The Festival Returns.

School follow such a gathering as may then he expected within tho space of a brief month ? Would it not be far better to give the Centenary—which , in all probability will bo the Masonio event of 18 SS '—as . wide a . berth ; is

possible r We are afraid we have wandered far away from ont original intention—that of reviewing last week's contributions ; but whatever we may now say will not

improve the result of this year ' s Festival , while there is hopo that something may be suggested to advance the totals of the future . For this reason we feel no misgiving that our actions will be misunderstood on the present

occasion . The result of the Festival , as announced by Brother Binckes , the Secretary of the Institution , was a total contribution of upwards of £ 11 , 000 . The figures published

in our last issue wero , as usual , amended up to the time of going to press , and , totalled up , they show an aggregate of £ 11 , 059 3 s , with , apparently , seventeen lists outstanding ; . The Stewards were 287 in number , and mav be said

to have been equally distributed between London and tho Provinces , if we include the " unattached" among the former , 142 brethren serving for each , with the remaining

three accredited to Foreign Stations . The contributions were also about equal , for we find a total of £ 5 , 346 6 s 6 d to the credit of the London and unattached brethren , with

£ 5 . 683 8 s 6 d from the Provincials , and £ 29 8 s Od from abroad . These figures place the Boys' School third among the three Craft Institutions for the current year in regard to total amount contributed , and second in regard to

number of Stewards , which , to onr mind , conclusivel y proves that the Boys' School in having the last of the three Festivals stands at a disadvantage . The average per Steward for the year was , in the case of the Benevolent

Institution close upon £ 49 10 s , on behalf of the Girls ' School £ 42 7 s , while in the caso of the Boys' School it dropped down to a trifle over £ 38 10 s . Is this very wide difference merely accidental , or is there a reason for it ? In

the answer to this question will really be found the solution of the difficulty under which the Boys' School at present labours , and as in our opinion the difference is to he accounted for on the grounds we have already mentioned ,

there should be no reason why a change should not speedily bring about an improvement . It is only necessary to point out the difference which exists in the average per Steward in the case of the Benevolent Festival and in that

of the Boys , £ 11 per head , and to multiply it by the number of Stewards , to show that the Boys' Festival would have realised upwards of £ 3 , 000 more had the Stewards been ns successful as those who served on behalf of the

Old People , and is there any tangible reason why tbey should not be , if they had equal facilities for working ? We urge there is not , and until actual proof to the contrary

is forthcoming we shall be disinclined to alter our opinion . So far as we can see the Boys' School has been second favourite for the year , but it has been too heavily handicapped , with the result that it takes the third place .

We will now devote ourselves to the individual lists , which afford further evidence in support of what we have already urged . London , with the Committee Dinner Club , and those who figure as unattached , has but ten three

figure lists , and only one of these exceeds the second hundred , the contribution being one of two hundred guineas from the Committee Dinner Club , at the hands of Bro . Kichard Eve . Where is the " London list towering ;

far above the others " which we last month said was seldom missing from the Festival returns ? As if in mockery of our statement , it is missing now , for large as the Committee ' s donation is , we do not recognise it as

" towering far above the others . What we should have liked to * -ee , and hope to see in the future , is one or two lists of about £ 400 each , such as the Girls' School had the good fortune to announce in May . Then , again , the number

of large lists is wofully small as compared with the preceding Festivals of the year , when one in eight among the London Stewards exceeded the century . The Boys ' Festival only shows one three figure total to each

fourteen London Stewards , which alone accounts for a large part of the falling-off in the general total . However , we will give the Stewards the credit we

know they are justly entitled to . We are convinced they have done their best , and we trust it may some day be possible for them to labour under more favourable circumstances ; if it is , they will then prove there is no lack of sympathy throughout the Craft on behalf of " Our Boys . "

The Festival Returns.

