Projected Extension Of The Girls' School.

Should you desiro a detailed report and valuation , t should bo most happy to furnish yon with the samo . . 7 . W . KLENCK , Surveyor and Valuer . High-street , Clapham , S . W ., 12 th January 18 S 0 .

Whilst I think that no fair opportunity should be lost for extending the necessary accommodation for the Schools , and protecting the property from deterioration , through contiguous building operations , I am quite amazed at the facility with which the owner of Lyueombo House has obtained the offer of so large a sum as £ 6 , 500 for what I

cannot believe to be worth more than £ 1 , 500 , at tho very outside . If I have any knowledge of this locality afc all , as a house and land agent of nearly thirty years' experience , there has never yet been given , even for accommodation purposes , so extreme a price for such premises and three quarters of an acre only of land . In this respect I

am entirely against the purchase , but , on the other hand , should not like to see the Masonic property closely surrounded by small bouses . The Committee probably know best as to the prospects of entire disappointment if they had delayed their proposal to purchase , but in

my opinion Mr . Evill would have delayed carrying out his design in respect of building whilst he had tho chanco of getting a little more from them than tlae value of tho ground rents ho could have created bybuilding small property .

JAMES STEVENS , House and Land Agent . 51 London Wall , E . G ., 19 th January 18 S 0 .

I am quite certain yon have only to invite a valuation of the property by any of the brethren in the profession , and they would readily certify to the monstrous absurdity of paying the sum of £ 6 , 500 for such property . If the present letting value on lease were taken at £ 150 ( quite an outside figure ) , thafc , at twenty years' pur .

chase , would give only £ 3 , 000 . Should the present owner build , as ifc is stated he is about to do , there is no possibilit \ j of his creating a ground rent on thafc piece of land of more than £ 150 , if so much , and that , taken afc even 25 years' purchase , gives a value of only

£ 3 , 750 , which clearly shows thafc the price now asked is beyond reason . Supposing thafc urgent necessities of the School warranted giving an advance on this price of say 10 per cent ., the fact remains that even that fancy price shows only £ 4 , 125 against tho proposed expenditure of £ 6 , 500 . GEORGE NEWMAN , Auctioneer and Valuer .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor . respondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must tear the name an'l address of the Writer , not necessarily / or publication , but as a , guarantee of < joo & faith .

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —When will the Provincial Life Governors and Subscribers to our Charities shake off the lethargy and carelessness , which seems to have taken possession of them ? When will the spirit of enquiry move amongst them , and a desiro to know something of the Institutions of Charity , of which they may

be justly proud , and yet so ignorant , manifest itself ? Ifc is not sufficient to give and leave all further consideration with the Charity Steward . Careless relief is an injustice and a waste in any organisation , but reckless extravagance with Charity Funds is a sin . It behoves every brother to see that the funds to which ho may subscribe are rightly disbursed .

Surely the present action of the Treasurer and Committee of tho Girls' School , in—Proposing illegally to spend £ 6 , 500 for the purchase of Lyncombc House and Grounds ; in—Illegally calling a meeting to consider that proposition ; and —• In illegally endeavouring to confirm their proceedings , will stir them

( Prov . L . G . and Subscribers ) up . Let every member of tho Craft interested in this Institution get a copy of tho bye-laws ( if possible ) , and learn the objects of the Society , and let him inquire into and examine the Treasurer ' s accounts and balance sheets of the past three years . He will be amazed to find how monies have been spent on matters beyond the intention of tho Founders ( as shown by bye-laws ) , how relief as intended by thorn is entirely neglected , and

it will be apparent to tho most careless amongst us , that a reform ia necessary , or a severance of the Provinces from the London Institutions will become inevitable . Hundreds of Life Governors of this Institution to-day know nothing of this intended expenditure , and if told about ifc wonld ask—Why cannot we be informed about all proceedings connected with the Institution ?

Ah , why not l Keform is wanted here . They might , and I have little doubt the majority would ask—What can I do to prevent this expenditure ? and with this question the enquirer would find need for further reform . Ho would find that

Correspondence.

as a Subscriber , ho is a member of the Quarterly General Courts , and as a Lifo Governor he is further a member of the General Committee , but since there is no provision for his representation at these meetings by proxy , it will be necessary for him to go to London and personally record his vote , if ho is to havo any voice in tho management of tho funds of the Institution to which he has subscribed .

