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@ tlj £ Jftasmtii : ^ iar , THURSDAY , l ^ i gS i | [ OCT . 25 , 1888 .

Edited by "

W . BRO . JAMES STEVENS , P . M ., P . Z ., & c-, & c .

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Published every Thursday Morning , price ONE PENNY , and may be had from all Newsagents through the Publishers . 123 to 125 , Fleet Street , E . C . Subscribers to THE MASONIC STAB residing in London and the Suburbs will receive their copies by the first post on THURSDAY MOKNING . Copies for Country Subscribers will be forwarded by the N IGHT Mail on Wednesday .

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, "Alliance Brnk . " find all communications concerning Subscriptions and Advertisements should be addressed to them . All other communications , letters , & c , to be addressed " Editor of THE MASONIC STAR , 59 , Moor Lane , Fore Street , London , E . C . "

Publishing Offices : 123 to 125 , FLEET STREET , E . G .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

% * We do not hohl oiii'sefres responsible for the opinions depressed by our Correspondents . JEWELS .

To the Editor of THE MASONIC STAR . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER . I thank Bro . Milledge for his courteous letter in your issue of the 18 th inst ., but I would ask whether he is not confounding "Lodge" jewels with "P . M . Breast jewels . " The former , I agree with him , must be in silver in blue or private Lodges , but I contend

that the Breast jewels , whether purchased by or presented to a P . M ., may , at his or his Lodge ' s option ( as the case may be ) be of gold , silver , or silver gilt . There is nothing in the Book of Constitutions , that I can find , on the subject of " Breast" jewels , but merely of " Lodge" jewels . I am referred by Bro . Milledge to " Spencer ' s " and " Kenning ' s " price lists . The former is now

before me ( the latter I have not the pleasure of possessing ); and on page 50 , edit . 3 , I find under " Past Masters' jewels for the breast " the prices of gold jewels , but nothing to show that they are for presentation only . In fact , there is only one plate to which the price of a silver jewel is attached—all the others being gold or silver GILT . I know more than one brother , holding high office in

the Craft , who wears a gold P . M . jewel purchased by himself with his own money . I must , therefore , still adhere to my contention that there is no such law , either scripta or non-scripta . as laid down by the worthy brother . Perhaps , sir , you will give your readers the benefit of your opinion , and other brethren will do the same ,

for it appears to me to be a point that ought not to be left in doubt , which it probably will be if left to the decision , so far as your columns are concerned , of your two correspondents . Yours fraternally , ASPIRANT .

To the Editor of THE MASONIC S TAB . BEAR SIR AND BROTHER , I have lately , on several occasions , been more or less called to order in Lodges of Instruction for giving hearty good wishes to the presiding Master . I have been told that I am quite out of order in so doing , and arguments have been adduced to prove my fault .

I believe , sir , that'I am not singular in this respect , as many brethren I have mentioned it to have made similar experience . Will you kindly give your readers the benefit of your extended knowledge of all matters of Craft ceremonial on the subject , and much oblige one who is only A YOUNG BEGINNER .

To the Editor of THE M ASONIC STAR . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , Grand Lodge every quarter publishes a communication , with accounts appended , in the shape of a small pamphlet . W hen the

brethren meet at Freemasons' Hall to formally receive that communication—it is always " taken as read . " Now , sir , the officers of Lodges entitled to take part in these proceedings are the W . M ., S . W ., and J . W . of every Lodge on the register of the G-rand Lodge of England , as also all P . M . ' s . The

Original Correspondence.

report is sent free to the W . M . alone : the others , if they want , must pay for it . Now . is it right to take as read a document which the bulk of those present have never seen . ' Why should the S . W . and J . W . have to spend their money to obtain information on which they are called upon to pass an opinion . I think , sir , that

Grand Lodge ought to send to all those whose duty and privilege it is to attend these quarterly communications a copy of their report free . To take as read subject matter one knows nothing at all about is a perfect farce , only equalled by asking any one to pay for the privilege of doing his dutv . Yours f ratcrnallv . " J . W .

