The Approaching School Elections.

THE APPROACHING SCHOOL ELECTIONS .

The ballot papers have been issued for the autumn School Elections , and vve are , therefore , in a position to furnish the usual particulars as to the distribution of the candidates , and the nature of the claims set forth in behalf of the several cases . The election for the senior Charity—THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR

GIRLSwill take place at the Quaiterly General Court of Governors and Subscribers , which will be holden in the Great Hall of Freemasons' Tavern on Thursday , the 12 th prox ., andthe poll will be opened , as usual , immediately the general business of the day is over . The number of vacancies to be competed for is !<; , and the number of candidates 37 . Of the latter 10 hail from

London , and there are , in addition , four cases in which London has a part interest either vvith one of the Provinces or with some District abroad ; the remaining 23 cases are Provincial . The 10 girls who depend for support on the votes of the Metropolitan brethren are as follow : No . 3 , who was a candidate in April , when she obtained 537 votes ; No . 8 , who obtained 4 S 6

votes on Ihe same occasion ; and No . 9 , who is still better circumstanced , with 1117 votes to her credit . The other seven are Nos . 11 , 13 , 16 , 21 , 22 , 30 , and 33 , while the four in which London is only partially concerned are No . 6 , who has claims on the Western Division of South Wales and foreign parts , and who will start on this occasion with 1261 votes to the

good ; and Nos . 18 , 20 , and 27 , the first of whom hails originally from Bengal , ihe second from London and Kent , andthe last from Monmouthshire . Oneof thesechildren ( the Monmouthshire and London girl , No . 27 ) is a new candidate , her father having died as recently as Jaunary of the current year , and unfortunately this is her last as well as her first chance of securing election into

the School , so that her friends will have to exercise all the influence they possess in order to win for her a place among the successful . Of the 23 Provincial cases , three are from ESSEX , two from HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE or WIGHT , two from KAST LANCASHIRE , and the others , with one exception , from single Provinces . The ESSEX three are No . i , whose name appeared

on the list of the October election of last year , and who enjoys the good fortune of starting with 144 . 9 votes brought forward ; No . 14 , and No . 37 . HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT sends the following -No . 2 , vvho vvas a candidate in October , 1892 , and brings forward 70 votes , and No . I , vvho polled if > votes in April last - and she divides with DORSETSHIRE the

responsibility of supporting and , if possible , carrying to a successful issue thr candidature of No . 25 , whose name is now entered upon the list for ihe first time . The two EAST LANCASHIRE cases rank as Nos . 12 and 3 6 , while the others , taking them in the order in vvhich they appear , are as follow No . s , from SOUTH WALES ( WESTERN DIVISION ) , with the excellent total

nf 1363 votes to start vvith ; No . 7 , from LINCOLNSHIRE , with 28 votes in band ; No . 10 , from CORNWALL , vvith 21 votes in hand ; No . 15 , from N ' oRTiniMitERLAND ; No . 17—who has this one and only chance of gaining admission into the School- from CHESHIRE ; No . 19 , from NORTHANTS

AND HUNTS ; NO . 23 , from BEDFORDSHIRE ; NO . 24 , from SUFFOLK ; No . 26 , from MIDDLESEX ; NO . 28—another girl who unfortunatel y has only this one chance of being elected—from WARWICKSHIRE ; NO . 29 , from SOMERSETSHIRE ; NO . 31 , from NORTH WALES ; NO . 32 , from WEST YORKSHIRE ; and Nos . 34 and 35 , from SOMERSETSHIRE and GLOUCESTERSHIRE respectively . Be it added that three of the girls have

lost both parents and two have both parents living , while three are motherless and 29 fatherless . Only in about eight cases did the fathers render hel p to the Institutions , though quite 20 of them held rank in lodge or " rovince .

l'he election of candidates into the ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS W 'H take place at thc Ouarterlv General Court of Governors and Subscribers

to he holden in the hall of Freemasons' Tavern on Friday , the 13 th October . In this case there are 25 vacancies to be competed for and 46 candidates to c ° mpete for them . Of the latter 13 hail from London and there are two 'bers in which London has a part interest , while the remaining 31 candi-

The Approaching School Elections.

