The Girls' School Festival.

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

W ITH the knowledge that a few days hence the 104 th Anniversary Festival of the Eoyal Masonie Institution for Girls will be celebrated , under Eoyal patronage , we might be justified in relegating the Centenary Festival of that Charity to the records

oi the past ; but as year by year the time comes round to canvass the possibilities of the current Festival tlie effects of that great event push themselves prominently to the front , and demand consideration . How long this will continue to be the case it is difficult to

estimate , but it seems pretty generally recognised that the success of 1888 is still making itself felt in connection with this Institution , , ancl the amount of support accorded to it , although it is but fair to remember that since that date both the other Masonie Institutions have had a special Festival—the Boys '

School to inaugurate the " new order of things , " and give the new Secretary a fair start upon his road ; the Benevolent Institution to mark the celebration of its Jubilee . Each of these events resulted in most satisfactory returns , and we may suppose that the exceptional contributions they received on those occasions were secured , to a certain extent , at the expense

of the sister Institution . It would almost seem that the fates have conspired against the Girls' School since its Centenary celebration . That year its receipts were larger than ever known before , and as a consequence extensions were made which entailed heavy additional expenditure , not only at the time , but year after year , so long as the Institution is . maintained at its existing strength :

and , as we have so often urged in connection with the Charitable Institutions of the Craft , the members of the Order do not recognise even the possibility of reducing the usefulness of either of their funds . The year following the Centenary was , in a manner so to speak , a blank—the Craft had not recovered from

its supreme eftort of the year before , —and the succeeding year , matters were but very little better ; again , last year , as we have already pointed out , came a great event in the history of the Boys' School , to which all attention was turned with the view of making its Festival a special success , and the Girls again suffered . Now that we have come to 1892

matters look as gloomy as ever , for in face of the stupendous total contributed to the Jubilee Festival of the Benevolent Institution it seems next to impossible to expect a return for the Girls' School commensurate with its requirements , and yet , it may be urged , the Benevolent Institution was able to secure

* ne grandest total ever collected within a few months of the special success of the Boys' School . Without wishing to take too gloomy a view of the prospects for the future , we are afraid the Girls ' Institution has not seen the last of its troubles in this direction . We anticipate some steps being taken before Jong to provide special funds for the removal of the

The Girls' School Festival.

Boys' School , and then , yet later on , will come the celebration of the Centenary of that Charity , while the Benevolent Institution has set itself such a task bv the creation of additional annuities as will tax the

resources of the Craft to the fullest extent on behalf of that Charity . The friends of the Girls Avill , as a consequence , have to work hard to maintain fcheir position , much less make the headway that ir ; really necessary to bring their Festivals up to tho old standard . The Craft has now had ample opportunity of judging what can be done with somo special object

to aim at , but this continuous working at high pressure is by no means beneficial for thoso who have no special cause to strive for , or who prefer to proceed in the steady plodding manner which some consider leads to the best results in the end . For onr part we think such an idea is an erroneous one in association with the Masonic Charities of tho present age , but time alone can decide this matter ono way or

the other . What we have to consider now is , how to secure a return at each Anniversary Festival sufficient for the year ' s requirements , whieh it must be recognised are very heavy , and are not by any means likely to become less as years go on , oven without any additions being made to the

already grand array of beneficiaries . It is perhaps impolitic to argue that the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Girls has not reaped much benefit from its Centenary success , because it is quite impossible to estimate how much its annual receipts would have been if matters had continued year by year in the usual routine sort of way , but if this Tr--J i - « i "ft n "I II il l

* years festival is not mannestiy better tnan its predecessors since -the Centenary , then there will bo ittle to choose between the result of the one grand 'ear and the four quiet succeeding ones , and five > rdinary Festivals ; indeed , the average of what has actually happened would then stand out in a very

unfavourable light when set alongside ot what might have been anticipated . Under such circumstances , then , it may be argued that exceptionally prolific years are of no ultimate benefit—neither are they , if

they cause a considerable falling off in the returns of many future years . They are , indeed , a direct disadvantage under such conditions , for they lead to extensions , with increased annual outlay , as well as the falling off in income .

We do not believe , however , there is any rule which will be found to work alike in all such cases . We even go so far as to believe that tho coming Festivals of the other two Institutions will prove exactly the contrary , as we do not expect to see a particularly meagre total for either the Boys' School or the Benevolent Institution at their next Festivals . If they

do not suffer from their special successes why should the Girls' School ? This is indeed a question to

puzzle over , and one that is very difficult to cope with . One argument , and a fair one is , that the Craft was so carried away by the success of the Girls ' School Centenary as to really lose its head . That