India.

Bro . JUDGE said : The question is whether that report of the Finance Committee regarding Lodge Excelsior is correct or not . I suggest that it be referred back to the Finance Committee for further inquiry . AVhen we have Bro . Keighly ' s statement before us we shall be better able to decide . There has apparently been some precipitancy shown , but , no doubt the members of the Finance Committee will be only too glad to correct any error they may have committed .

Bro . KEIGHIT rose to propose " that the par . which had just been read be sent back to the Finance Committee for re-consideration . " He did so because the statements therein made were incorrect . Sums which had been paid by Lodge Excelsior had not been taken into account , and he was prepared to prove bis assertion . He held a letter from the Provincial Grand Treasurerin which he acknowledged the receit of Rs . 275 on

, p account of the dues of Lodge Excelsior . In the books of the Grand Treasurer this amount appeared as a deposit , and in his letter of acknowledgment , he said he had no instructions as to the mode in which it was to be applied , and could therefore only regard it as a deposit . He ( Bro . Keighly ) asked whether this ¦ was fair to the lodge which he represented . The Finance Committee had shown improper precipitancy in this matter . As

Master of the lodge , he had been complimented by the Provincial Grand Master on the efforts he had made to pay up the lodge dues , and he thought that the Finance Committee should have shown more fair treatment towards him . In his ( Bro . Keighly ' s ) absence from Calcutta , this attack on a lodge holding the position of Excelsior should not have been made . The committee should have ascertained that they had more stable grounds to go upon ere they branded the lodge , not only before

this Grand Lodge , but in the eyes of the Masonic fraternity , as a defaulter . But they were also charged with omitting to render their returns . He held receipts from the Provincial Grand Treasurer , which proved the following facts : that the

dues of the first quarter of 1864 were paid on the 3 rd February , 1 S 65 ; of the second quarter on the Sth March , 1865 ; and of the third quarter on the 25 th April , 1865 . It was too bad to allow six months to pass and then to say that these amounts had not been duly paid . AVith these facts before them he repeated that it was most unfair that Lodge Excelsior should be branded as withholding dues . That there was still a large amount due from Lodge Excelsior he admitted , but every effort

was being made to reduce it , and none know this better than the Provincial Grand Master . And he maintained that , in the face of these facts , the Finance Committee had not acted in the brotherly spirit charasteristic of Masonry , in bringing this matter forward without first communicating with him on the subject . AAlth these remarks , he proposed that the paragraph be sent back to the Finance Committee for reconsideration , and should reserve to himself the riht to bring the question

g forward again when the revised report was presented . Bro . JUDGE seconded the motion . Bro . ABBOTT remarked , that he was present in Calcutta when this report was prepared . Bro . Pendleton was also in Calcutta , and he thought it would only have been an act of brotherly courtesy to have communicated with one or the other before so harsh a step had been taken . ' Bro . MCABBIN , a member of the Finance Committee , said that

ns the accounts were presented to them by the Grand Treasurer , so they were bound to report upon them . The usual question was put , what lodges are in arrears ? and it was shown that a large amount was due from Lodge Excelsior , and had been due for a great length of time . The Treasurer stated that a sum of money had been paid to account , but as no returns had been sent in , it hadbeen placed in suspense account . Under those circumstances the Finance Committee had no alternative but to take action as they had done . Bro . AA . B . FAER , Secretary of Lodgo Excelsior , rose to correct Bro . McAlpin ' s statement . Returns had been sent in with the

money . The PROV . G . TREASURER stated that the statement in question was now in his hands , and showed that Loclge Excelsior owed Grand Lodge Rs . 426 for house-rent , Musical Instrument Fund , & c , from October 1862 to 31 st December , 1 S 61 , independent of the dues for first ancl third quarters of 1864 , ancl first second and third quarters of 1865 . For tbe first and second quarters of 1864 a sum of Rs . 170 had been deposited , but was

