbat , in consequence , it was absolutely necessary that the managing authority of Alpina should give the most minute details of this affair , by persons without the active circle of Genoese Masom-y . After this fraternal speech , the W . brothers freely opened their hearts and the most satisfactory answers were given .

The civil committee , justifying the form of the lottery as well as the circumstances which were attached to it , did not neglect anything to bring the business of the day to the most complete conclusion . It reproaches itself

with one single fact , that of not having been able to announce to the public , some days before loth September , what were the number of bonds to be drawn ; but , counting on the help of several foreign financial houses , it had hoped until the last moment . Deceived in its hopes , it was the first to deplore the check which resulted from it .

It now remains to say in a few words why this system of lottery was chosen . The building the Temple Unique , has debts , which are summed up as follows : — 1 . One hundred thousand francs on a single mortgage bond , interest at 5 per cent ., repayable in 1866 . 2 . One hundred thousand francs on mortgage bonds of

100 francs ; interest at 7 per cent ., repayable in 1867 , and if the interest is paid regularly , at the convenience of the building . ( 3 . About 40 , 000 francs due to different contractors . With the object of converting the 7 per cent , loan , and above all of paying the contractors who commenced prosecutions , the civil committee tried a loan of 100 , 000

francs , in bonds of 20 francs , repayable in 20 years , with interest at 5 per cent , per annum . For this loan appeals were made to all the lodges of the union , but this appeal was not listened to . The financial position becoming every day more serious , the managing-committee had to choose another way—it had to consider on the means of getting out of a situation almost desperate—it had , above

all , to strive to save Masonic honour by avoiding bankruptcy . Although they were not partisans of the lottery system , all ordinary ways having miscarried , rather than

lose the mortgages , the directors tried this last means ? if it failed , there would only be an end to a thousand , trials and of the most deserving perseverance . Whatever the reverses that this lottery has undergone until now , the managing committee will continue nevertheless the operation for the disposal of the bonds . According to a new pl & n , the 350 , 000 bonds not disposed of

will be the object of seven drawings of 50 , 000 numbers a drawing ; and to avoid all misapprehension on the conditions of this loan , these conditions will be inserted on the back of the new bonds , and no bill or claim will be exposed to the public unless it has been seen and sanctioned by the civil committee of the Temple Unique . These M . W . Grand Master and V . W . members of

themanaging council , the facts that your committee have been able to collect—facts which together present a tableau not at all reassuring on the financial position of the civil building the Temple Unique . But whose fauliis it ? Tour committee will not here impeach any one . The position is aggravated by a series of fatal circumstances which could not be spoken of without

recapitulation , as one of the brethren examined said—The laying of the first stone of this great temple ; see the evil—see the origin of the reverses of a party of Genoese Masons . To bettor group the facts , your committee thinks it ought to resume the result of its inquiry by saying : — 1 . That an absolute separation exists between the civil interests of the building the Temple Unique and

the symbolic lodge of the same name . 2 . That these civil interests are confided to a managing : and civil committee , nominated by tho shareholders in the building and renewed each year . 3 . That the symbolic lodge the Temple Unique , is a tenant of the civil committee in the same manner as the other lodges which work in the new meeting place ; and has not more than its sisters of Geneva busied itself as a Masonic body , either with the loans or lottery , and

therefore remained entirely a stranger to the serious events which signalled the drawing of 15 th September ,. 1863 , and could not incur the responsibility . 4 . That the bills and advertisements distributed werenot the acts of the civil managing committee , but those of the international office—an investment office . 5 . That these bills , & c , before being given to the

public , ought to have been submitted for the sanction of the committee . 6 . That the bill which appeared before the third drawing , and which induced the public error , was of the same origin ; but , as this bill did not receive the sanction spoken of above , the civil committee is not entirely responsible for this error .

7 . That , for the third drawing , as for the preceding ones , the civil committee had made the proportional reduction ; that this reduction had been announced by a circular of the date of July 29 th , 1863 , in such a manner that it did not go out of the way of the conditions of the lottery ; that , besides , it acted in the exercise of its mission with loyalty and regularity .

8 . That the authors of the disturbance , 15 th September ( ten to fifteen persons of doubtful reputation ) ,, were neither Masons nor very probably holders of bonds ; that the Masons , and those interested in the loan , remained strangers to the tumult . 9 . That , in the profane world , this scandal had a sensible effect on Masonry , as the public does not make any

distinction between the civil committee and Masom-y proper . 10 . That the operations relative to this lottery will be continued , and that the bonds not disposed of will be the object of seven drawings ; the conditions of the lottery will be inserted at the back of the bonds . In virtue of the explanations which precede , and the

facts proved by the inquiry , your committee have the honour to submit to you the following propositions : — 1 . That the lodge the Temple Unique , in particular , and the lodges of Geneva in general , are freed from alii