The Granting Of Pensions.

THE GRANTING OF PENSIONS .

We are at a loss to understand why it i . s that opposition should be offered to the granting of pensions to retiring officers by our various Charitable Institutions . In the first place , there is no rule which forbids the practice , and , in the next , it does not

need the wisdom of SOLOMON to perceive that men will devote themselves to their appointed duties with greater energy , greater spirit , and , it may be , even with greater ability , if they know or have some reasonable grounds for believing that when they

become incapacitated from further work by reason of failing health or old age , or when they are given to understand that their retirement is necessary or desirable in the interests of the Institution they have faithfully served for many years , they will not be cast adrift like so much useless lumber . It was stated at the

adjourned meeting of the General Committee on Saturday , the ioth inst ., by a brother who remarked that " it would be a disgrace to Freemasons to allow Bro . BlNCKES to retire without some recognition of his services in the past , " ancl who on that ground

supported the proposal or recommendation of the Provisional Committee that Bro . BlNCKES should be retired on a pension of ; £ 35 0 a year I 0 r ^ fe > that " the funds of the Institution were supplied for the purposes of Charity—not Pensions ; " and that

"he feared it was not in the power of the Committee to apply the funds in the way of pensions . " With all deference to one whose study of unimportant details has made him needlessl y contentious , the question arising out of this recommendation of

the Provisional Committee has nothing to do with the source of income from which the pension will be paid—there will be no difficulty about that if the proposal is agreed to . It concerns rather the policy which the governing body of the School should

pursue in order , in the first instance , to induce thoroughly capable men to enter its service , and in the next to encourage them , when they have so entered it , to exert their zeal and ability to the utmost so as to increase the efficiency of the School and

make it more and more valuable as a Charitable Institution . When a governing body treats its officers generously , without being wasteful or lavish in its expenditure , it is doing the one thing of all others which is calculated to advance the welfare of

the Charity it is elected or appointed to preside over . People subscribe more readily and more liberally when they know that an Institution is well officered , and officers work better when they ' < now or have reason to believe they will be well treated . And

thus it comes about that the funds which are "supplied for the purposes of Charity" are made capable of conferring a greater amount and a higher class of benefit on those . who are admitted as the recipients of Charity .

. . ' lave sa * id there is no rule against the granting of pensions 10 retiring officers of our Masonic Institutions . But if there is tnesame time no rule which sanctions their being granted , there aie several precedents which can be quoted in justification ofthe

proposal made with reference to Bro . BINCKES bvthe Provisional Committee of Management of the Boys' School " , and these prec edents are furnished not by one of our Institutions , but by all . Mnr ' ^ * moment > and f ° several years past , Bro . HENRY UGGERIDGE , hte Collector of the Girls' School , is in receipt of M ITR 011 ° ^ ° ayear ' while the late Boys' ° o 1 Matron — Vea ' f , * r ' h . as smce been married—was awarded £ 75 a thes ° - ! - ° n retir ' ng after 22 years' service . In addition to THIS h are Sti 11 in force ' we have the cases of Br 0 * A * U * Roys ' q ? ' Br ° ' BlNCKES ' predecessor as Secretary of the was a j , wbo retirecl in 1861 , after 35 years' service , and salaryT T P ension of £ 100 a year - or two-thirds of the to the C * , , been receiving ; Bro . FRANCIS CREW , Secretary service School , who also retired in 1861 , after 20 years ' Se creta f pension of £ ' year •and Bro . W . FARNFIELD , tired in ^ s the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , who reyear . W >? ' ^ 3 ° years' service , on a pension of £ 200 a ' ¦ We douhr theSe Cases before us » we thi "'* there can be very Sc hool to ^ the abiIity of the g ° verning body of the Boys ' As award Bro * BINCKES a pension as proposed . t , 1 e Gener ] r bee " dealin g with a question which was raised at , oth instant mmittee of the Boys' School on Saturday , the rei « arl * - s mpA take tbis 0 PP ortunity of pointing out that the iaae b y Bro . Dr . MlCKLEY in the course of the dis-

The Granting Of Pensions.

cussion which took place at that meeting , as they were reported in our issue of last week , would seem to indicate that he was opposed to the grant of any pension to Bro . BlNCKES on the ground that our Boys' School was a Charitable Institution . What ,

however , he intended to say—and the opening portion of his remarks conclusively shows this—was that the officers of Charitable Institutions were quite as deserving of remuneration for valued services as those engaged in any other public function .