Qy ?—Should not this be altered ? Last year I casually heard that a Snb-Committco had been ap . pointed to consider somo alterations of tho bye-laws of the Girls ' Institution , and in tho hopo that somo better and moro just representation of the Provinces would bo a part of tho plan , I eagerly watched for the reports in the Masonio papers . When seen , I was

not surprised to find that the Provinces were still kept from meddling with the pet schemes of the Committee ( except by costly attendances , with the certainty of being out-voted ) ; but I was astonished to find the following in tho report of Quarterly Court of Girls' Institution of tho Freemason of 18 th January 1879 : — " Bros . Tattershall and Peacock having expressed an opinion that

sufficient timo had not beeu given to tho members of the Court to consider the proposed alterations of bye-laws , " "Bro . the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford P . G . C , on tho contrary , thought sufficient time had been granted . He thought the proposal of Bro . Tattershall involved moro than that brother thought he conveyed . The Court to-day was to consider alterations which had

been proposed by a Sub-Committee , and which had been appointed for tho express purpose of deciding upon somo alterations whioh had boon printed , and a printed copy sent sometime ago to every mem . ber of the Court . . . . He opposed the proposition of Bro . Tattershall , on tho ground that thero were a great many brethren , who like him ( Bro . Woodford ) had come perfectly prepared to consider tho

alteration . " Bro . the Hev . A . F . A . Woodford here seems to speak with authority on behalf of tho Sub-Committee , and asserts thafc " a printed copy had been sent some time ago to every member of the Court . " Clause 29 of Bye-laws provides— " Quarterly General Courts consisting of all donors , including annual Subscribers , shall be held , & o . "

As a Life Governor , I received no such copy , nor had I any notice of proposed alteration , and I can find other sixty Life Governors in my town , who must also have been forgotten . I feel assured thafc if the Provincial Lifo Governors and Subscri - bers were in possession of all tho facts concerning this proposed

purchase , and had the power to record their opinions by proxy , they would strongly and unmistakably oppose any further expenditure in buildings or land , and would insist on the education and rel ' ef of the thirty poor girls unablo to gain admission at the last election , out of the establishment , as provided by rules specially applicable to such cases on page 17 of Bye * laws , Yours fraternally ,

V . S . P . West Yorkshire , 14 th January 1880 .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —My attention has been directed to your report of the proceedings at tho Quarterly General Court ; of the Girls ' School , in which my interview with tho Treasurer prior to the special meeting of 3 i-d January is particularly "referred to , and as

silence on my part might be considered as admission that my com . munication as to counsel ' s opinion had nofc been properly represented , I must depart from , my usual custom of avoiding newspaper correspondence by asking you to insert these few lines in correction .

The object of my interview with Col . Creaton was to give the fullest possible effect to the advice of Mr . Locock Webb , Q . C ., whose opinion you havo already published , and to avoid , if possible , any necessity for furthfr appeal even to the Trustees . With this view I read Counsel ' s opinion at length , and as " amicus curiae " advised

the withdrawal of the resolution , and having dono so I considered ifc unnecessary to attend tho Court to make that opinion public . I left tho Treasurer perfectly freo to make any uso he might desiro of tho information I had givcu him , or to withdraw or postpone the proposition on any ground he pleased . The resolution having been pressed to a division and declared carried , I was advised by Counsel

to bring the facts and opinion to tho knowledge of tho Trustees , and in doiug so I expressed regret that my personal communication to tho Treasurer had been disregarded . I could not have done this if tho information had been withheld at my request . In actio" as I have clone , I havo acted only as tho solicitor for my clients , on whose behalf tho case was laid before Mr . Locock Webb , and individually I havo nothing to do with tho matter .

Yours fraternally , JOHN THOMAS MOSS . 38 Gracechurch-streot , 20 th January 1880 .

BRO . WILSON AND THE BOYS' SCHOOL . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —A weaker and moro disingenuous attempt to support a lame position I have seldom seen than that mado by Bro . lloebuck in his letter published in The Freemason of this date , respecting my disagreement with tho House Committee of tho

Royal Masonic Institution for Boys—its weakness must bo apparent to every ono who has read tho correspondence on the subject , and its ( lisingcnuousness most be acknowledged when ifc becomes known thafc the second paragraph is only a partial statement of tho facts . Bro . Koebuck says , " Mr . Wilson was repeatedly invited to attend the House Committee , to give an explanation of a certain charge in one of