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Article THE GRAND LODGE PROPERTY. Page 1 of 2 →
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The Grand Lodge Property.
THE GRAND LODGE PROPERTY .
LONDON , SATURDAY , JsOVEJiIBim 30 , 18 G 1 .
Never vvas the fable of the mountain in labour more fully exemplified than in that part of the Beport of the Board of General Purposes which we publish to-day , relative to the Grand Lodge property . On the 1 st of December , 3858 , three years since , Grand Lodge , upon
the recommendation of the Board of General Purposes , itself passed the following resolutions : — " 1 st . That it is desirable that the freehold property , now belonging to the Society , or such , part thereof as may be necessary , shall be devoted exclusively to Masonic purposes . " 2 nd . They recommend that the subject should be referred
back to the Board , with directions to report thereon to tbe next Grand Lodge , and to lay before it such a scheme as may appear to be practicable for the carrying out of the foregoingresolutions , and to authorise the Board to expend a sum not exceeding £ 300 for that purpose ; and , if they see fit , to submit the subject to the public competition of the whole Masonic body , and to offer a sum not exceeding 150 guineas
in premiums for the best design . " It "was also resolved that "That in the scheme which they will have to consider , it will be desirable to proceed only with the view of providing fitting and appropriate accommodation , to be devoted solely and exclusively to Masonic purposes . "
Three years have elapsed since that period , and what has been done ? Literally nothing . At the time "when these resolutions were passed , it was urged by Messrs . Ellington and Company , the hi g hly respected lessees of the Tavern , and their friends , that , as the lease did not expire until June , 1 S 62 , it would be unjust to them were
plans for the alteration of the property to be then advertised for , as tending to injure their business by leading the public to believe that they would be unable to provide them with that accommodation they had hitherto done . The justice of this to some extent was admitted ,
and it was understood that the Board of General Purposes , whilst staying its hands so far as regarded the advertising for designs , would consider some general scheme to be submitted to Grand Lodge at the fittin g time— -that fitting time being generally supposed to be
about twelve months before the expiration of tho lease ; but we have now arrived to within seven months of that period , and what is the recommendation of the Board of General Purposes : —
" The Board beg further to report that Messrs . Blkingtou and Co ., tbe present tenants of the Freemasons' Tavern , have applied to be continued tenants at will after the expiration of ther lease in June , 1862 ; and also to have a renewal of their lease . The Board beg to recommend that Messrs . Elkington and Co . be accepted as yearly tenants , on the expiration of their lease , pi'ovided they agree to pay the same rent as at
present , all sewers rates and land tax , and to be subject to their tenancy being determined by six months' notice , at any of the usual quarter days . " JSTow , the fact is , the Board of General Purposes have never , so far as we can discover , seriously applied themselves to the task which was remitted to them by Grand Lodge three years since . They delegated their
powers to a Building Committee—or , more properly speaking , a Committee of Incapables—who , after three years' consideration , have so blundered over their labours that the Board of General Purposes have been compelled to come before Grand Lodge and make the
humiliating confession that they have done nothing . But what better could be expected of a body of men under whose recommendation £ 300 was expended on a property which cost £ 3000 , in order to let it for three years for the magnificent sum of £ 30 per annum .
The Building Committee have never advertised for designs , but have contented themselves with considering that of one of their own members , who , however eminent he may be in his profession , can hardly be said to be in a fair position , whilst lie is both the designer of a plan for the improvement of the property , and a member of
the Committee to determine as to its adoption ; neither is it just to the numerous architects belonging to the Craft to deny them the opportunity of submitting plans for the consideration of the brethren relative to the
alterations required in the property , shoidd they desire to do so . The outline of the plan alluded to , and which we believe the . Building Committee recommended to the Board of General Purposes , we understand to have been
this ( we speak only from rumour , not having been able to obtain a copy of the report , though in print ) r additional property should be obtained to the west of that at present held by the Craft , at a cost of not exceeding £ 1000—we have not forgotten how the Board bungled over the last purchase , by which they had to pay £ 500 more for it than it could have been obtained for
six months previously—and build a hall something like double the size of the present—a communication being made between the two ; to erect a tavern , with all the latest modern improvements , on the site of 2 \ bs . 59 and 60 , taking in Queen ' s-place , which now parts them ; and to convert the jjresent tavern and Grand Secretary ' s
offices to the purposes of the Craft ; improving these offices ; fiuding offices for the Charities ; six or ei ght sets of lodge rooms , to be let to the Craft , as required , at fixed rents ; a library , museum , and reading-room , with a coffee-room for the exclusive use of the Craft , in which
refreshments were to be served at fixed rates , to be agreed upon between the tavern keepers and the Board of General Purposes . To the latter part of the scheme , by which the Masons of London and those coming from the country could find a fitting place of meeting without resorting to a tavern , we give our full ajiproval ; but , as
regards it as a whole , we must withhold our opinion until we are more fully in possession of the details , and know what is the estimated expense—we have heard it stated at from £ 40 , 000 to £ 60 , 000 , to be spread over a period of seven or eight years , which it was to take to
carry out the design in full . Such , we hear , was something like the scheme which was for the first time submitted to the Board of General Purposes about a month since , and rejected mainly on
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Lodge Property.