The list which , in point of amount , follows that of Bro . Fve , is tho contribution of the QurenV . Westminster Lodge No . 2021 , which sends up £ 162 15 s , nt the hands of Bro . (' . P . Hrlleiby jnn . Tho representatives of this Lod go

are no strangers at tho Festivals , as past returns will show ; let us hopo the kindly feeling and practical sympath y already displayed by tlio members may long be continued . The Lodge has been represented at each of the Festivals

of the year , sending up £ 58 16 s to the Benevolent , £ 28 7 s to that on behalf of the Girls , and , as we have just said , £ 162 15 s to the Boys . This gives a total for the year of £ 249 18 s—a result sufficient to entitle the Lodge

to the esteem of the whole Craft , even if it never did anything more , but we know enough of its members to feel that its r / nod deeds are not yet at an end . The Burlington Lodge , No . 96 , was represented , to the extent of £ 138 ,

Bro . Major H . A Joseph being the Steward ; then follows the Grand Stewards' Lodge , with the veteran Bro . Fredk . Binckes as its representative , and a total of £ 132 12 s as its

contribution ; after which we have £ 117 12 s from Lodge No . 1178 , £ 106 lis 6 d from No . 1328 . £ 106 ls from No . 1901 , £ 105 each from Nos . 1383 and 1900 , and a level £ 100 from No . 1076 .

From the Provinces we have to record £ 600 from the Chairman ' s district of West Yorkshire , which appropriatel y heads the list , although we are convinced the sum is far

below what it would have been had Bro . Tew ' s intention of presiding ; been made known to the brethren of his Province at an earlier date . The whole of the Provincial donations were distributed as -follows : —

Province . No . of Stewards . Amount . West Yorkshire 37 600 0 0 K-nt 7 477 4 6 Somersetshire 3 420 0 0 MMrlU-sex 11 410 2 6 Noiths and Hants 4 350 0 . 0

Mon month shire 7 300 0 0 "North and East Yorkshire 5 295 19 0 StaffTdshire 3 245 14 0 Wih shire 1 234 3 0 Nottinghamshire 2 231 10 6

Cornwall 1 194 5 0 Sussex 4 173 5 0 Berks nr . d Bucks 5 171 12 6 Derbyshire 4 159 10 6 Snnvy 7 158 0 6

SurT . Sk 3 156 8 0 ESH *> X 7 139 17 0 Cambridgeshire 1 137 11 0 We « t , Lancashire 7 131 5 0 South W * les ( East Division ) 1 120 0 0

N . r .-h Wales 3 102 18 0 Durham 1 101 17 0 ( Wo- "Shire 5 86 13 6 GloucKS'ershire 2 85 1 0

East Lancashire 5 73 10 0 Bedfordshire 1 36 15 0 Worcestershire 2 36 15 0 Hertfordshire 1 32 11 0 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 2 21 0 0

In conclusion , we desire to address a word to those brethren who are accustomed to judge of work done by its result — and fortunately they are numerous in Freemasonry , as elsewhere . We think that we have shown conclusively that a larger and a wider circle of supporters

was secured for the Boys' School Festival as was enrolled for the other educational Institution , and in spite of this the result has been less satisfactory . It is therefore useless to urge that the Boys' School is less a favourite , or that its executive do not work as energetically as those of the

sister Charity . The falling-off is in the results achieved by the Stewards , on whose behalf something must be attempted at an early date . They can only perform the work set them to the best of their ability , and any shortcomings on their part must be attributed to the work itself rather than to the workers .

As already announced in these columns , the Provincial Grand Lodge of Berks and Bucks will be held on Monday [ next , at the Albert Institute , Sheet S'reet , Windsor , under

the presidency of R . W . Bro . Sir Dtrrel G-men , Bart ., Prov . Gtand Master , Special railway arrangements are set forth iu tho agenda , papers sent f" the b edhren . The banquet will take p ' ace at the Town Hall at two o ' clock .

The summer banquet of the Linn and Lamb Lr < dge , No . 192 , is fixed to take p ace on Wednesday , 20 th July , at the White Hart Hotel , Reigate .