CHARITY JEWELS .

To the Editor of THE MASONIC STAR . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , Many thanks for inserting my communication on above subject in your last issue . Certainly I had no wish to be hard on you as your foot note to my letter suggests . Perhaps my phraseology may appear so . but believe me , no personalities were intended , and my

only desire was to obtain information , through your offices , as to certain items relating to the sale of Charity Jewels , which figure in an account of the fund for general purposes . You are kind enough to inform myself and your other readers that you have ascertained that " Grand Lodge pays the Medallist 10 s . ( id . each , which the Jeweller has to pay , so Grand Lodge makes

no profit . " If I understand this aright . Grand Lodge hands over at cost price the articles to some Jewell a- to finish , who then retails them , making any profit he pleases . Now sir , I would ask , if this be so , whether this is a monopoly in the hands of any one jeweller ? whether any competition is ever allowed by asking other jewellers to submit a price ; and whether ami jeweller is at liberty

to go to Grand Lodge and purchase the Medals at 10 s . Gd . each , for the purpose of setting up and sale . ' lilts , fid . seems to me to be a large sum for a jeweller to " get for his work" over and above what he pays for the medal , and might as well be in the coffers of Grand Lodge as in the pocket of a tradesman ; continuing , you say —Thirdly , '' If 100 Jewels ore sold in one year and- only 50 paid , it

is because 50 were on hand at the coiiiiiimcement of the year as stock in hand . " Now , if this is the case , all I can say is that whoever makes up the accounts presented by the fund of general purposes has got the most extraordinary ideas of book-keeping . If you sell part of stock in trade which has been carried forward from some preceding account

you have diminished your real estate to that extent , and to take credit for such an amount , without a corresponding entry on the contra of the account is bad in every way . Such book-keeping would not pass muster at even a grammar school examination . Are there any more jewels in stock / If so , the value should be stated , so

as to enable brethren to know exactly how things stand . Cordially thanking you for the spaoe you have afforded me for ventilating this subject in your columns , I remain . Fraternally and very truly , STEWARD

MASONIC VOLUNTEERS . To the Editor of THE MASONIC STAR . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER . Your notice , in No . 9 , of the Inter-Masonic Lodge Match must be of very great interest to all masonic voluntesrs . past and present , and it occurs to me that it might be possible to get up a friendly

match between one or more of the teams mentioned and a similar number of us old ( . ' ) retired masonic volunteers , just to show our late comrades in arms , and the country at large , that there is still some life and , I hope , shooting skill in the old dogs yet . In a military point of view it would be interesting to see if the training and practice of years had been forgotten and lost by those who had

from various causes been obliged to give up volunteering , to share the busy cares of this world . If this suggestion is worth anything , ' I should be glad to hear from one or more of the captains of the teams mentioned , and from any retired shooting masonic volunteers , on the subject , through your paper . Yours fraternally . 18 th October . 1888 . * CAPTAIN , P . M .

To the Editor (|/ 'THE MASONIC STAR . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , Having been connected for the last ten years ( the first four as secretary ) with benevolent associations , I am pleased , to see that the question of recognising the services of the secretaries , by means of complimentary votes , has been brought forward bv "Junior

Warden , " in your issue of the 1 lth inst . None but those who have undertaken the duty know the time , trouble and personal e-ejiense which are entailed on those officers if they wish to make their association a success Some few years since I sent a letter to each of the committees of our institutions , pointing this out . and asking that some recognition should be given ; but in one case only did I

get even a reply , and that was not a favourable one . Surely , when we pay the collector of one of our institutions such large sums every year for his services , it is not asking too much that the collectors ( secretaries ) of the charitable associations , who give their services gratuitously , and who are the means of bringing

large sums annually to the charities , should have some slight recognition in the manner suggested by your correspondent , and I hope , therefore , that steps will soon ha taken to carry out t : Junior Warden ' s " ideas . —Yours truly and fraternally , W . BEAVIS , P . M . 879 , W . M . 1310 , Treas . Southwark Lodge of Instruct / ion Charitable Association .