MANCHESTER UNITY ORDER OF ODDFELLOWS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7654, 29 January 1887, Page 3

MANCHESTER UNITY ORDER OF ODDFELLOWS.

The annual meeting of the Hawke's Bay District of the above Order was held ■in the Abbotsford Lodge-room, Waipawa, yesterday afternoon. All the lodges sent delegates, there being present Grand Master S. J. Tong, Deputy Grand Master ■W. H. Cooper, Corresponding Secretary Fielder, and the following delegates:— Napier Lodge, Past Masters S. E. Cooper, Thomas Sidey, and D. C. JJitchman ; Meaneo Lodge, Bio. W. B. Hill; Chve Lodge, Past Master H. Miller ; Hastings Lodge, Past Master A. A. George and Secretary Chadwick ; Abbotsford (Waipawa) Lodge, Past Masters J. Henderson, J. Stains," and 0. Ayres ; Tavistock (Wainuknrau) Lodge, Past Master J. Sharmn ; Victoria (Porangahau) Lodge, Past Master Cowper; Woodville Lodge, Past Master W. Brown ; Itualuue (Hampden) Lodge, Past Master H. J. Baker; Kaikora North Lodge, Secretary C. S. Smith. The Lodge being, tiled m due form and duly constituted the Grand Master delivered the following . ADDRESS. "Worthy officers and delegates,— As my . term of office expires with the meeting I have much pleasure in /addressing you on matters relating to the district. In my last address I expressed regret at the absence of Bio. J. B. Fielder, the Provincial C.S., through illness. I have now much pleasure on behalf of the brethren of the district in congratulating him on his recovery, and I trust that lie may remain in his present good health. ; Since our last meeting the delegates from this district (P.P. U.M. Bros. S. E. Cooper and M. Collett) proceeded to Cliristchmch, where the conference was held. It will bo observed from tho order paper that nt . present no practical benefit has resulted from the meeting, with its attendant trouble and expense. ' A letter has been received from P.P.G.M. Bio. F. Bee, who was last year appointed examiner of lodge books; stating that owing to an exceptional press of business he lias been unable to proceed with the examination, and requesting that some other brother may be appointed. I believe that the books of the Tavistock Lodge are the only ones examined. It is to be regretted that Bro. Bee is unable to proceed with the work, as it was owing to his ability to show the secretaries of lodges tho proper way to keep their books that he was appointed. I wonld suggest for the consideration of the delegates that P.G. Bro. T. Sidey of the Napier Lodgebe appointed,' at the same remuneration that was to have been paid Bro. Bee. Owing to the neglect of some of the secretaries of lodges in sending in the form of application to the agent of the Victorian Insurance Company the fidelity bonds have not yet been issued. I request the delegates of lodges to see that tins is done at once, so that all the bonds may be issued ■ without further delay. It will be observed that the amendment of district rules 27. 35, and 3(5, held over from last meeting, has again been placed on the order paper, and it will be necessary that these amendments be made, as the revising barrister will not pass the bye-laws of tho JRuahinc or Kaikora lodges until our rules arc amended to bring them into conformity with the Friendly Societies Act. Another amendment of the district rules has been placed on the order paper, to reduce the initiation fees and devote the whole of them to tho management expenses fund of lodges. This has been found' advisable, as other societies have reduced their fees, and very few members are joining our. order owing to the' high rate of initiation fees charged. It is forgotten, however, that according to our last valuation- we show a large surplus, which is not the case with other societies' in this district. A letter has been written to Mr Wiggins, the valuator, on the subject of this reduction, and he says in reply, " I have much pleasure in certifying that, in my opinion, the proposed" alteration in your rules * hereby initiation fees would be greatly reduced, , and the whole amount wonld be made payable to the management fund, is one , that can be made with perfect safety." Since the last, half-yearly .meeting two ' special district meetings have been held at the Abbotsford. Lodge, the first one on. '•' tire 4th of November, to consider an appli- ' cation from 11 persons to open a lodge at Kaikora. This was granted, and the - lodge was opened on tho 13th of November last. Tlie other meeting was held on the 20th of December last, to consider an application from 12 persons to open a lodge at Ormondville. It was granted, and the lodge is to be opened this evening, and I hope as many of the delegates as can make it '-. convenient will attend. The Provincial C.S. has prepared tabulated statements of the lodge's accounts (members and sickness), but his labors are practically thrown away, as the statements are useless owing to the non-receipt of the return from tho Abbotsford Lodge. The action of the secretary of that lodge is open to great censure for his neglect, as from his position as secretary of the largest lodge in the district, and also as Past Grand Master of the district, he is fully aware of the inconvenience experienced by the Provincial C.S. in being unable to close his returns, and also the annoyance to the Grand Master of the district in being unable to lay a proper financial statement before the meeting of delegates. A line of 10s will be inflicted on the lodge for this neglect, and the members will no donbt see that the neglect does not occur, again. The following levies are recommended :— Financial fund 2s 6d per member, management fund Is per member, and Is for new members. In compliance with a request made by the Provincial C.h., the railway department have granted return tickets at Saturday rates available for return to-morrow for all delegates attending this meeting, and also to the brothers attending the opening of the "Forest ' Home" Lodge at Ormondville this evening. The thanks of this meeting are due to the department for this concession. During the past half-year the Napier, Abbotsford, Meance, and Hastings lodges have been visited, with very satisfactory results to tho lodges. On my retirement from ollice I desire to express my thanks to my co-district officers for their cordial assistance rendered to me during my term, and I hope that the district will continue to advance, both financially and numerically. Hoping that your deliberations to-day may be_ of advantage to the order, I declare this nieeting duly constituted and open for business. The corresponding secretary read the accounts and the auditors' report. The accounts showed Ihe distiict to be in good fundß, there lining to tho credit of the funeral fund JCGO 10s 3d, management fund £lv' 14s Sd, and benevolent fund £21 3s sd, though very heavy expenditure has been incurred in all these branches. The auditors report expressed great satisfaction with the manner in which the accounts were kept, and generally was highly eulogistic of Corresponding Secretary Fielder. The tabulated statements as to tho position of individual lodges was • incomplete, also the deatli and sickness tables, but so far us they were prepared were read; These hlinv.cd that Iho several lod"es were continuing to accumulate money to the credit of their sick and funeral funds, and generally that the

