The Craft In Devon.

THE CRAFT IN DEVON .

\\ f & published last week a . highly interesting account V T of the meeting in the Market Hall , Torrington , on the 27 th nit ., of the Committee of Petitions for the Province of Devon , and the subsequent Especial . Communication of Prov . Grand Lodgo in the new Lodge room , under

the presidency of Viscount Ebrington Prov . G . Master . It is worth while devoting a brief space to the former , while the principal business which occupied the attention of the

brethren at the latter gathering merits something more than a passing word or two ; and , as the business is still undecided , we shall , in all probability , have further occasion to deal with it .

The Committee of Petitions met together for the purpose of receiving the report of Bro . Godtschalk , its London representative , and that report is worth considering , if only for the purpose of showing how a Province which , albeit a strong one , and having , of necessity , onlyavery limited voting

power , so exerts that power as to be able to carry the day in behalf of its chosen candidates at the elections of our Institutions . Devon appears to have been very successful during the past year , having carried no less than five candidates , namel y , one at each of the Boys' School elections in April

and October , one into the Girls' School in October , with one to the Male and one to the Female Fund of the Benevolent Institution in May . Now , the voting power which the Province itself was able to exercise during the year was 1948 votes only , and the number of those cast at the

election of these five candidates was 4997 , so that it must have entailed on Bro . Godtschalk a considerable amount of ingenuity in orderto accomplish his task . In April last , the boy Norrish polled 1513 votes ; in May , Mrs . Andrews obtained 923 votes , and Bro . G . Elliott 320 votes ; in October , the

boy Loveridge and the girl Drake secured 1652 votes ancl 589 ^ votes respectively . But how were these successes achieved ? Let ns take the two last cases in illustration . The boy Loveridge was the adopted candidate of the Province , which directly—and indirectly likewise from

Cornwall—was able , through Bro . J . B . Gover , to give him 372 votes . Bro . Godtschalk then borrowed from Berkshire 93 votes , Cheshire 300 votes , Shropshire 100 votes , North Wales 100 votes , Dorsetshire 276 votes , and , by exchanging girls' votes and adding his own , he succeeded in obtaining

1532 votes from outside sources . As there were already 324 votes to the boy ' s credit , Bro . Godtschalk only polled 1328 , making the candidate secure with a total of 1652 votes . The surplus 204 were lent to the Province of Warwickshire , and will , of course , be repaid in April . In the

case of the Girl ' s School Election , last October , no candidate was adopted as there were no votes available , yet Bro . Godtschalk does not appear to have been in any way dismayed . The occasion was an unusually favourable one , it will be remembered , there being no less than forty-two

vacancies , ancl only fifty-four candidates . Accordingly , he set to work , and obtained from Devon , through Bro . Gover and himself , 350 votes , of which 200 were due from South Wales on IOTJ ; from Cornwall , through Bro . Gover , 126 votes ; from Berks 07 votes , and from Dorsetshire 67 votes

m exchange for a proportionate number of boys' votes . This made a total of 507 , which , added to a previous poll of 22 , carried the girl in successfully as thirty-ninth on the list of candidates , with 589 votes , the lowest number polled being 582 . The result of all this clever management is that , at the present time , the Province is in debt , in various

The Craft In Devon.

directions , to tho extent of 1807 votes , and has owing to it 004 votes , leaving a net indebtedness of 1203 votes . Thus , by means of a total of 3151 votes , namely , 1948 of its own , and the 1203 due on IOU ' s , Devon has succeeded in carrying five candidates in one year , the difference between theso

3151 votes , and the 4997 actually recorded , namely , 1846 votes , costing it nothing whatever . We are not surprised that , having regard to so satisfactory a result , Bro . Godtschalk should have submitted a proposition to the effect that two sums of £ 52 10 s each should be voted to tho Female Fund of the Benevolent Institution and the Girls '

School respectively . Nor are we surprised that Bros . W . G . Rogers , J . B . Gover , and C . Godtschalk should have been re-elected by acclamation to the several offices of Chairman , Secretary , and London Representative of the said Committee . It is principally due to the energy and

ability of these worthy Craftsmen that Devon is m a position to congratulate herself with so much reason on the successes of the past year , and this re-election , accompanied by a hearty vote of thanks to each of them , was a matter of course . The recommendations as to the two sums to be grantedas aforesaid , were , of necessity , reserved .

, The meeting of the Especial Provincial Grand Lodge was held in the afternoon of the same day , the purpose for which the brethren met together being to signify by word and deed their deep sense of the valuable services rendered to Masonry by the late Rev . Bro . John Huyshe , who for so

many years presided over its destinies in this Province . As befitted so important an occasion , the chair was occupied by Visconnt Ebrington , the late Bro . Huyshe ' s successor in the Prov . Grand Mastership , and in spite of the extremely inclement Aveather , there were present some

sixty brethren . Devon , however , is a large Province , and it was rightly felt that such a gathering could not be considered a representative one . As to the resolution moved by the P . G . Master , duly seconded , to the effect that " the P . G . Lodge desires to express its sympathy with Mrs .

Huyshe in the loss she has sustained by the lamented death of the Rev . John Huyshe , M . A ., & c , and to record , by some lasting memorial , the affectionate esteem in which the late P . P . G . M . was held by the Masons of Devonshire , " that was carried unanimously ; but a long discussion

ensued as to the character the said memorial should take . The first suggestion emanated from Bro . Rogers , and was to the effect that the virtues of our late brother should be perpetuated by a memorial window in the cathedral church of the diocese , and that a Committee should be

appointed , in orderto raise subscriptions , and make the necessary arrangements . Bro . Godtschalk submitted that a far better kind of memorial would bo the foundation of a Huyshe Scholarship , in connection with the Devon Educational Fund . Bros .

Curteis and Gover , though they moved as an amendment that the consideration as to the form the proposed memorial should take should be deferred , also favoured the idea of a Scholarship , whether connected with the Devon or any other Charity Fund , while the

window was approved by Bros . Moon and Bradie . Lord Ebrington , however , seemed to think the idea was _ as yet immature , and the amendment to defer consideration was agreed to . In the meantime , AVO trust the Wor .

Masters of the Devon Lodges , and tlie members generally , will give the matter all the attention in their power . No doubt the memorial window will find a large share of support , for our late Brother was a clerk in holy orders in the Anglican Church ; yet it strikes us the Scholarship