Grand Lodge.

increased rental , we may fairly assume £ 800 as the net rental . It has been my business to ascertain what has been the income and the expenditure of the Fund for General Purposes , to which alone I shall refer in all these calculations , for of course we cannot touch the Fund of Benevolence . On January 1 , 1850 , having completed the purchase of a large property , and there not being sufficient funds in hand , we were indebted to our treasurer and bankers , £ 1 , 483 : 12 s . lid . We have since then given away

£ 7 , 553 : 3 s . We have purchased property to the extent of £ 5 , 450 . We have purchased , and now hold £ 6 , 500 stock , and we have a balance at the bankers of £ 811 : 13 s . Id . We have had an income , therefore , over and above our expenditure during the period I have mentioned , of £ 21 , 798 : 9 s . This gives you a surplus income over your expenditure of £ 2 , 500 per annum . We can afford therefore to risk the loss of a part of the rent of the tavern . Over and above the current expenditure there has been an outlay

, which will not occur again , of £ 1 , 200 . £ 600 was given to your new tenants for the purpose of necessary repairs . Your tontine dividend hangs on the life of an elderly lady , and although ladies seem determined to live for ever when they get an annuity , this life must fall in the course of a few years , and this will be a considerable addition to our revenue . We can do nothing great in altering the accommodation of the present tavern till the lease falls in , which will he in three years and three quarters ; and at

that time , if we go on at our present rate , besides £ 6 , 500 in the funds , we shall have as much more . , With thatwe may do a great deal . In return for the £ 800 a year tavern rent , we pay £ 5 , 000 per annum for our banquets . This pays the expenses ; and if it pays our tenants , it could be made to pay us . It will be worth while to consider whether we could do this without loss . We are not less numerous or less wealthy than the clubsand we may find that we can be perfectly self-supporting .

, That which appears to be difficult now , may perhaps be found so simple that we shall wonder it was not done long ago . There have gone forth amongst the Craft very large rumours as to what the Board intends to propose ; but we have come to you with no extravagant proposition—nothing which will forestall one penny

of your income . We shall rather endeavour to determine how you can make the best use of your present property , than build more . We shall see how little , and not how much , can be built . We have been content , for a number of years , with a certain degree of accommodation . I do not blame the tenants , who have no doubt done the best they could . We could not have worse accommodation if we took the property into our own hands , and we should have a greater use of our own rooms . Suppose that instead of

meeting here four times a-year , we could always come here and find this room ready for our use , for refreshment , or to meet friends . You have got your building , your Temple , and half the things that the London clubs commence without ; yet you are in doubt as to whether you can support yourselves . The pecuniary sacrifice which you might be called upon to make would be counterbalanced by the higher credit in which Masonry would be held . Againwe may fairly ask—is it desirable to accumulate large

, sums of money 1 No advantage could be gained if the Board of General Purposes had £ 20 , 000 in the funds at this moment . You cannot have a better way of expending your funds than in the erection of such a temple as Masons ought to meet in—a place which would add honour to the reputation of English Masonry which found its home there . We ask you for £ 300 , not that we intend to spend that sum , but as we hope to have a building more worthy of the societywe ask for that sum that we put

, you may ourselves in possession , at the outset , of apian which will be well matured , so that if we take any steps hereafter , they shall all be parts of one great plan . It has been proposed to lay out £ 40 , 000 in building a suitable hall and tavern , but where is the money to come from ? You could not propose to Grand Lodge to borrow the amount , nor , if you did , would Grand Lodge be likely to sanction such a scheme . Ifyouborrowed £ 40 , 000 , andbuiltthelargest tavern in London 7 per centon the outlay would not be too much to expect

, , ; but did any one of them for a moment imagine that they would be able to get £ 3 , 000 a-year for such a tavern . It was not likely . But it is neither practicable nor expedient that this Society should become large tavern-holders . Nor would such a course be at all creditable to us . It must bo remembered that the Grand Lodge

of England , the largest and most influential in the world , is the only Grand Lodge which holds its meetings in a tavern . What you are asked to decide to night is—first , is it desirable that a portion of this property should be set apart exclusively for Masonic purposes ? and , secondly , will you remit the matter back to us , and let us lay before you such a scheme as we think practicable and desirable 1 We will come to you and state what it is proposed to do . You shall be the judges . I am sorry that

I have occupied your time so long . I have endeavoured to place before you as clearly as I could the whole state of the case . I desire to see this place freed from the trammels of trade , and to see Masons accommodated as they ought to be ; yet , although I feel very strongly on the subject , I shall be ready to bow most respectfully to the decision of Grand Lodge , whatever that may be . " Bro . Webbin seconding the propositionsaid there could not

, , be two questions in reference to it . After the able and lucid speech of Bro . Havers , who had , as he always did , completely exhausted the question , it was not necessary for him to add another word to what had fallen from that Brother . The M . W . Grand Master said that , before he put the question , he was desirous shortly to state his opinion as to whether their freehold property could be made available for the purposes to which Bro . Havers had alluded . He had no hesitation in

saying that , if such a scheme was practicable , it would add to the respectability and dignity of the Craft to entirely do away with the tavern . He knew that there was a strong feeling throughout the Masons' in the country against the practice of holding their meetings in taverns , and in several places the Brethren had subscribed towards the erection of buildings devoted solely to Masonic purposes . Such , to his own knowledge , had been the case at Maltonin Yorkshireand he believed that

, ; the same thing had occurred in Hull . If those examples were acted upon by Grand Lodge , it would not only be highly appreciated by their Brethren in the country , but would serve as an example to Masonry generally . Bro- Binckes , in reply to the observation of Bro . Havers as

regarded his conduct as a member of the Board of General Purposes , expressed his surprise at the statement that he had withheld his ideas from the Board , when Bro . Havers must remember that he had more than once cited the Carlton Club as an instance of a building having been erected in separate portions . The additional information which he had adduced to G . L . he had only been put in possession of that very day , and the evening previously .

Bro . Havers denied that he had , in the course of his speech , suggested a club at all . With respect to Bro- Bincke ' s proposal , it came upon him quite unexpectedly , and he thought that Brother , as a member of the Board of General Purposes , would have done his duty better if be had brought it before them for consideration instead of keeping it for Grand Lodge . The question was not whether the thing was practicable , but whether it was desirable .

The resolution was then agreed to . Bro . Havers next moved the adoption of the second recommendation , that the subject be referred back to the Board , with directions to report thereon to the next Grand Lodge but one , and to bring before it such a scheme as may appear to be practicable for carrying out the foregoing resolution , and to authorise the Board to expend a sum not exceeding £ 300 , for that purpose ; and if they see fit , to submit the subject to the public competition

of the whole Masonic body , and to offer a sum not exceeding 150 guineas in premiums for the best design . Bro . Webb seconded the motion . Bro . Whitmore said , that inasmuch as it was proposed to send the report back to the Board of General Purposes for the details of a plan , they had , he thought , arrived at a very serious portion of the question . He would be perfectly content to refer it to the consideration of a committee of the members of Grand Lodge

generally , many of whom were more competent to deal with the subject , than was the Board of General Purposes , not only in regard to the point of architectural merit , in tiie plan they might adopt , but also in a knowledge of the changes which were necessary to render the building useful for Masonic purposes , ( Hear .