MASONIC AFFAIRS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17461, 4 May 1920, Page 5

MASONIC AFFAIRS.

•'j^'jl-.^i'> S'ci : . : ".-i ; '. ' '£ '"V : '/-fi.'C' ANNUAL COMMUNICATION.

GRAND MASTER'S ADDRESS.

PROGRESS MADE SINCE 1891. [BY TELEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] •.«"« < INVERCARGU.L, Monday. The communication of the Masonic Grand Lodge was largely attended so far as the' Canterbury and Otago > districts were concerned, but of the North Island districts only those of Wellington and the lodges of the far north were represented. M.W; Brd. Maurice Thompson; P.G.M., of Invercargill, presided. ' A statement was read from Mr. Justice Herdman, the retiring grandmaster, expressing regret that ! the exigencies of public duty prevented him from attending the communication and expressing himself strongly in favour of bringing all the Masonic lodges in the Dominion under ! the New Zealand constitution and finding a fixed location for the Grand Lodge [office.'

R.W. Bro. Thomas Ross) of Dunedin wag elected Grand Master. As Dunedin is to be the headquarters of the Grand Lodge for tho next two years, the chief officers were elected from the- Otago district. The grand deacons elected were:— Senior, J. S. Hope (Auckland) and A A. George (Wellington); junior, E. Nordon ;(Christchurch) and C. L. Thomas (Hawke's Bay). The first debatable question' that arose related .'the desirability of raising further funds for the augmentation of the Widows and Orphans and Aged Masons' Fund to enable an enlargement of ite usefulness and an increase in annuities where necessary. Several proposals were put forward and eventually a resolution was adopted to the effect that efforts be made to induce the lodges of the Dominion to increase their contributions to the capital of the fund with a view to securing, an additional £10,000 within the next twelve months. • ! Another resolution affirmer the principle that the annual expenditure of the i fund should not necessarily be limited to I the actual interest earned.

' Question of Subdivision. When considering the report of the board of general purposes a debate arose upon the proposed appointment of a special committee to subdivide the Auckland district. To this strong objection was taken by representatives of North Auckland, and a motion by one of their number to refer 1 the matter to the consideration of the lodges of the Auckland Masonic province was carried by a large majority. Another question upon which there was considerable diversity of opinion was that of the time of year at which the annual communication of the Grand Lodge should be -held- Eventually it was decided to refer the whole question to the lodges of the territory for consideration, with a view tc final determination at the next annual communication. The Ore Lodge resolved to present a Masonic address to the Prince of Wales, who is a member of the craft, and the form of the address was submitted and approved. The installation cf M.W. Bro. Ross as Grand Master took place when the Grand Lodge resumed in the evening. Appointments by Grand Master. The announcement was made of the appointment to the office of Deputy-Grand ! Master, of R.W. Bro. Sydney C. Bing-ham,-of Christchurch, and he was invested. • Further appointments by the Grand Master were announced as follows, and those of the officers present were invested: —Provincial Grand Master R.W. Bros. 0. Nicholson (Auckland), Geo. Russell (Wellington), F. C. Bishop (Canterbury), A. Fieldwick (Otago), E. Warnes (West Coast), R. W. Hiles (Nelson and Marlborough), A. B. Haggitt (Southland), 14. S. Shadwiik (Hawke's Bay), H. N. Ew--1 ing (Taranaki). J. H. Perrett (Ruapehu). ! Senior Grand Warden R.W. .Bro. J. J. ,Esson (Wellington). Junior Grand Warden, R.W. Bro. W. R, T. Leighton (Auckland). . The Growth of the Graft. M.W. Bro Ross in his address, indicated that as he was the first insurance man elected to the Grand Master's chair for six years, his three immediate predecessors having been members of the legal profession, he proposed to deal mainly with the business side of the Grand Lodge. At the end of its first year of existence, in 189]., the Grand Lodge of New Zealand comprised 73 lodges and 2193 members, and had a credit balance of £72. To-day it had 16.019 members, 212 lodges, and its funds amounted to £66,806. The Annuity Board, in the 16 years for which it. had been in operation, had granted 102 annuities, the total amount paid to date being £10,750. The fund of benevolence since its foundation had rendered assistance to 551 cases of distress, involving th distribution of £6829. The special war benevolent fund, which had been created to assist soldier Masons or their dependants suffering from the effects of war, now stood at £14,147.

the circular appeal system was next reviewed, and it was shown to have been the means of raking in the past 25 years the sum of £26,149 for the assistance of special cases of hardship. Altogether, the Grand Lodge had in its career of 30 years disbursed over £5000 in the alleviation of want and distress. The Grand Master warmly eulogised the services of M.W. Brother Malcolm Nicol as Grand Secretary of the last 20 years, and spoke of his (.influence in maintaining continuity of loyalty in spite of regular changes of executive in moving the Grand Lodge office from centre to centre.