dates hail from a Provincirpr Provinces or from some foreign District . The 13 London boys are as follow .- No . 7 , who brings forward 1880 votes froiri the April election ; No . S , with 1159 votes , and No . 9 , with 2023 votes in hand , and Nos 11 and 16 with 34 and 41 votes respectively . Thus of the five here enumerated , the first three have excellent prospects of success , if

only those in charge of their respective interests exert themselves with a wil ' in their behalf . Nos . 22 , 23 , 26 , 27 , 34 , 39 , 43 , and 45 are also from the Metropolis and will make their debut , as candidates on this occasion . The two partly London and partly Provincial cases are No . 30 , with claims on London and Middlesex , and No . 41 from London and Oxlordshire . Of

the remaining 31 boys , Nos . 2 , 5 , and 20 derive their origin from DEVONSHIRE , No . 2 , who has stood three previous elections , having 106 votes to his credit , and No . 5 , 39 votes , while No . 20 heads the array of boys whose petitions have been approved since the General Court in January . Norfolk is responsible for Nos . 3 and 12 , thc former of whom has been in the . list

for two years and the latter for half that period . OXFORDSHIRE furnishes two , of whom No . 6 has 1374 votes standing to his credit from the last two elections , while No . 44 is a new case . WEST LANCASHIRE sends two boys , who appear at Nos . 19 and 3 8 respectively , and have no votes in hand , though the former was a

candidate in April last ; and there are two new candidates from WORCESTERSHIRE , namely , No . 40 and No . 42 . The rest , taking them in the order in which they appear in thc list are No . 1 , from DORSETSHIRE , with 1276 votes tothe good from three previous attempts ; No . 4 , from SUFFOLK , with 355 votes from April last , and October , 1892 ; No . 10 , vvith 3 6 votes in hand

from last April , who has claims on CHESHIRE and DERBYSHIRE , but will have his . name removed from thc list unless he wins a place at this election ; Nos . 13 and 15 , vvho have 92 and 270 votes respectively to their credit , the former having claims on DORSETSHIRE and HANTS and the ISLE OF WIGHT , and the latter on WEST LANCASHIRE and HANTS aiid ISLE OF WIGHT ;

No . 14 , who scored 13 votes in April last , and hails from the EASTERN DIVISION OF SOUTH WALES ; NO . 17 , from ESSEX , with 12 S 6 votes to the good , from the April election , and No . 18 , from J ERSEY , with 1388 votes to the good ; No . 21 , from SUSSEX ; No . 24 , from WEST YORKSHIRE ; No . 25 , from HERTFORDSHIRE ; No . 28 , who has this only chance of securing'a

place in the School , from thc EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO ; No . 29 , from WESTERN AUSTRALIA ; No . 31 , from KENT ; NO . 32 , from HANTS AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT ; No . 33 , from SHROPSHIRE ; and No . ' 35—another case of winning a place or dropping from the roll altogether—from MIDDLESEX ; Nos . 36 and 37 , Irom DERBYSHIRE and NORTH AND EAST YORKSHIRE respectively ;

and No . 46 , vvho closes up the list and has claims on both the Lancashires . Of these 46 boys , one has lost both parents , and five have both living , while the remainder are fatherless . ' Further , as regards the position of the fathers in Masonry , about one-half held oflice in lodge or Province ; while in some 18 cases they gave their services as Stewards , or contributed of their own means , towards the support of our Institutions .

It only remains for us to add that at both Courts the chair will be taken punctually at noon , and that the poll will close as punctually at 3 p . m . We may , however , be permitted to supplement these remarks by calling attention , as wc have in respect of past elections , to thc fact of there being in each case certain children

whose names will be removed from the lists unless they have the good fortune to secure places among the successful . These are , as regards the Girls' School , No . 17 , from CHESHIRE ; NO . 27 , from MONMOUTHSHIRE and LONDON ; and No . 28 , from WARWICKSHIRE ; and , as regards the Boys'School , No . 10 , from CHESHIRE and DERBYSHIRE ; No . 28 , from

the EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO ; and No . 35 , from MIDDLESEX . On behalf of these children wc appeal , as vve have done for some years past on behalf of all similar cases , to all Governors and Subscribers who are not alread y pledged to the support of any particular candidate or candidates to give their support and employ their influence in order to secure their election .

Let it be borne in mind that the claims of these children to be admitted into these Institutions have been approved by the authorities . The other children , if they fail next month , will still have one or more chances remaining to them , but these wc are speaking of must succeed now or their names will be removed from the lists under the operation of the laws which

determine the maximum limit of age for admission as 11 years . We do not know any of the children for whom vve make this appeal , but while the lists are restricted in respect of numbers as they happen to be iUst now , it

appears to us to be almost a duty on the part of those vvho have votes and are not pledged to support any particular cases that they should render them such help as lies in their power to all fast , cases , so that no child whose petition has been once accepted may be sent empty away .