Scottish Freemasonry In India.

SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY IN INDIA .

The annual report of the Grand Lodge of All Scottish Freemasonry in India , has been issued this year several months later than usual owing to the tardiness with which some of the lodges have made their returns , and , unfortunately , though it bears date 23 rd June last , there are four of the lodges which have not

complied with this part of their duty , while three others have furnished the required particulars to the 30 th June , 1888 , only . Under these circumstances it is difficult , and would certainly be unjust , to attempt anything like a comparison between the numbers which have been only partially supplied for the year 1888

with those given for the preceding year . We note , however , that one lodge—the Ekram , No . 7 65 , Galburga—has been added to the roll , while the Lodge of Kindred Hope , No . 594 , Nusserabad , has gone into abeyance ; and in all probability , if we make allowance for those lodges which have omitted to send their

returns , we shall see that the position of the Craft taken collectively has been fairly well maintained in respect of numbers during the past year . In other respects also it has fared on the whole satisfactory . It has had to regret the loss through death of its Depute G . M ., Bro . J . YOUNG LANG , and Bro . D . P . MEHTA , Past

Hon . Sub . G . M . It also sustained a considerable disappointment through the postponement , from unavoidable causes , of the intended visit of H . R . H . the Duke of CONNAUGHT , D . G . M . under the Grand Lodge of England ; but such losses and disappointments as these are a part of every year ' s experience . On the other hand ,

it is pleasant to know that a better feeling prevails among the members of the three lodges in Calcutta ; that there is every prospect that a scheme for the erection of a new Masonic Hall , which there is fair reason to hope will prove beneficial to the Craft , will be carried successfully through ; and last , but not

least , that the friendly relations which for so many years have subsisted between the English and Scottish Constitutions are as cordial as ever . Due credit is also given to the Hon . Secretary to the Benevolent Fund , to Bro . D . R . CHICHGUR ' services as Hon . Secretary and Treasurer of the Hall Committee , and to the

various Sub-Committees for the zeal and ability with which they have performed what has been required of them or what they had undertaken to perform . To that portion of the Statistical Returns which sets forth the numerical strength of the lodges we

have already referred , but those which show how the Grand Lodge stands as regards its finances are not only complete and clearly set forth , but they fully justify the commendation bestowed upon the Finance Committee for the successful manner in which it has

fulfilled its duties . The General Fund shows a balance in hand and in bank amounting to close on 39 6 rupees . The Hall Committee account closes with a balance of 497 8 rupees , as against 453 6 rupees with which it opened ; and , as regards the " Scottish Freemasons' Benevolent Society in India , " the statement of

account shows a balance to the good of nearly 620 rupees , the receipts , including balance brought forward , being 3062 rupees , and the disbursements 2442 rupees , the whole of which , with the exception of some 4 8 rupees , was spent in Charity under

various heads , while its assets amount to the very considerable sum of 14 , 000 rupees . We congratulate this Grand Lodge on the evident success which , in all matters of material moment , has attended its proceedings during the year 1888 .

A Grand Lodge For Tasmania.

A GRAND LODGE FOR TASMANIA .

A mania for establishing Grand Lodges appears to have overtaken our Australasian brethren . A few years since , the lodges in South Australia which had been established by the Grand Lodgesof England , Ireland , and Scotland exhibited an almost unanimous desire for the formation of a Grand Lodge of their own ,