THE GRAND LODGE PROPERTY .
LONDON , SATURDAY , JsOVEJiIBim 30 , 18 G 1 .
Never vvas the fable of the mountain in labour more fully exemplified than in that part of the Beport of the Board of General Purposes which we publish to-day , relative to the Grand Lodge property . On the 1 st of December , 3858 , three years since , Grand Lodge , upon
the recommendation of the Board of General Purposes , itself passed the following resolutions : — " 1 st . That it is desirable that the freehold property , now belonging to the Society , or such , part thereof as may be necessary , shall be devoted exclusively to Masonic purposes . " 2 nd . They recommend that the subject should be referred
back to the Board , with directions to report thereon to tbe next Grand Lodge , and to lay before it such a scheme as may appear to be practicable for the carrying out of the foregoingresolutions , and to authorise the Board to expend a sum not exceeding £ 300 for that purpose ; and , if they see fit , to submit the subject to the public competition of the whole Masonic body , and to offer a sum not exceeding 150 guineas
in premiums for the best design . " It "was also resolved that "That in the scheme which they will have to consider , it will be desirable to proceed only with the view of providing fitting and appropriate accommodation , to be devoted solely and exclusively to Masonic purposes . "
Three years have elapsed since that period , and what has been done ? Literally nothing . At the time "when these resolutions were passed , it was urged by Messrs . Ellington and Company , the hi g hly respected lessees of the Tavern , and their friends , that , as the lease did not expire until June , 1 S 62 , it would be unjust to them were
plans for the alteration of the property to be then advertised for , as tending to injure their business by leading the public to believe that they would be unable to provide them with that accommodation they had hitherto done . The justice of this to some extent was admitted ,
and it was understood that the Board of General Purposes , whilst staying its hands so far as regarded the advertising for designs , would consider some general scheme to be submitted to Grand Lodge at the fittin g time— -that fitting time being generally supposed to be
about twelve months before the expiration of tho lease ; but we have now arrived to within seven months of that period , and what is the recommendation of the Board of General Purposes : —
" The Board beg further to report that Messrs . Blkingtou and Co ., tbe present tenants of the Freemasons' Tavern , have applied to be continued tenants at will after the expiration of ther lease in June , 1862 ; and also to have a renewal of their lease . The Board beg to recommend that Messrs . Elkington and Co . be accepted as yearly tenants , on the expiration of their lease , pi'ovided they agree to pay the same rent as at
present , all sewers rates and land tax , and to be subject to their tenancy being determined by six months' notice , at any of the usual quarter days . " JSTow , the fact is , the Board of General Purposes have never , so far as we can discover , seriously applied themselves to the task which was remitted to them by Grand Lodge three years since . They delegated their
powers to a Building Committee—or , more properly speaking , a Committee of Incapables—who , after three years' consideration , have so blundered over their labours that the Board of General Purposes have been compelled to come before Grand Lodge and make the
humiliating confession that they have done nothing . But what better could be expected of a body of men under whose recommendation £ 300 was expended on a property which cost £ 3000 , in order to let it for three years for the magnificent sum of £ 30 per annum .
The Building Committee have never advertised for designs , but have contented themselves with considering that of one of their own members , who , however eminent he may be in his profession , can hardly be said to be in a fair position , whilst lie is both the designer of a plan for the improvement of the property , and a member of
the Committee to determine as to its adoption ; neither is it just to the numerous architects belonging to the Craft to deny them the opportunity of submitting plans for the consideration of the brethren relative to the
alterations required in the property , shoidd they desire to do so . The outline of the plan alluded to , and which we believe the . Building Committee recommended to the Board of General Purposes , we understand to have been
this ( we speak only from rumour , not having been able to obtain a copy of the report , though in print ) r additional property should be obtained to the west of that at present held by the Craft , at a cost of not exceeding £ 1000—we have not forgotten how the Board bungled over the last purchase , by which they had to pay £ 500 more for it than it could have been obtained for
six months previously—and build a hall something like double the size of the present—a communication being made between the two ; to erect a tavern , with all the latest modern improvements , on the site of 2 \ bs . 59 and 60 , taking in Queen ' s-place , which now parts them ; and to convert the jjresent tavern and Grand Secretary ' s
offices to the purposes of the Craft ; improving these offices ; fiuding offices for the Charities ; six or ei ght sets of lodge rooms , to be let to the Craft , as required , at fixed rents ; a library , museum , and reading-room , with a coffee-room for the exclusive use of the Craft , in which
refreshments were to be served at fixed rates , to be agreed upon between the tavern keepers and the Board of General Purposes . To the latter part of the scheme , by which the Masons of London and those coming from the country could find a fitting place of meeting without resorting to a tavern , we give our full ajiproval ; but , as
regards it as a whole , we must withhold our opinion until we are more fully in possession of the details , and know what is the estimated expense—we have heard it stated at from £ 40 , 000 to £ 60 , 000 , to be spread over a period of seven or eight years , which it was to take to
carry out the design in full . Such , we hear , was something like the scheme which was for the first time submitted to the Board of General Purposes about a month since , and rejected mainly on