The Masonic Mirror.

EOR SUSTENTAT 10 N OE BUILDING . Balance , 31 st March , 'lS 5 S X 53 6 1 Subsequent Receipts 52 13 0 Balance on this Account .... 105 19 1 Total Balance £ 1 , 0 / 0 7 0

Stock standing in the names of Trustees : — For Males \ ®™ ° \ .... £ 6 , 150 \ .. - ( Reduced .... 5 , 100 S ; J 0 U u u

For Females i £ f , " • • W 1 8 , „ 0 ( . Reduced .... 1 , 300 / ' u u For Sustentation of Building , Consols 367 7 9 The report having been received and adopted , Bro . Stevenson was re-elected on the Committee of Management , and Bro . J . AV . Adams elected iu the room of Bro . Lyall , retiring . A vote of thanks was then iven to BroHenleythe medical officer of the insti

g . , - tution , lor his valuable professional assistance and unvarying kindness to the inmates ot the Asylum . Bro . Barrett moved that it was the opinion of the meeting that an annual festival would prove advantageous to the institution , whilst it would not lie injurious to the interests of the other charities . He considered that this institution ought to be placed on an equality with the other charities , which it never could be until it had an animal festival : and all experience had proved that , so far from their festivals injuring the other institutions

on the years in which they were field , those of the other chanties were more successful than upon the years when the friends ol the Benevolent Institution were not appealed to Bro Warren seconded the motion , lie did so because he was convinced that the only way of making any charity successful was to continually keen its claims before the public ihe festival , if of no other advantage , had this to recommend it-it gave them the opportunity of appealing to the Craftand that without

, any expense to the charit y , for they could always find stewards to take the expenses upon themselves . Moreover , it had always been found , that not only did they not get any donations in the years when there were no festivals , but the annual subscriptions toll off , and the longer the festival was delayed the more did they dimmish . J

Bro Savage , though not denying tho advantage of animal festivals , would remind them that _ last year they had determined in favour of biennial festivals instead of triennial , and it was scarcely fair to ask them now to determine in avour ot annual festivals until they had had some experience with regard to the biennial , the first of which had only just been held . Indeed , he doubted whether such a motion ought , under the circumstances , to havo been brought forward without notice . D BR , Warren wished to explain that he lindat the last

, meeting , give , notice of his intention to agitate the question at every animal meeting until it was carried . Bro Symonds felt a difficulty in opposing the motion , because , if the statements made by Bro barren relative to the falling off of subscriptions were true , there could be no doubt of the advantage of annual festivals , of ivhich , indeed , he had himself been in favour . The biennial festivals were , however , tho result of a compromise between the advocates of the triennial and annual festivals-that result having been arrived at at a meeting speciallconvened to consider

y the quesuou . _ J-lc would therefore move , as an amendment , that they should pass to the previous question . L Bro . Savage seconded the amendment . il WT ^ Il !!^ r ' ^ ! ° ° Tli , " otiol , ' alKl ' admitti "S «« compromise , said it had been most uusatisiactory to a Large bod y of the brethren . Bro . Hervey was as indisposed as any man to take any course which might