Provincial Charity Fundscheshire.

PROVINCIAL CHARITY FUNDSCHESHIRE .

FEW Masons , we imagine , outside the Province of Cheshire know much , if anything , of the Cheshire Educational Masonic Institution , and yet it can boast an existence of upwards of twenty years , as evidenced by our now having before us the twenty-second annual report of

the Committee , with details of the work done , and the manner in which the necessary funds have been raised , for the past year . Its rpcorrl is a most satisfactory one—a record of which Cheshire Freemasons may pride themselves ,

and on which other districts mav look not only with envy , bnt in many cases with shame , for what is accomplished in one Province is equally possible in others , although the actual state of affairs might induce the opposite belief ;

with but very few exceptions Cheshire stands alone m its efforts to afford local relief to cases of Masonic distress . English Freemasons , and more particularly London brethren , are very apt to refer to the three Central

Masonic Institutions as the sole representatives of Masonic Charity , unmindful of other organizations for the relief of the poor and distressed of the Craft , sometimes even to the exclusion of the Lodge of Benevolence itself . These

brethren speak of the work done by the three Institutions as representing the sum total of Masonic benevolence for the year , but in reality they form but a portion only of what is clone . Here in Cheshire alone we have a local

fund paying for the education of twenty-four children , and the advancement of one other , at an expense , last year , of £ 176 9 s 4 d , or a trifle over £ 7 each . This total of £ 7 per head does not appear much , bnt it

is the practical working of a system we should very much like to see considerably extended among Freemasons . It is impossible for any district , we may almost say for any Lodge , to secure places in the two central

Schools for all the cases of distress among the children of their brother Masons which occur around them , and which they would , were they in a position to do so , unhesitatingly relieve . ¦ This being the case , it behoves them to take such

steps as shall enable them to afford partial relief , where actual education and maintenance is impossible , and in doing so they cannot do better than look to the Province of Cheshire as an example . Every Lodge in that

districtexcepting only one which has been too recently established for its members to have done anything—appears in the list of voters of this local charity , while many of the Chapters , Mark Lodges and other Masonic bodies also

figure among its supporters . During the year the Cheshire Institution received a total of £ 650 12 s 5 d , and expended £ 221 3 s lOd , so that its working for the twelve month ? showed a surplus of £ 4-29 8 s 7 d . It started the year with

balances in hand of £ 285 15 s lOd ; received , donations from Lodges , Chapters and brethren , £ 249 17 s 6 d ; subscriptions from Lodges , Chapters and brethren , £ 104 13 s ; fees from Lodges and Chapters , £ 26 ; proceeds of concert

at Birkenhead ( February 1885 ) , bv brethren of Lods-e No . 605 , £ 42 ; collection at Hnhon " Chnrch ( Nov . 1884 ) . per Bro . Lockwood , Vicar , £ 6 lis lOd ; and interest on investments , £ 221 10 s Id . The expenditure consisted

of the £ 176 9 s 4 d already referred to as tbe amount paid for the education and advancement of the twentyh ye children on the foundation ; and £ 44 14 s 6 d the working expenses of the year . The invested

Provincial Charity Fundscheshire.

Funds were increased at a cost of £ 275 2 s lOd , and balances of £ 440 Is 7 d were carried forward . With such details before them the Committee may well " havo pleasure in making their twenty-second report , as it gives

evidence that the brethren of the Province are taking greater interest in the welfare of the Institution . " At the close of the year the Invested Funds amounted to £ 5 , 060 10 s 8 d , tho interest on which is alone sufficient to

provide for all claims on the Institution , as now carried on , thus leaving the amounts received in the form of donations , subscriptions , fees , & c , to be added to the Invested Capital . Six of the children on the Education list and

the one on the advancement list , went off at the close of the year , while there were six new candidates seeking educational' grants , so that it would appear that iu

Cheshire at least the Freemasons are able to keep pace with the calls made upon them , or at least such of the calls as are deemed worthy of recognition .

Notwithstanding the success which has attended the working of this Charity in the past , even greater efforts are apparently being made to extend it . Prominently among those who have exerted themselves during the year

1884 , and who are especially thanked in the Report , are the brethren of the King ' s Friends ' , tbe ^ Combermere and the Ellesmere Lodges , while the Committee are informed that further efforts are being made in Birkenhead and

Hyde . Another step in this direction , and we think a wise one , has been the decision of the Committee to hold the annual meetings at various centres in the Province , it

being hoped that by the adoption of this course individual brethren will be induced to subscribe more regularly and genei'ously .

We append a summary of the totals contributed during 1884 by the members of the several Lodges , & G ., together with other receipts , and also show those Lodges which received assistance from the funds of the Institution : —

Lord de Tabley Prov . G . M . . 500 Lady rle Tabley . . . 200 G . W . Latham P . G . D . P . V . S . G . W . 110 LodVe 89 Unanimitv . . 550 1 child 10 0 0

104 St . John . . . 10 10 0 267 Unity , Macclesfield . 770 287 Unanimity . . 10 10 0 1 child 3 0 0 293 Kinjr ' s Friends' . 78 15 0 295 Combermero . . 770 321 Unity . Crewo . . 0 12 0 2 children £ 0 0 0

Chap . 321 Faith . . . 21 0 0 Lodge 322 Peaco . . . 260 2 children 990 323 Concord . . . 22 12 0 Chnp . 323 Chnrity . . . 15 15 0 Lodge 324 Moira . . . 616 1 child 20 0 0 33 fi Eenerolennfl . 3 17 6 1 child 10 10 0

361 Industry . . 115 0 2 children 11 4 ' . ' . 425 Cestrian . . . 17 2 0 Chap . 425 Cestrian . . . 0 12 0 Lodge 428 Sincerity . . . 5 15 0 1 child 5 5 0 430 Fidelity . . . 360 461 Fortitude . . 550 2 children 5 15 5 Tnstruc . „ .. 550 Lodge 477 Mersey ( nil ) 1 child 2 8 0 533 Eaton . . . 15 0 537 Zetland . . . 18 3 0 Chap . 537 Zion . , . 0 12 6 _ _ ( Cnmhprmora 1 1 S O"i .

LoC , ge 605 i Proceeds of Concert 42 0 o ] l chM 5 X 8 721 Independence . 20 11 0 5 children 41 10 0 758 Ellesmere . . 10 10 0 3 children 15 10 0 941 De Talilf v . . 680 979 Four Cardiral Virtnca . . . 050