Some Notes On Freemasonry In Australasia.– –(Concluded).

of being induced to accept the position of Grand Master . Lord Onslow , however , declined the honour , unless 120 of the 149 lodges then working were shown to be in favour of the movement . Subsequently his Lordship met the several English , Irish , and Scottish District Grand Masters , and urged them to end the dissension then prevailing , which

kindly counsel , by the way , elicited a singular rejoinder from the Grand Lodge of Scotland , in which was cabled from Edinburgh a repudiation of Lord Onslow ' s "interference . " However , on April 30 th , 18 90 , the Grand Lodge of New Zealand became an accomplished fact , with Bro . Henry Thomson , a former English District Grand Master of Canterbury , as the lirst Grand Master , and with a nucleus of

-SIR HARRY A . ATKINSON * . K . C . M . G ., RIGHT WORSHIPFUL P . D . G . M . OF WELLINGTON , N . Z ., K . C . thirty-two lodges only . A request for recognition by England , Ireland , and Scotland , of course , failed . The following is ( he Grand Masters' list . - —

Henry Thomson ... ... ... 18 90 . Malcolm Niccol , 33 " .. 18 92 Francis H . I ) . Bell 18 94 William Barron ... ... ... 18 9 6 Richard John Seddon ... ... 18 9 8

Alexander Stuart Russell ... ... 1 9 Herbert James Williams ... ... 1902 Alfred j . Burton ... ... ... 190 J

We have already seen how bitter were the relations between the recognised and unrecognised bodies in Xcw Zealand ; but still the irregular Grand Lodge went a-head , and when three years old it had twenty-four more lodges than those hailing from England , Ireland , and Scotland , the aggregate being forty-two original English , twenty-six Scotch , nine Irish , and nine new lodges warranted by itself .

But , in a year more ( 1094 ) the strife ceased , with the recognition of New Zealand by England , which by its action threw overboard the well-established precedent of bye-gone days . Scotland and Ireland followed suit . It was , no doubt , considered ( hat the acknowledgment of New Zealand as a Sovereign Grand Lodge would convince the remnant of the

English , Irish , and Scottish Lodges that there was nothing left worth lighting for , and thus at no distant date the whole of the forces would unite . The reverse of this probability , on the other hand , is the outcome , indeed , up to the close of 1903 , only a solitary lodge ( English ) had deserted its old standard during a period covering nearly ten years . The Grand Lodge of New Zealand is , in point of fact , a flourishing

body , its lodges , up to the end of the financial year ( March 1904 ) , having increased to 134 , with a total of 6631 subscribing members . The cash balances at that period were : — General Fund , £ 1 , 14 6 IO . S . 2 d . ; Fund of Benevolence , £ i , 6 r 6 10 s . 2 d . ; and the Widows' and Orphans' and Aged Masons' Fund , . £ 4 , 3 82 8 s . lod . There is also a Supreme

Grand Chapter . The Grand Lodge government is systematic and business-like , the colony being parcelled out into nine districts , with a Grand Superintendent over each . These are Auckland , Wellington , Canterbury , Otago , West Coast , Southland , Hawke ' s Bay and Gisborne , Nelson and Marlborough , and Taranaki . Add to this , the annual communications of

the Grand Lodge , with delegates from each lodge , partake of the American style . That is to say , two solid days are spent in the transaction of business . In 1903 it was announced that the dues of not a single lodge were unpaid . It is also being discovered that some discrimination must be displayed in the admission of candidates , one method being

to raise the minimum fee to ten guineas , whilst there is an instance of a lodge requiring every candidate to hold a policy of insurance on his life .

There were recently two breaks in the harmony of New Zealand Masonry , both involving an alleged invasion of territory . One , and the most serious , was the opening of a new lodge under the Scottish Constitution , iu the North Island , by dispensation from the District Grand Master . Protests and much correspondence followed , dining which

the authorities in Edinburgh took up the somewhat equivocal position that , although the Grand Lodge of Scotland could not itself grant charters for new lodges after the recognition of a Grand Lodge , its Provincial Grand Lodge could create lodges under dispensation . The second incident arose out of the removal of an English warrant from one part of the colony to another , it being argued from the New Zealand

JSRO . I ' . COOKMAN MrMILLAN , RIGHT WORSHIPFUL DISTRICT GRAND MASTER OF AUCKLAND , N . Z ., I ' . C . point of view that the lodge in question was dead , and that the planting of the warrant in another place constituted the

opening of a new lodge . However , it had been proved that the lodge was actually working , and that therefore the members could agree upon a removal , with the consent of the District Grand Master , under Article 169 . Two instances of precisely the same nature occurred in 1905 .