deficient according to returns . A sum of Rs . 275 was also received , but without any instructions , and therefore was kept in suspense . If the Worshipful Master would examine the receipt he held in his hand , he would find that it simply acknowledged

tlie receipt of the money on deposit , without specifying any account to which it was credited . The amount could not be credited to old outstandings until the Treasurer received instructions . Bro . ROBERTS saicl he thought the Grand Treasurer was right in principle . It was the duty of a loclge not only to send in returns , but to state distinctly how every payment made was to be disposed of . The Grand Treasurer miht have applied the

g funds to payment of house-rent , leaving all other duos unpaid , in which case the lodge would have stood in a much worse position . The fault laid with the loclge which sends in money without instructions ns to its application . He could not say that blame should be attached to the Finance Coinmittee for the course they had taken , but he thought that in so small a meetinga little more caution miht fairly have been exercised ,

, g or , at all events , some explanation might have been called for before the matter had been reported to Provincial Grand Lodge . Bro . FARE said that Bro . Roberts had spoken under a misapprehension . Funds were forwarded to the Provincial Grand Treasurer along with the quarterly returns on three different dates , and in each case particular instructions had been given

as to the way in which the money was to be applied . Bro . ABBOTT saicl , that when money was paid to the Grand Lodge , unaccompanied by any instructions , the Grand Treasurer was both legally and morally bound to apply the same to some account , and not to leave it in suspense . The PEOV . G . TREASURER repeated his assertion that tho sum of Rs . 275 , which was placed in suspense , was sent to him

without any instructions whatever . Bro . KEIGHBY said , admitting that to have been the case , the Finance Committee should not have omitted from their report the fact that a sum of Rs . 275 actually stood to the credit of the lodge . It was not fair to put down all tbe debits and entirely omit the credit from the account . The Provincial Grand Master knew how that sum had been collected , that it was the product of a separate contribution from the members , in addition to their clues , and it was hard that , after having made such an effort , they should still be represented as debtors for the full amount .

The PROV . G . MASTER said he quite concurred in the opinion expressed by Bro . Roberts , as to the inconvenience of Monday as a day of meeting , and thought it might be avoided in future . AA'ith regard to the case before them there had evidently been a misunderstanding , but he could not throw tbe blame of it on Bro . McAlpin , who , with Bro . Mills , was the only member of the Finance Committee who was present at the last meeting . It was the bounden duty of Provincial Grand Officers to work

for Masonry , and he regretted that some of them manifested so small a disposition to do so ; he would not particularise individuals , but he coulcl mention at least one member of the Finance Committee who bad not once attended its meetings . He did not think he went beyond his province in expressing a hope that the motion would be carried in order that the Finance Committee , after the explanations that had been given , might have an opportunity of omitting the clause from their report .

But he repeated , that to them he attached no blame . They had done no moro than their duty on the facts before them . The Secretary had placed iu his hands a most formidable list of outstandings , and it was high time somo steps should be taken to collect them . Bro . Roberts was quite correct in his statement as to the duty of the Grand Treasurer . If Provincial Grand Officers ancl members of the Finance Committee will not do their dut and present themselves at the

y , meetings , others must do the work . They had a paid Secretary , and yet a large amount of work fell on him ( the Provincial Grand Master ) . He had a fair right to call on Grand Officers , who accepted the purple apron , to assist him to the utmost in their power . How had they done so in this particular case ? Neither the Provincial Senior Grand Warden ( the Past Master of tho Lodge Excelsior ) , nor the Master of

the lodge attended tho meeting of the Finance Coinmittee , of whicli they were members . Only two members attended , and as the report of the committee had to be printed and circulated in the agenda paper , there was really no time for reference . He would suggest that , under these circumstances , and as some misconception had evidently arisen , they should allow the motion to be carried , and that Bro . Keighly should treat it as a misunderstanding that the Committee should treat it as a misunderstanding that the Committee would not willingly have fallen into , and not carry the matter any further .