Contents.

CONTENTS .

uv . K . o—The New Board of General Purposes ... ... ... ... 737 New Zealand .. ... ... ... ... ... 73 S Consecration of the Queen Victoria Lodge , No . 25 S 4 , at Manchester ... 738 Consecration of the Radnor Lodge , No . 25 S 7 ... ... ... ... 739 Consecration of the Royal Victorian Chapter , No . 21 S 4 ... ... ... 740 Installation of the Earl of Onslow , G . C . M . G ., as Prov . Grand Mark Master of

Surrey ... ... _ ... ... ... ... 741 Installation of the Prov . Prior of Devonshire ... _ ... ... ... 74 ; Annual Supper of the Langton Ledge of Instruction , No . 1673 ... ... 742 The Prince of Wales and Ihe Imperial Institute ... ... ... 742 Masonic Presentation to Bro . Dr . and Mrs . Williams Cock ... ... 742 Ladies' Night of the Albion Lodge , No . 9 ... ... ... ... 742 Consecration of the Star of Bethlehem Mark Lodge , No . 4 S 6 , Bethlehem ... 743 Winter Convocation of Grand Council Secret Monitor ... ... ... 74- !

Cryptic Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 743 Masonic Notes ... ... ... ... ... ... 745 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 746 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 746 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 747 Board of Benevolence ... ... ... ... ... ... 747 Interesting Presentation to Bro . Jones ... ... ... ... 747

Craft Masonry ... _ ... ... ... ... ... 747 Lodges and Chapters of Instruction ... ... ... ... 749 Christmas Holiday Railway Facilities ... ... ... ... 749 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 750 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ... ... ... ... iv . Re Grand Treasurership ... . ; . ... ... ... iv . Province of Hampshire ... ... ... ... . ... ... iv .

The New Board Of General Purposes.

TEE NEW BOARD OF GENERAL PURPOSES

Those who may have read our article of last week on the proposed substitution of a single Board of General Purposes for the existing Board of General Purposes and Colonial Board , will have gathered from the general tenour of our remarks that

we are very far from acquiescing in the opinions enunciated on the subject by " Lex Scripta . " At the very outset , when the proposed change was brought under the notice of Grand Lodge , we expressed it as our belief that , as regards one of the main

points to be considered , namely the transaction of Colonial business , it would not make any material difference whether the business was transacted , as at present , by a Colonial Board specially organised for the purpose of dealing with all matters

relating to our Colonial lodges , or by a Colonial Committee of a General Board , which had been organised to deal with all matters affecting the well-being of our lodges both home and Colonial . Last week we stated this still more fully , pointing

out very carefully thatwhetherColonial affairs were dealt with by a Committee or by a special Board , they would receive the same measure of consideration , and be decided in accordance with that spirit of absolute impartiality which has always characterised

the proceedings of our Grand Lodge Boards , whether for General Purposes or for Colonial Purposes . We further expressed it as our opinion—an opinion which we know is held by very many of our readers—that though there would be no difference in the

spirit in which Colonial business was transacted under the new arrangement , there was a very great probability , amounting almost to a certainty , that the decisions of the new Board , as it would be stronger both in its official and its elective sections

would be far more authoritative . Everything Colonial would in the first instance be carefully sifted by the Colonial Committee , which would report to the General Board ; and the latter , having satisfied itself that its Committee had arrived at a just conclusion ,

would in turn report to Grand Lodge as to a supreme or final court , whose decision in all matters relating to the Craft must , in the nature of things , remain unquestioned . For these reasons we accepted the proposed change as one that might

properly and with advantage be adopted . What further remarks we made had reference to the importance of the part reserved for the representatives of our lodges , that is , their Masters , Wardens , and Past Masters , on whom principally would devolve the duty of electing the lesser half of the new

The New Board Of General Purposes.

Board . " Lex Scripta , " however , is not in love with the proposed change . He thinks that a small and special Board , elected to deal with one special class ol" matter only , is " more likely to give the time and consideration required ,

and to feel more responsibility for their decisions , than a mere Committee having to report to the whole Board , " and that there is nothing " to prevent the larger Board rejecting entirely the report and acting absolutely in opposition to the views of their

Committee . " As regards the former of these views , " Lex Scripta " appears for the moment to have overlooked ( . he fact that the Committee of the new Board will be " special , " like the Board that has been abolished , and that its members will have

been elected " presumably for their special qualifications ; " this cannot be said of the Colonial Board , as to which it is provided by Article 28 3 , Book of Constitutions , that "when practicable , three members shall be Past

Masters of Colonial lodges . ' Hence , if the proposed Committee is composed wholly of Colonials it will be stronger in the matter of its " special" qualifications than the Board it supersedes , while if it should happen to be no stronger in this respect ,

it will undoubtedly be equally as effective as the present Board . But is there any reason , and , if so , what is the reason for supposing that a Committee will give less " time and consideration " and feel less " responsibility " than the present Board ? The

latter is as to o / ic-ttmd of its members , and the former is to be as to the whole of its members , specially qualified to deal with a special class of business . But , argues " Lex Scripta , " that

which is stronger in its essential qualification of Colonial knowledge and experience is merely " a Committee" which reports to a Board , while that which is the weaker in the same essential

qualification is " a Board which reports direct to Grand Lodge . But arc we not—by which we mean not ourselves personally , but the general body of English Craftsmen—are we not , we repeat , reasonable beings , and , if so , how comes it that " Lex Scripta "

has lost sight so entirely of the nature and attributes of reasonable beings as to invite us to believe that , while A and B arc equally qualified to deal with a certain class of business , the former will not deal with it effectually because he is a member of a

Committee , but the latter will deal with it effectuall y because he is a member of a Board ? Or , to put the case as it is actually , and therefore still more forcibly , A , which is speciall y qualified as to the whole of its seven members , but reports to a Board , which in

its turn reports to Grand Lodge , is less competent to fulfil its duties than that which is specially qualified only as to three-tenths of its members , but reports direct to Grand Lodge . And the reason assigned for this statement is because A is a Committee and B is

a Board ! There must , then , after all , be something in a name , when we are calmly and dispassionately invited by a brother in his sober senses to believe that men , who are specially qualified to fulfil certain duties will fulfil them as a Board , but not as a mere Committee of a Board .

As regards sundry of his other remarks , there is considerable force in what " Lex Scripta " says . Thus , as to obtaining the services of Colonial brethren , we shall be confronted with the same difficulty as hitherto in view of " the present system of

canvassing and caucus arrangements . " Indeed , the difficulty will be proportionately greater , seeing that the Committee of seven is to be composed , if possible , wholly of Colonials , while the Board

has only three out of its 10 members Colonial . It is also most desirable that in the preparation of the arrangements for g ivinoeffect to the resolution of Grand Lodge , care should be taken to secure what is , after all , the main object of the new law , as it