Presentations To The Charities.

PRESENTATIONS TO THE CHARITIES .

nnHE first business to be considered at the Quarterly - * - Courts of the two Institutions , to be held next week , has reference to the price at which future Life and Perpetual Presentations are to be acquired . A Joint Committee of the Institutions has had this matter in hand ,

and the outcome of their deliberations is a suggestion that until further notice the price for a Perpetual Presentation shall be 1 , 550 guineas , and for a Life Presentation 900 guineas , but the latter arrangement is not applicable in the case of a life under twenty-one years of age .

The matter is undoubtedly a difficult one to deal with , and we are almost inclined to the belief that it is a mistake

to make any arrangements at all for either Life or Perpetual Presentations , as the charm of benevolence must be sacrificed to the dictates of business , or the Institutions lay themselves open to the charge of adopting unsound financial responsibilities .

Taking first the question of Life Presentations , for which a charge of goo guineas is asked . This sum , if paid into one of the Educational Institutions in the ordinary course would purchase 880 votes at each election , if given

in the name of a Lady or a Lewis ; or 430 votes at each election if given in the name of a Brother and either arrangement seems far more likely to be more remunerative than the purchase of a Life Presentation ; particularly so

if a Brother decided to pay the money in the name of his wife or of either his son or daughter , as then he might reckon on having the right of presentation every two years , on an average , whereas by a direct purchase that privilege

would only come at intervals of six or seven years . It seems to us , then , that the question of purchase of Life Presentations at the figure now fixed must become a dead letter , and that being so would it not be better to leave

the item altogether out of the Laws of the Charities ? The proposal now made seems to imply that the Institutions are very greedy , in asking so much fqr a privilege that can be purchased by another method at one-third , or at

most , one-half the price . Further , why exclude minors from the Life Presentation benefits , when their support is especially encouraged by the offer of double votes in all other directions ?

In the case of Perpetual Presentations , the charge for which is to be 1 , 550 guineas , the matter appears to be more readily adaptable to the circumstances of the case , and whichever way we work the figures out the result

comes about the same . If the Committee has erred at all in this matter it is also on the side of overcharge , as a Province or other body could secure 370 votes at each

election for the price asked , and it would be far better to work under such an arrangement than to purchase a Presentation . In all these considerations , however , it is well to bear

Presentations To The Charities.

in mind that there is the spirit of generosity to be taken into account on the part of the donor , as well as the strict letter of a monetary bargain . We have often urged it is unwise to make these Presentations too cheap , on the

other hand it is almost absurd—if they are desired at allto make their price prohibitive , and in view of what we have pointed out it hardly seems that the decision now arrived at fully meets the requirements of the case ; but how to improve matters it is most difficult to suggest .

The Quarterly Courts.

THE QUARTERLY COURTS .

rriHE Governors and Subscribers of the two Educational - * - Institutions will assemble in Quarterly Court next week , for the transaction of general business , and the election of pupils on to the benefits of the respective Funds .

The Boys Court will be held on Friday , 15 th inst ., and the first business to be considered is that in regard to the future price for Presentations , to which we have just referred .

Next we come to a proposition by Brother Stanley J . Attenborough P . A . G . D . C . Patron and Honorary Solicitor of the Institution that , in order to celebrate the Centenary of the Institution , an allowance at the rate of £ 20 per

annum be made to each of the unsuccessful candidates at this year's elections , towards their education and maintenance , until the date of their admission into the School , or the date upon which they become ineligible for admission by reason of age .

This proposal of Bro . Attenborough is certainly an admirable one , but it does not go far enough in our estimation , except in the one point where he proposes that the unsuccessful candidates of the two elections of the year

are to be benefited . We think it would be far more satisfactory to limit the operation of his proposal to next week's contest , the list for which has long been settled , instead of allowing it to operate next October also , as that

course seems to open the way to a tremendous rush of candidates , put forward for the purpose of securing this £ 20 a year as a certainty , with the possibility of ultimately getting admission to the Institution itself . It would

be unfortunate if a very large number of candidates were attracted , with little or no chance of election in the ordinary way , merely for the purpose of taxing the Institution with this special means of marking the Centenary .

Of course Bro . Attenborough and his friends are aware that the list of candidates for the October election will not be closed for some considerable time yet . Is it wise to attempt a work the limits of which it is impossible to even estimate ?

As we read it Bro . Attenborough suggests that the £ 20 a year allowance is to cease as soon as a boy reaches the age of eleven years , if he has not previously been elected to the School . Would it not be possible to