Grand Lodge.

GRAND LODGE .

LONDON , SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 13 , 1802 .

The proceedings of Grand Lodge of the 3 rd inst . were of a nature to demand more than the passing' remarks we were enabled to make last week- Owing to the judicious course taken by the Board of General Purposes in declining to

press their proposition for remodelling the Grand jjodo-e property , until after the appointment of a Committee of independent members of Grand Lodge , in accordance , ivith a generally expressed opinion of the brethren , and the Board taking the

necessary steps for the alteration ofthe law enabling the appointment of that Committee , the necessity was avoided of any _ questions being raised upon which a discussion could well take place , ancl the number of motions which had been given on the subject were accordingly withdrawn . Of these notices of motion there is but one to ivhich we think

it now necessary to allude to , viz ., that of Bro . Stebbing confining the amount to be expended to a given sum . We are as strong advocates as any one can possibly be for tbe utmost practicable economy being observed in the projected

alterations , but we must object to the hands of any Committee being too closely tied until such time that Grand Lodge has really determined on the nature and extent of the alterations required to be earned out . We agree ivith the Most Worshipful

Grand Master , that the utmost care should be observed in the appointment of the Committee , so that it may be a fair and impartial . representation of the feelings of Grand Lodge , excluding , as far as possible , those brethren ivho , like ourselves , have expressed strong opinions in favour

of any particular scheme . It should be a truly representative Committee ; thus we would place upon it a representative of the trustees of the property—a representative of the sub-Committee , ivhich has already considered the question—a

representative of the Board of General Purposesand the remainder of the members we would select from the body of Grand Lodge , without reference to then- position , either on the dais or the floor of th © lodge , the only qualification being their known

aptitude as men of business . We also highly approve of the suggestion that the names of brethren to be proposed for the Committee should be placed m nomination at the Board of Masters , and only regret that such nomination was not made a sine qua non , that being the regular and orthodox

manner of appointing the various standing Committees of Grand Loege . The most important business transacted during the evening-, however , was the carrying of a resolution that a return should annually be made

to the M . W . Grand Master , of a summary of the proceedings Avithin a month of the holding of each Provincial Grand Lodge , with the names jof the Provincial Grand Officers appointed , their residences , and the numbers of the lodges to

which they belong . The brother ivho proposed the resolution based his arguments in its support on the ground , that though the existing laiv required that no person should be allowed to take oflice in a province other than that in which

he resides , without first obtaining a dispensation from the M . W . Grand Master , and paying- certain fees to the Board of Benevolence , there was no means at head quarters of ascertaining how far the law was observed ; and also that whereas

Grand Lodge had declared that the Provincial Grand Masters had not the poiver of granting past rank—such power resting only in the person

of the M . W . Grand Master—there was reason to bebeve that one or more Provincial Grand Masters , or their deputies , had , since the passing of the resolution in December last , made such appointments , ancl that the M . W . Grand Master , or Grand

Lodge , had no official means of checking these irregularities without some such resolution as that proposed . But there is a third , and , we believe , equally strong reason for the resolution , viz ., that it will place in the hands of the M . W . Grand

Master the means of obtaining- reliable information relative to those provincial brethren Avho render essential services to the Craft in their various districts , and thereby render it more easy

lor the M . W . Grand Master to dispense to those brethren the honours which lay within Ms power , and Avhich we feel assured his Lordship desires always conscientiously and fairly to distribute to the best of his ability . Though this view Avas not

urged by the brother proposing the resolution , we look upon it as a most important one , well knowing- the difficulty in ivhich the Grand Master is too frequently placed in distributing the honours of the Craft so as to give general satisfaction to

brethren , all of whom necessarily consider their claims to preferment to be superior to those of others . We were gratified at the cordial manner in which the resolution was received by Grand Lodge , though we are perfectly aware that , unless-