Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

THE Quarterly General Court of the Governors and Subscribers of this Institution will be held this day ( Saturday ) , at noon , in the Great Hall , Freemasons ' Tavern , for the transaction of the tisual business and the election of thirteen from an approved list of forty-five candidates . Dealing with the election , we find that the

first four on the list , of whom one has a sister in the Institution , have stood on three occasions , but only in tho case of the fourth , who has 912 votes to her credit , has any real progress been made towards success . The eight girls that follow have tried on two previous occasions , and

in the case of three of them ( Nos . 7 , 8 , and 10 ) success must be achieved to-day , or not at all , as they will be ineligible , by reason of age , in October . Five of these eight—namely , No . 5 , with 772 votes , No . 6 , with 984 votes , No . 7 , with 958 votes , No . 10 , with

880 votes , and No . 12 , with 1005 votes—stand extremely . well already ; while No . 8 has only 19 votes . No . 9 has a sister in the School , and No . 6 a brother in the Boys' School . In the case of the next sixteen ,

this is the second time of asking , tho votes already recorded ranging from 429 in the case of No . 17 , and 395 in that of No . 26 , down to as few as 6 for No . 28 , 2 for No . 22 , and 1 for No . 13 ; while No . 21 is voteless . Two of these—Nos . 14 and

23—have each already a sister in the School , and No . 18 a brother in the Boys' School . The remaining seventeen are applicants for the first time , and of these Nos . 34 , 35 , and 42 have each a brother in the Boys' School . Of the whole number of candidates five have lost both

parents , while eight have both living ; all the others are fatherless . In twelve cases the father has subscribed to , or filled the office of Steward for one or more of onr three Institutions . Looking to see how the candidates are distributed throughout the countrv . we

note that seventeen out of the forty-five hail from London . Hants sends tip the very considerable number for a Province of six , "Warwickshire three , Devonshire , Kent , and Lincolnshire send up each two : and a single

candidate is furnished from each of the following : —Cambridgeshire , Devon , Lancashire East , Lancashire West , Yorkshire ( N . and E . Ridings ) , Essex , Hong Kong , South Wales ( West ) , Durham , Somerset , Suffolk , and Middlesex ; while in two cases the candidates owe a divided

allegiance—one between Cheshire and Wilts , and the other between Canada and Northamptonshire , though , as regards Canada , the allegiance , if any , is due to Scotland , as it was in the Scotch Lodge Elgin , No . 348 , the father of the girl was initiated .

^ Let us now turn to the business of tho meeting , which is heavier and more interesting than usual . The first notice of motion on the agenda paper stands in the name of Bro . Lieut .-Col . Creaton , Grand Treasurer , to the effect that "it being desirable to enlarge the Royal Masonic

Institution ior Girls , by maintaining , clothing , and educating twenty-five girls , in addition to those already in the Institution , the House Committee be directed to make the necessary arrangements " to accommodate them .

and that such twenty-five girls be elected when the Committee in question have reported that the arrangements have been completed . We have already expressed our viewr , on the policy or rather impolicy of adding to the strength of the School until such time as the permanent

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

income of the Institution has been largely increased : Those who contribute so liberally have no doubt the right to say , through the medium of those whom the laws have invested with tho requisite authority in such matters , that the money shall be spent as it comes in . But there is

another and equally important duty which must not be lost sight of . We have no business to bind down those who come after us to maintain an establishment which , with all the will in the world , it might be out of their power to keep up . We heartily wish it were possible to

return the whole of the forty-five candidates whose names are at this present moment on the list , and who will undergo the ordeal of a ballot to-day , in order that less than onefourth of them may be received into the School . But such a quality as discretion is needed in the arrangement of

large Institutions , especially when they have only a very limited amount of invested moneys , nor must it be forgotten that the country may not always be in the enjoyment of that prosperity , which during the past few years has enabled so much good to be dono by our Charities .

Wo can understand in a measure and applaud the action of the Grand Treasurer , who takes the lead in proposing these increases in the number of pupils in these establishments , and if we felt assured his action were based on data which , as regards the future , were certain to be realised , we should

fully endorse his various propositions . With him no doubt the wish is father to the thought that all will go as prosperously henceforth as it has gone hitherto—that , indeed , is the case with all who take an interest in this

and our other Charities . But it strikes us we have gone ahead sufficiently for some little time to come , and our present duty lies rather in the direction of strengthening and confirming what we have done than in going still further forward .

The third notice of motion , standing in the name of Bro . H . T . Thompson P . M . 742 , is , we presume , intended to be tentative in its character . He will submit to the Court that " £ 6 be voted to each of twenty-five children , next highest on the poll to the successful candidates at this

election , in aid of their maintenance and education until the election in October next . " The proposition is very simple , and one with which substantially no fault can be found . We know of no law of the Institution which would instifv such a disposition of any portion of its funds , and

we anticipate therefore that it will fall through for this reason . That being so , it materially strengthens the position we have taken up in reference to the proposed Assistance Fund , that it might be extended beyond its nn ' o-i ' Tinl snorie and made to include assistance to

unsuccessful candidates as well as to former pupils . As to tho propriety of the next motion , by Bro . G . E . Webster P . M . No . 139 , West Yorkshire , that those entitled to vote at the General Courts shall be permitted to vote by proxy , we uro-ed this strenuously at the election of Secretary in 1878 .

We are of the same mind still and for the same reason , namely , that it is not fair to Provincial brethren to submit them to the alternative of incurring much trouble aud expense in journeying to London or sacrificing their votes in important elections . If it is permitted to Conservative

and Liberal candidates for parliamentary honours to pay the legitimate expenses of outlying voters—and we all know how jealously the legislature guards against excessive and improper outlay at elections—then , in all reason , there should be no objection raised to so simple a matter as allowing our provincial brethren entitled to do so to vote by proxy . The last notice of motion by the same Bro . Webster is , that