MASONIC HALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 133, 16 April 1864, Page 4

MASONIC HALL.

I>" these times of advance and improvement, when every branch of Government and all the principal private individuals are bidding farewell to old associations and old customs, and in place of the once large enough, but now too small stores, are running up fine brick and stone warehouses, and splendid shops with fronts that would be no disgrace to London and Paris—when, amidst the bustle and excitement of trade there is a feverish desire to push on, and every man is trying to establish a new state of things from this date, and we are waking up, to become the founders of a nation, and act accordingly— when all men and all corporations are acting as if they felt this, and the order of the day is "Progress," it is too bad, we think, that one of the greatest institutions in the world, and certainly the greatest in this country (we allude to the Masonic order), should* still be content to hold their lodges in hotels or hired rooms.

The Freemasons are not like other orders, a fund collecting body ; and even in the endowment of the splendid schools at home, it has been done not by appropriation of lodge funds, but by private subscription. Let a sum, no matter how large, be required for any charitable purpose, or for any purpose connected with the furtherance of the professed objects of the body, and no association in the world can sooner raise the money.

lii most parts of the civilized world the Masonic order iuclude» neiirly all the principal men by wealth or station, and here in the southern colonies there is no exception to the general rule. In Sydney the Freemasons have a splendid hall, and here also, if tliey choose, they may have one equally good. If the Freemasons of the several lodges in Auckland would unite for the purpose of erecting a suitable hall, they would, firstly, save the rent of their different lodge rooms, which of itself would be interest on a considerable sum of money: they would have the lower front part of their new building to let off in warehouse room or for stores, the rear containing the several lodge rooms, &c, and the splendid hall over all would itself pay a fair interest on the outlay, if it were a suitable one, by letting it for meetings, concerts, or other purposes of a like nature. So far, we think we have shown that such a building would more than clear the cost of its erection as a commercial undertaking, —as a matter of convenience and accommodation to the different lodges its necessity requires little commenting upon. Each lodge, as we know, should have its own separate room where its regalia might be kept, and apartments for its keeper and his wife, who might on lodge nights undertake to supply the members with suitable and comfortable refreshments; while for all grand occasions the Great Hall could be used by the whole masonic body. There is no reason why the Freemasons should not have the finest hall in Auckland. They ought to have a building of their own, and with the wealth possessed by the members of the order in Auckland, there would be little difliculty in the matter. We believe that there will be found to be an unanimnity of feeling amongst Freemasons on this subject, and that with very little effort the sum necessary to erect a splendid building could be taken up in shares by the brethren of the three lodges now established in Auckland, as well as by the Eoyal Arch Chapter. The Odd Fellows' Hall, as a commercial speculation, has been a most successful one, and as a means of accommodation to its proprietors, most useful. We do not see why a central and suitable site should not be procured, and a building which may vie in extent and a -coinmodation with any one of the projected public olhces themselves, should not be erected. The order is wealthy enough to carry out a far more costly scheme, and we believe, pecuniarily speaking, that it would be a grand success—that from the profits might be erected schools and other cliaritable institutions in connection with the o.rder, which might be a blessing to Auckland for all time to come.