The Boys' School Election.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

RESUMING our remarks in reference to the candidates for the coming April Elections of the Masonic Educational Institutions , we this week have before us the list for the Boys' School . As usual with this Charity , the number of candidates is far in excess of the vacancies

it has been found possible to declare , there being sixtyfive of the former—reduced to sixty-four by the removal from the competition of No . 60 , T . F . Musgrave , who , as is stated on the ballot paper , was withdrawn on the 24 th January last—and only twelve of the latter . We

thus have an average of between five and six candidates for each vacancy , and may therefore look forward to an exciting election , followed , as usual , with feelings of disappointment for many a poor widow and her friends . Glancing at the list of candidates generally , we find the

same fault we have from time to time pointed out in connection with the details given in regard to the several candidates . There are cases of both parents still living , and of others with the father alive , without any reason being assigned for the appeal which is now being made to the general body of subscribers to the School , and

in some of the cases where the father yet lives , he is described as W . M . of his Lodge ; this description , however , we think must be a mistake , and yet , having referred to it on a previous occasion , we should , have thought steps might have been taken , either by the parties concernedor

, by the authorities , to put the matter right , and describe the respective fathers as P . M ., if they hold that rank , rather than as : W : M ., a position which is hardly consistent with an appeal to one or other of the Charities . There are also rumours that one at least of the candidates is so

circumstanced as to be outside the limits of eligibility so far as our idea of need of assistance is concerned , but as we do not think any good can come from a repetition of mere " rumours , " we shall not mention the particalar case until

we are in a position to place facts before our readers , and this we hope to be able shortly to do . The election will take place on Monday , 16 th April , and , as we have already stated , there are sixty-four candidates for twelve vacancies . Of this number thirteen are "last

applications , " and , together with the cases of six other lads who are parentless , will first receive attention at our hands on the present occasion . No . 41 , H . E . Hippey , from a general point of view , seems to be the most deserving case on the list . He is one

of four children dependent on comparative strangers for the necessaries of life , his father and mother being both dead . He now appeals for the last time , by reason of his age , at which he will be eligible . It can hardly be necessary to give elaborate details of such a casefor surely the fact

, of a parentless child making a last application is about as urgent a case as could be imagined . His father was a Member of the Alfred Lodge , No . 340 , Oxfordshire , and

the lad now comes forward , for the second time , with a total of 527 votes to his credit . It is to be hoped that a strong body of friends will rally around him on the Joth proximo . No . 39 , A . K Bowes , son of the late Bro . John Bowes , of Lodge No . 148 , West Lancashire , now

appears on the list of candidates for the second time , with a total of 2 , 404 votes to his credit from October last , a state of affairs which must be looked upon as a mark of the respect in which his late father was held by his brother Masons . There is little doubt but that sufficient votes will

be polled next month to ensure young Bowes ' s election . No . 16 , A . H . Botting , one of two fatherless children , follows close , so far as number of votes in hand is concerned , there being a total of 2 , 388 to his credit , but they are the accumulation of three previous Elections . We

hope , now that the last chance has come for this lad , that an effort will be made which will render his election a certainty . No . 3 , G . W . K . Hill , who is one of six children dependent on a widowed mother , now applies for the seventh time , and large as his total number of votes in

hand may seem—1 , 830—it is clear that a very strong effort will have to be made to prevent those already polled being wasted . That a lad after polling so large a number as 1 , 830 votes should fail on his seventh and last application would indeed be a misfortune , aod we trust it may be

prevented on the present occasion . Of the other last application cases , those which—by results at previous elections—give some idea of the amount of support that can be relied on on their behalf , appear to stand but poor chances of success , the number of votes already polled not

exceeding 400 in either of the seven cases so circumstanced , while in three of them the totals are under 100 . No . 14 , E . H . Simpson , one of five fatherless children , after three

elections has 396 votes to the good ; No . 2 , E . Farrar , after six attempts , has 291 ; No . 32 , T . Woodward , third application , has 215 ; and No . 6 , J . W . Long , after five contests has but 154 . The three whose totals are under

100 are , No . 7 , Frederick Pudney , who now appears for the fifth time , with 97 votes in hand ; No . 1 , James Collinson , who has but 69 from his six previous attempts ; and No . 36 , W . Benj . Townsend , who polled 9 in October last . These , with No . 45 , H . Bray ,

and No . 49 , E . A . Whiting , both first applications , close the list of last application cases . The former is one of six children left to the care of the widow of a Kentish brother , while the latter is one of a family of eight whose father was a member of a Warwickshire Lodge . We cannot

close this list of last chances without again drawing the attention of brethren to the cruelty they inflict on those in distress by holding out hopes of relief ; and , once having got a case on the list of candidates , allowing it to take its own course . It may not be that all the cases we have

referred to as having no chance of success have been neglected , but it is very certain some of them have ; and we again condemn most strongly the action of those brethren who recommend an application being made to the School without there being some reasonable prospect of ultimate success .

There are six cases in which the applicants have lost both father and mother , beyond the one already referred to , three now appearing on the list for the first time . No . 15 , A . W . Wyatt , after three applications , appears with a total

of 354 votes to his credit . He is one of four children still dependent on their friends for support ; he has a sister in the Girls' School , and we trust will himself secure a place on the list of successful candidates at no distant date .

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