loilfji-s were in n. very healthy state. The Grand Master's address, the auditors' report, and tho accounts of the district were adopted and ordered to lie printed for circulation amongst the lodge- members. The secretary of the Abt>ot«forcl Lodge ■made «'i statement as to the reason he had not forwarded his returns to the District Secretary, which was to the effect that the routs of the lodge's property had not be been received . The excuse was held to be untenable, as the rcnls should have been shown as an asset it not received, and so have made the accounts complete. The matter of a member misconducting himself at the breakwater demonstration at Napier was remitted to the Abbotsford Lodge to take evidence, and to take such action as they might deem advisable. Past oflicers' and Purple Lectures and Degrees were appointed to bo held at the close of the meeting, and at such othe» times as the district officers might appoint. Past Master K. E. Cooper reported what had been done at the conference of delegates from districts which was held at Christclmrch recently, at which he and Past Master Collet.t attended as representing this district, and moved, "That the time had arrived when an annual movable committee should be established in New Zealand," which was carried unanimously. A number of matters to be arranged should such a committee be appointed wore on the order paper, but after discussing them it was resolved to postpone their consideration till next meeting. The revision of several of the rules of the district as previously given notice of was the next business. This caused a very animated discussion, more particularly over tho reduction of the rates of initiation fees. The scale carried vr;is the one recommended by tho district oflicers, viz. : —

An amendment by Past Muster T. Sidey, that tho fees should be somewhat lower still, was negatived by a considerable majority. It was resolved to hold the next district meeting at Hastings. Past Master Eee's resignation of the oflice of examiner of lodge books was accepted, and Past Master T. Sidoy was -appointed to the position. Past Master T. Sidey niovei!, ami Past Master Brown seconded, "That the district oiKcers be recommended to request from the A.M.G. an amendment of ■general rule 38, to enable districts in the colony to initiate members at the age of 16 years instead of at 18 years, as now provided for. Tliis was carried unanimously. A considerable amount of routine business was transacted. The election of district officers resulted as follows :— - Grand Master, W. IT. Cooper ; Deputy Grand Master, J. Sliarpin ; auditors, Past Masters T. Sidey, J. S. Jones, and D. C. Hitchmau ; examining and relieving officer, Past Master C. Mogridge, The installation of the newly elected oflicers was impressively performed by Grand Master Tong, assisted by the other Past Grand Musters present. Votes of thanks to the past district officers, tho corresponding secretary, and to Past Master Sidey for taking the minutes, brought a most successful meeting to .a close.

Years. And under. £ s. d. 18 ... . 25 ... 010 0 25 ... 30 ... 110 30 ... 35 ... 111 (i 35 ... 40 ... 2 2 0 40 ... 45 ... 3 3 0