Analysis Of The Subscription List, R.M.B.I.

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST , R . M . B . I .

IT is with an unusual degree of pleasure that we enter on our customary task of noting the principal features connected with the Stewards' Eeturns at the recent Festival of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution . It is a matter of course that success shonld fluctuate as

among our three Charities ; and Bro . Terry , whose total list in 1880 was a long way inferior to those of tbe Schools , has inaugurated the new year with a list which exceeds any previously returned on behalf either of his own or tho other Institutions by considerably over £ 200 . It will necessarily be understood that onr unusual satisfaction is

not personal in its character . We are wholl y impartial in our support of the Charities , and we endeavour , within the limits of the possible , to advocate their interests at all

times without troubling ourselves as to which of them receives the largest , which the smallest , amount of patronage in ^ the course of any year . "We can with the utmost impartiality congratulate each of the three Secretaries in

turn on his achievements without dreaming of saying aught that might be regarded as a disparagement of his fellow-labourers . The pleasure we derive from so magnificent a result as that of Wednesday , the 23 rd ult ., is dne primarily to the fact that , even at a time when the aspect

of things ^ is not of the most hopeful character , the cause of Masonic Charity does something more than hold its own . Another and still' more gratifying feature in connection with this particular Festival is to be found in the

abnormal strength , numerically speaking , of the Board of Stewards . We are aware this unusual strength is explained by the strong contingent of representatives from West Yorkshire , but even if we were to leave this

Province entirely out of the reckoning , we should have an array of close upon 220 Stewards , and a total of contributions little short of £ 11 , 000—that is , within a few hundreds of the sum at present required for the annuitants . Nor must we lose sight of the fact that more than

one-third of the Metropolitan Lodges were represented , and two-thirds of ihe Provinces , so that with an area so much wider than is usual , it must be evident the Institution is being more widely supported by the Craft at large . Indeed , this increase in the area of support is , probably , to

¦ Bro . Terry himself even more gratifying than the increased aggregate of contributions . We have over and over again pointed put that if every subscribing member of a Lodge gave annually only the modest sum of five shillings to each of onr three Institutions , not only would they he

capable of effecting a greater amount of good , bnt there "would be little , if any , necessity for strong periodical appeals to the Fraternity . It is the moro gratifying , therefore , when we find the number of supporters is so largely in excess of what it has been in past years . To have had

dose on 400 Stewards must , indeed , be ' thc most satisfactory ot the many brilliant circumstances with which the Benevolent Festival of 1881 will always be associated in the Eiuid of its indefatigable Secretary , Bro . Terry . We pointed out last week that of the 395 brethren who

constituted the Board of Stewards , 124 represented the Metropolis , and 271 the Provinces , the West Yorkshire contingent being 176 , while the other twenty-eight Provinces that were represented sent up ninety-five . Giving onr- attention , in the first place , to London , we note that " of its 124 Stewards five were unattached . Of the

Analysis Of The Subscription List, R.M.B.I.

remainder , 109 acted on behalf of 107 Lodges , Nos . 228 and 1278 , each sending np two representatives , nine brethren served on the Board as representatives of eight R . A . Chapters , there being two Stewards in the case of Chapter No . 1589 , and that one Rose Croix Chapter—No .

10—sent up a Steward . These 124 brethren among them took up a total of £ 6408 16 s 6 d , which gives , as nearly as possible , an average of £ 52 per Steward , and over £ 55 per body represented . The highest contribution was returned , as we noted last week , by Bro . Buss , Assistant Grand

Secretary , who acted for the Canonbury Lodge , No . 657 , and gave in £ 315 , a total which , it is needless to say , is greatly above the average three-figure contributions , and speaks well both for the energy of Bro . Buss and the liberality of the Lodge . Following him in order is the worthy

Secretary of the Benevolent , Bro . James Terry himself , who represented the Sincerity Chapter , No . 174 , and handed up a list of £ 150 Is 6 d . Friends in Council , No . 1383 , stands third on the Metropolitan roll with £ 133 7 s Od , its Steward being Bro . J . W . Waldron , the Islington , No .

1471 , being close up with £ 131 6 s Cd . Then follow the Yarborough , No . 554 , which , by the hands of Bro . John G . Stevens , contributes £ 126 , and the Sincerity Lodge , which , per Bro . Jones , sends £ 124 3 s as the total of its list . Then come some half-dozen Lodges , whose totals vary from each

other by only a few shillings . These are the Fitzroy , No . 569 , with £ 117 2 s 6 d , Bro . J . C . Sanderson , Steward ; Westbourne Lodge , No . 733 , Bro . John Welford , Steward , with £ 116 3 s 6 d ; High Cross Lodge , No . 754 , Tottenham , Bro . J . Garrod , Steward , with £ 115 10 s , West Smithfield ,

No . 1622 , whose representative , Bro . W . Clauson Time , handed in a list of exactly the same amount , and Bro . Edgar Bowyer , unattached , £ 115 . The last group of three-figure contributions is made up of Prosperity , No . 65 , and the Percy Lodge , No . 198 , each of which is entered for £ 106 ls ,

Bro . C . E . Ferry being Steward of the former , and Bro . R . Rowell that of the latter . Southwark , No . 879 , by the hands of Bro . W . Topp , and Cripplegate , No . 1613 , by those of Bro . Bernard Groner , figure for £ 105 each , the Highgate , No . 1366 , giving £ 104 14 s , per Bro . B . Fish , and

the Doric , No . 933 , Bro . G . Hollington , £ 100 . Thus , there are no less than sixteen lists amounting to £ 100 and upwards , while of the remaining number St . Thomas ' s , No . 143 , per Bro . J . H . Matthews , is close up with £ 97 13 s , and the Great Northern Lodge , No . 1287 , gives £ 90 4 s 6 d ,

per Bro . Samuel Webb ; the Pythagorean , No . 79 , per Bro . H . Roberts , £ 85 8 s ; the Metropolitan , No . 1507 , contributes £ 84 13 s , per W . Side ; the St . Marylebone , No . 1305 , £ 82 3 s , per Bro . C . A . Smith ; the Langthorne , No . 1421 , per Bro . H . Neville Taylor , £ 80 , and the Prince of

Wales Lodge , No . 259 , per Bro . T . W . Carmalt Jones , £ 78 15 s . A fair proportion of the others give over £ 50 a-piece , so that tho Metropolis , though its aggregate is inferior to that of tlio Provinces , is to be warmly congratulated ou the largchcartedness with which it has supported

Bro . Terry , the Lodges in the Northern districts having been especially successful in the fulness of their lists . Most of the regularly contributing Lodges are represented , Antiquity , No . 2 , being the most noteworthy exception , and there arc no less than five Lodges of 1879 constitution

among them , the total of whose several contributions is in excess of £ 200 . Two out of these five were represented at the Benevolent Festival in 1880 , one of them , the Coborn , No . 1804 , having taken part at each Festival in that year . A reference to our analytical article on the Festival last year will show that the Metropolis , with about the same