Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

mittee should be elected annually worked well ? Bro . Binckes said , after a very large experience he had no hesitation in saying the old rule had worked well . There was always a quorum present ; the average number was

eight , and very often there were nine , or oven twelve . Bro Scnrrah said he had tried , but could not obtain any satisfactory answer to tho question , What reason there was forthe advisability of altering the law ? Thoy might got a

new man on the Committee , who might not be up to his work ; he might be incompetent , he might not have time to attend , and it might be necessary that ho should , so to speak , go to school to learn his work , and it was said that

they could not expect a man to bo on a Committee of that kind and learn the work thoroughly unless ho had been on it twelve months . That was an insult . To say that they could not pick out of Freemasons men who , unless they

were on the House Committee twelve months could not know the work , was an affront to the Order , because every one knew that the majority of these Committeemen were business men , up to the details of business ; many of them

able to give time to tho work , and no one should be elected who was not . Every one of the brethren was competent for the work . Look at it in another light . If they had a brother on the Committee who was incapable

of doing his work , was it not well to be able to get rid of him as soon as they could ? It was a very bad reason , in fact no reason , to say that brother should be on the Committee for three years ; the sooner they got rid of an

incompetent person and got a competent one the better . What were they doing by this new law ? They were proposing that a brother who was incompetent should remain on the Committee for three years , to the exclusion of a

competent one . At the end of three years four of the number were to go out , the remainder were to stay four years , then four more were to go out , and four of the twelve would remain in for five years . Was this reasonable ? Who

provided the sinews of war , and brought the money to support the Institution ? For any one to say that those who were the Governors were to be debarred from the

privilege of electing these Committees every twelve months was absurd on the face of it . What about the other Committees—the General Committee and the

Audit Committee ? They ought all to be tarred with the same brush . When the axe was laid at the foot of the tree they all knew that it was only a question of time when that tree would fall . They ought to be very careful how

they hurt the susceptibilities of thosewho subscribed to the Institution , and he hoped they would agree with him and restore the power the brethren had had to elect every year . Brother A . E . Gladwell P . M . 172 seconded the motion ,

while Brother E . F . Storr P . M . and Treasurer 22 opposed it . He was surprised at the doctrines Brother Scurrah had propounded . There was not a brother in the room who knew more about Committees than Bro . Scurrah ;

twentyfive years Bro . Scurrah said he had worked on Committees , and knew the practice well . He was sorry to hear him say he did not believe in triennial elections . He ( Bro . Storr ) did . He was not the man to go on for a House

Committee for one year only . It was all very well to say they must go to school to learn the work , but they must look at the expense , annoyance , and trouble of going in

for one year only . He was not ambitious of being on a Committee ; the first year the members were of no use at all . If they wanted to do good to the Institution , and to learn their lessons ; if they wanted to be somebody on the

Committee , let them know what they had to do and serve an apprenticeship . If a man was an ornamental man only , take him off . Bro . Scurrah had not given this question sufficient thought , and he ( Bro . Storr ) , after many years' experience of Committees , entirely

disagreed with him . Bro . Raynham W . Stewart P . G . D ., as the originator of the proposal , had been and was still of opinion that the Committee should be well versed in their duties , and this could not be done in one year . They

wanted brethren well up to the work , and with a thorough knowledge and experience of it . They might elect a brother who would utterly fail . Brethren elected for one year only might say it was not worth while to attend . As

for himself , it did not matter to him an atom whether a brother was elected for twelve mouths or twelve years . Bro . Henry Smith Deputy Grand Master West

Yorkshire dissented from Bro . Stewart ' s proposition , that if a brother were elected for one year only he did not care a button about it , and he would attend or neglect his duties as he thought proper . If that was an argument

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

against annual elections , how much the more was it an argument against three years' elections . Let them have a fair argument . Bro . Binckes had told" them the annual election had been found to work very well . Bro . Binckes

had had a great deal of experience , and ought to know . Let the rule go on aa it was ; let them have annual elections . If it had not gone on well , let them alter the

rule . He disliked this peddling with the rules , and constantly interfering with and changing them . Bro . Scurrah ' s motion was then put , and carried by a large majority . In other respects the minutes of last meeting were

agreed to . On tho motion of Bro . Raynham W . Stewart P . G . D ., seconded by Bro . Edgar Bowyer P . G . Std . B ., Bro . George Plucknett P . G . D . was unanimously re-elected Treasurer of the Institution . On the motion of Bro . W . A . Scurrah , seconded bv Bro . E . F . Storr , the following , were

elected as the General Committee for the ensuing year : — Bros . Brackstone Baker , Blackmur , Dorey , Dunkley , Law , Noah Martin , E . 0 . Massey , Henry Massey , McKay , A . H . Scurrah , H . Webb , and H . Wells . Scrutineers of votes

were then nominated , and the election of boys into the School was proceeded with . A list of those successful will be found on page 248 , while the following list gives particulars as to the votes polled by those who were unsuccessful on this occasion .

UNSUCCESSFUL . No . on List . Name . Forward . Polled . Total . 17 Hayward , Alfred Vaughan — 1301 1301 29 Gay , Wilfred — 1299 1299 20 Lewis , Horace — 1259 1259

15 Good , Meyrick George Bruton — 1175 1175 16 Holmes , Bryant Hanby — 1068 1068 45 Hayes , Frederick William — 987 987 * 1 Knight , Samuel William 318 165 483 5 Andrews , Joseph Thomas 122 211 333

1 Wood , Joseph 107 66 173 10 Matthews , Percy Haslem 10 107 117 36 Gray , Harold — 86 86 3 Taylor , Albert 36 14 50 39 Angier , Harry Norman — 45 45

2 Canon , George 19 1 20 4 Gibbs , Percy 11 2 13 38 Johnston , George Frederick — 9 9 * 14 Bolton , Sidney Kobert — 4 4 18 Jones , Maurice Bibby ~ — —

Partial Suspension.

PARTIAL SUSPENSION .

ACCORDING to general Masonic usage , a Mason under suspension is thereby deprived of all the rights and privileges of Masonry for the time being , and until the penalty is removed , by limitation or otherwise , it is unlawful for Masons to hold Masonic intercourse with

him while under such sentence , which necessarily excludes him from the Lodge-room when a Lodge is at labour . It matters not for what cause the penalty may have been inflicted—the effect must be the same in all cases until it is

removed . There are two grades of this penalty , known as " definite suspension " and " indefinite suspension , " but the only difference between them is in duration , and hence the effect under either must be the same while in force . In the Proceedings of the last annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas , among the decisions of the

Grand Master , which were approved by the Grand Lodge , we find the following : " A brother suspended for non-payment of dues has not the privilege of visiting his Lodge . The Lodge may permit him to do so , but

this is not a right which he may demand . And when permitted to visit the Lodge , it ia only as a visitor , and not aa a member , and therefore he cannot vote , sit on committees , or otherwise participate in the busiaess of the Lodge . "

This is what we would term " partial suspension , " the extent of which may be more or less , according to the humour of the Lodge from time to time . The suspended

brother goes up to a stated meeting of his Lodge on one occasion and is admitted . At the next meeting he finds the door closed asrainst him . If he has an inclination to

attend regularly , all he can do is to go up and inquire , " May I come in to-night ? " He is in about the same condition as an Honorary 33 ° member of the Supremo

Council in the Scottish Rite—sometimes he gets in and sometimes he does not . He has the satisfaction of knowing , however , that his Masonry is not costing him anything ,