Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . All Letters must bear the name and address of the writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

EEMOVAL OF THE BOYS SCHOOL .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . SIR , —I have read with interest your very sensible article on the subject of the proposed removal of the Boys School , and I have also read the Special Report to which you refer . With your permission I should like to make some observations from my point of view .

Until I read the Board of Management ' s pamphlet I was inclined to think that there might be some advantage in moving the School , but after a careful study of that document I am convinced that the whole scheme is a gigantic mistake . What are the disadvantages of the present buildings and site ? There

are only 13 J acres for the accommodation of 259 boys , or about 20 boys to the acre . Surely the overcrowding cannot be very serious . The present land and buildings have , in 40 years , cost " about £ 100 , 000 . " Truly a nice round sum . " There is but little illness , and that of a trifling kind . . The hoys are in a remarkably good state of health , " according to the Medical Report for 1896 . What more can be desired ?

What are the advantages to be gained by removal ? The Board say they can provide accommodation for 50 , 100 , or even more Boys should the next generation require it . Of course they can—if they are supplied with funds . They can also extend the " Educational curriculum . " But more than this they can effect a saving " in management and establishment charges , in rates , and cost of water , & c , " but , perhaps wisely , the report omits to say how much the saving will amount to .

And what will it cost to buy a new site and erect new buildings to replace those which have cost " about £ 100 , 000 " in 40 years ? The Board does not go into figures , but they remark that " a loss must of necessity be made in disposing " of the present buildings and site . If they would tell us that they could erect a better and more

commodious building on a better and larger site for the price at which they could sell the present property , the scheme might have something to recommend it . But they know perfectly well that there is no prospect of selling the £ 100 , 000 worth of site , bricks , and mortar for anything approaching the sum that a new site and buildings would cost .

It is fortunate that the Report tells us that the Board consists of business men , as we might never have made the discovery otherwise . The whole scheme is crude and ill digested . The Board does not know what it is going to do , or how it is going to do it , and above all it does not disclose where the money is to come from .

Large Institutions are very well in their way , but there is a growing feeling that a larger number of boys could be assisted outside the Sohool for less money , and the Board should take care lest they check the flow of income .

I am , & c , VERBUM SAP . 14 th September 1896 . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONIOLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I should like to know by what right the members of the Board of Management of the Royal Masonic Institution for

Boys have taken upon themselves to use public funds in libelling the neighbourhood of Wood Green , for the statements they have published far and wide throughout the country are nothing short of libel , and I should further like to know if it is not possible for our local authorities to institute proceedings against the detractors . Wood Green is good enough for me , and good enough for hundreds who are in quite as comfortable positions as ever were the parents of many of the boys in the School at the present

time , and it is not right to attempt to hoodwink subscribers who are unable to see for themselves by making out that the neighbourhood is such an undesirable one as to be unfit for the quarters of the Institution . It is quite as good as the locality surrounding the Girls School at Clapham Junction , yet we hear no wailing from that quarter as to the absolute necessity for sacrificing £ 60 , 000 , £ 70 , 000 or £ 80 , 000 , and I hope a check will be put upon the members of the Board , ere they launch upon a new building Bcheme , the ultimate result of which it is impossible to even estimate .

Yours , & c . WOOD GREENITE . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I trust you will allow me to express my disapproval of the proposal now before the English Craft to sanction the removal of che School of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , as I am convinced such a course is most undesirable at the present time .

I say the proposal is " before the English Craft" advisedly , whereas many would say it is a question that only concerns the supporters of the School , and I base my contention on the fact that it is the English Craft that will be called upon to find the money for the alterations ( in addition to what is needed for the current expenses year by year ) , for if the present invested capital is expended in the work the Craft will never know a

moment ' s peace until the money is replaced , and the amount even increased . The past few years has given us a fair taste of what is possible in this direction , appeals being made time after time for a substantial invested fund , and what for ? To send the Committee mad on a new building scheme , and create a difference of opinion among supporters of our charities that may

take years to get over . But who cares ? The energetic Secretary appeals — and he is energetic , be it noted , too much so for some of his audiences ; Stewards are secured , and the money rolls in , positively too fast to be dealt with , if we are to believe the Board of Management , whose chairman goes so far as to say they do not know what to do with the funds subscribed by the Craft , until such time as the governors of the Institution give them a

Correspondence.

free hand to sacrifice property that has cost £ 100 , 000 for perhaps a quarter that sum , and launch out on other buildings that will probably cost as much , and be deemed as useless forty years hence by the fanatics of that day as is the property at Wood Green by those of the present . I consider the existing Schools and other buildings of the Institution are good enough for present requirements , despite what the managers say to

the contrary , and I feel they will take a great responsibility upon themselves if they carry out their proposed scheme without taking a poll of the whole body of subscribers , not by a small gathering at a Quarterly Court or Special Court , hut by ballot papers sent to each subscriber ; and even then they ought to get a three-fourths majority before they inour the terrible expenses of new buildings , & c . for

The Board of Management promised a " Statement of reasons the proposed removal of the School from its present position , " but instead of this they have made out a case against the removal , as _ they have failed to show any reason for the heavy loss they admit is inevitable , and appear to have no definite idea of what they propose to do . I am quite of opinion that a Committee should have the confidence of those it represents , but to ask for such a blind reliance as these Brethren seem to demand is a little too much for me . Yours , & c . A MIDDLE-CLASS REPRESENTATIVE .

HE CANNOT BE ADMITTED .

To the Editor of the F REEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND B ROTHER , —May I ask through your invaluable columns whether it is competent for a Lodge to refuse admission to a Brother , and if so on what grounds must the refusal be based ? Fraternally Yours , L . L .

Royal Arch.

ROYAL ARCH .

TEES CHAPTER , No . 509 . ON Thursday , 10 th inst ., the annual festival was held in the Masonio Hall , Stockton , when the ceremonies of installation were performed by Comp . Chas . Spencer P . Z . P . P . G . A . S ., with Jno . Holt ( Yarm ) as H ., and W . Hodgson as J . Comp . Jno . Holt was installed Z ., W . Hodgson H ., T . E . Biddlecombe P . P . G . O . J . Bro . F . L . Dodds I . P . M . Tees Lodge was elected aDd exalted , and after the Chapter had been closed the Companions dined together .

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