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Tie Ii So Nic Mill Or
of them for a moment imagine that they would be able to get jg 3000 a yearfor such a tavern ? It was not likely . But it is neither practicable nor expedieirtth ^ this Society should become large tavern-holders . Nor would such a course be at ail creditable to us . It must be remembered that the Grand I / odge of England , the largest and most influential in the > world , is the only & and Lodge which h 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 a ^ art exclusively for Masonic ?
And secondly , will you remit the matter back to us , and let us lay before you such a scheme as We think practicable and desirablei 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 imost respectfully to the decision of Grand Lodge ,, whatever that may be . ''
Bro . Webb , in seconding the proposition , said there could not be two questions in reference to it . After the alole and lucid speech of Bro . Havers , who ha 4 as he always did ; " completely exhausted the question , it was not necessary for him fo add another word to what had fallen from t ^ The M . W . Grand Master said that before he put the question he was desii * ous 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 ho 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 meetm 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 Malton , in Yorkshire ; and 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 opposing the motion , denied the correctness of Bro . Havers ' s estimate of the loss which Grand Lodge would sustain . The present rent of the tavern was not as that Brother had said it was £ 800 , but £ 980 , and with rates and taxes , £ 1 , 180 . It would cost at least £ 4 , 000 to effect the alterations he had proposed , and the interest of that sum , added to the rent and taxes , would bring up the annual deficit to £ 1 , 500 . In addition to that loss on the building itself ,
they would require the well paid , services of a manager and other officials , At present , the tavern scarcely did more than pay the proprietors , and therefore it was not to be expected that if the Brethren , inexperienced in such matters , took it into their own hands , they would be able to carry it on without a loss . The idea of a club was preposterous . There could be no club where there was not a perfect equality amongst the members . As Masons , they were , it was true , on a
Masonic equality , but socially that was not the case—they were a mixture of all classes . He did not see any practicable machinery for carrying out such a scheme , which ? if started , would not last twelve months if it would last twelve clays There had been two attempts made to start Masonic clubs , but they had proved perfect failures . The present building had been , prior to the tenancy of Bro . Cuff , conducted hy a committee of Masons , but they found that they could do nothing with it , and were glad to give up their whole stock to Bro . Gulf for nothing , and
give him the tavern for three or four years rent free . He , as earnestly as any other Brother , wished to see the respectability and dignity of the Craft improved , and was anxious that they should have , a fitting home for the performance of their ceremonies , and would suggest that they should build a new tavern on the ground to the west of the present structure , which he would pull down when the other way completed , and build in its stead a suite of rooms applicable to the purposes of Masonry , in which they might hold their Lodges and Chapters ; and the third portion consisting of the present Grand Secretary ' s office and Bacon ' s Hotel , might hereafter be dealt with to provide offices for their charities , and other purposes .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Tie Ii So Nic Mill Or
of them for a moment imagine that they would be able to get jg 3000 a yearfor such a tavern ? It was not likely . But it is neither practicable nor expedieirtth ^ this Society should become large tavern-holders . Nor would such a course be at ail creditable to us . It must be remembered that the Grand I / odge of England , the largest and most influential in the > world , is the only & and Lodge which h 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 a ^ art exclusively for Masonic ?
And secondly , will you remit the matter back to us , and let us lay before you such a scheme as We think practicable and desirablei 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 imost respectfully to the decision of Grand Lodge ,, whatever that may be . ''
Bro . Webb , in seconding the proposition , said there could not be two questions in reference to it . After the alole and lucid speech of Bro . Havers , who ha 4 as he always did ; " completely exhausted the question , it was not necessary for him fo add another word to what had fallen from t ^ The M . W . Grand Master said that before he put the question he was desii * ous 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 ho 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 meetm 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 Malton , in Yorkshire ; and 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 opposing the motion , denied the correctness of Bro . Havers ' s estimate of the loss which Grand Lodge would sustain . The present rent of the tavern was not as that Brother had said it was £ 800 , but £ 980 , and with rates and taxes , £ 1 , 180 . It would cost at least £ 4 , 000 to effect the alterations he had proposed , and the interest of that sum , added to the rent and taxes , would bring up the annual deficit to £ 1 , 500 . In addition to that loss on the building itself ,
they would require the well paid , services of a manager and other officials , At present , the tavern scarcely did more than pay the proprietors , and therefore it was not to be expected that if the Brethren , inexperienced in such matters , took it into their own hands , they would be able to carry it on without a loss . The idea of a club was preposterous . There could be no club where there was not a perfect equality amongst the members . As Masons , they were , it was true , on a
Masonic equality , but socially that was not the case—they were a mixture of all classes . He did not see any practicable machinery for carrying out such a scheme , which ? if started , would not last twelve months if it would last twelve clays There had been two attempts made to start Masonic clubs , but they had proved perfect failures . The present building had been , prior to the tenancy of Bro . Cuff , conducted hy a committee of Masons , but they found that they could do nothing with it , and were glad to give up their whole stock to Bro . Gulf for nothing , and
give him the tavern for three or four years rent free . He , as earnestly as any other Brother , wished to see the respectability and dignity of the Craft improved , and was anxious that they should have , a fitting home for the performance of their ceremonies , and would suggest that they should build a new tavern on the ground to the west of the present structure , which he would pull down when the other way completed , and build in its stead a suite of rooms applicable to the purposes of Masonry , in which they might hold their Lodges and Chapters ; and the third portion consisting of the present Grand Secretary ' s office and Bacon ' s Hotel , might hereafter be dealt with to provide offices for their charities , and other purposes .