Correspondence.

the decision of the Grand Lodge being obtained on many questions on Avhich differences of opinion may arise , and that this District Grand Lodge is thereby virtually deprived of the advantages and protection afforded by the quarterly communications of Grand Lodge . " 4 th . That the appointment of Provincial Grand

Master is the prerogative of the Most Worshipful Grand Master , but that owing to the Grand Master being dependent upon the report of others as to the qualification of the brother whom he appoints , there is a great risk that the brother so appointed may not be possessed of that eminence or ability Avhich the

Constitutions require , and that , as a consequence , he may not enjoy the confidence of the Craft , and may be unfit to exercise the powers which , taking a firm stand on his prerogative , he may claim under the present Constitutions . " 5 th . That it is reasonable to suppose that

important questions will be more correctly and satisfactorily adjusted by the District Grand Lodge ( composed as it is of Masters , Past Masters , and principal officers of lodges ) than by any one brother , however skilled or impartial . " Sth . That the District Grand Lodge of South

Australia has to work side by side and to compete in zealous rivalry Avith the Provincial Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland , and that the constitutions of Ireland and Scotland enable their Provincial Grand Lodges to exercise a more direct control over their

local interests than is permitted by the Constitution of England , and that as a consequence this District Grand Lodge is placed in an unfavourable position for promoting the interests of English Masonry in this colony . " 7 th . That the Grand Lodge has already delegated

to District Grand Lodges the highest judicial powers Avith Avhich any subordinate authority can be intrusted , viz ., that of expelling Masons and erasing lodges ; and that the exercise of these powers necessarily involves that of hearing the complaints which may lead to their being enforcedand ought to admit

, that of inflicting any less severe penalty AA'hich , in the judgment of the lodge , mav meet the requirements of the case . " This District Grand Lodge therefore petitions the Grand Lodge of England , and prays that District Grand Lodges be assimilated in their functions to the

Grand Lodge ; that they shall not cease to exist on the death or resignation of the Provincial Grand Master ; that tliej shall have the power of investigating , regulating , and deciding all matters relative to the Craft or the riarticular lodges , or to individual brothers , within their respective districts ; which they

may exercise either of themselves or by such delegated authority as in their wisdom or discretion they may appoint . Their decisions in all cases to be regulated by the ' Book of Constitutions , ' ancl subject to appeal to Grand Lodge . " " LETTSE .

" London , June 19 th , 1 S 85 . " W . Gray Clarke , Esq ., Grand Secretary , Ereemasons ' Hall , London . " Worship ful Sir and Brother , —Having been requested by resolution of the Provincial Grand Lodge of South Australia ' to take charge of the petition ' recently forwarded to Grand Lodge through the

Provincial Grand Master of that province , and to endeavour to obtain the adoption of its prayer , ' I have thought it not unadvisable to send you the following lines in support of the- prayer of the petitioners , and to ask you to kindly place the same before the Board of General Purposes and the Colonial Board to whom the petition has been referred .

" I was present Avhen the petition was adopted in South Australia ; when submitted to the lodge there was not a single hand held up in opposition , and Avith the exception of the . E . W . the Provincial Grand Master , every brother AVIIO spoke on the subject urged the necessity of the changes sought to be

effected-The motiou was not submitted in a hostile spirit to the Provincial Grar . d Master . Nobody questioned his desire to exercise his powers in the . most impartial and praiseworthy manner , but it Avas felt that those powers are of such a nature that no single brother ought to be entrusted with them . " It must be remembered that the circumstances under Avhich Ave Australians endeavour to promote

the interests of English Masonry are widely different from those of the English Provincial Grand Lodges . A Provincial Grand Master in England , though armed ivith very extensive authority , is subject to the immediate control of Grand Lodge , and if anything go Avrong in an English province , a day ' s post will bring the subject before the General Purpose Committee ,

and in a few days any matter in dispute may be satisfactorily adjusted . If it be too important to be thus disposed of the lapse of a few Aveeks brings round the quarterly convocation , of Grand Lodge , and then a final decision is obtained . In Australia , owing to the distance , we lose practically the advantages and the

protection of the General Purposes Committee and of the quarterly convocations . It is therefore necessary that tlie Grand Lodge delegate to some local authority a power to manage local affairs , and thequestion raised by the petition is , whether it is most conducive to the interests of the Craft that this power be entrusted to one brother , or to an assembly of brethren composed of the most experienced members of the Craft resident in the district . The strict letter

of the law says that this power is to be given to one brother , the Provincial Grand Master . I think tho brethren who drew up the Constitutions did not so intend it ; but rather that while the power was to benominally in the hands of the Provincial Grand Master , the exercise of that power ivas to be under the direction of the District Grand Lodge OA'er Avhich

he presided . " In the appointment of Provincial Grand Master , there is not tbe same choice among brethren in a colony as there is iu an English Province ; the Grand Master must select from such material as is to hand .

It is very rarely that a brother can be found in a colony AVIIO has such a knowledge of the Constitutions , the landmarks of the Order , the usages of the Craft , and the history of Ereemasonry , as to entitle him to the uncontrolled management of Masonic affairs . Generally , the brother appointed is not better

informed , perhaps not so well informed , as most of the members of his lodge ; it is therefore all the more necessary that his determination should be subject to some local control . Instead of this , a Provincial Grand Master iu a colony has , practically , greater power thau the Grand Master himself ; he can do