MASONIC. PROPOSED UNITED GRAND LODGE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 353, 23 March 1889, Page 5

MASONIC. PROPOSED UNITED GRAND LODGE.

At a meeting 1 of the Vv.M.'s and P.M.'s, under the chairmanship of P.M. Farquhar Macrae, it was decided to hold a meeting of the Masons working under the three constitutions in the Freemasons' Hall, Auckland, on Tuesday, Apul 9th, to consider the advisability of forming a United Grand Lodge for the colony. The following were appointed an executive committee pro tern. : — Yv\ J>'s. M. Niccol, ?.<;., Chairman : \V. C V/.alker, S.C. ; A. Kidd, LC. ; G. H. Powley, J.C. ; W. ,H., Cooper, E.G. ; W. R. Franklin, E C. ; and secretary pro tern., Brother T. W. Kitt, P.M. At the annual meeting of the District Grand Lodge of Westland, E.G., held last night, the report of the Board of General Purposes, condemning the proposed Grand Lodge of Freemasons of New Zealand as unnecessary and inopportune, was unanimously adopted. The meeting was very largely attended. At a meeting of the Pacific Lodge, held the previous evening, it was unanimously resolved not to sever the connection with the Grand Lodge of England, whether a Grand Lodge of iSew Zealand is established or not.

A correspondent aft?r seeing the pro cession ot children on Sb. Patrick's Day writes to ask is inairiage a failure ? To the Editor : Sir.— When the currency question was discussed in your columns some two years since, several ot our public men, who wore proved to take the matter up, themselves; on the ground that it was an imperial rather than a colonial question. Some weeks ago, however, we learned from the daily papers that the .British Royal Commission appointed in 1886 to inquire into the recent changes in f ho relative values of the precious metals and their effects upon trade reported in November lasb, strongly recommending the free coinage of both gold and silver ab fixed rates, and the re-establishment of the pure bi-metallic system. So far from their regarding it as no concern of our&, the Chairman (Lord Herschell) and five other members piotested against the leport of the majority on the ground " that the opinions of the Australian authorities on the formation of a Bi-metallic Union were unknown." Now that the opinion of those who contend that our industries are being systematically crushed by bungling currency laws has received the sanction ot a Royal Commission of the very highest financial experts in Europe, who have fairly challenged us to express a definite opinion upon it, I trust that you will use your powerful influence to have this great and momentous problem sifted to the bottom.— l am, etc., Industry. The City of London is seriously considering the advisability of dropping, to a great extent, the study of Latin in the public schools, and substituting more of modern languages, beginning with French and including German in the regular course, with extra classes in Spanish and Italian. The matter was refei-red to the Committee of Managers of the City of London School for investigation some time ago, and that committee has adopted for its report the recommendations of Rev. Dr. Abbott, the head master. He suggested that the study of Latin should be dropped in two out of the three forms in the middle school, and that additional instruction should be given in French, English history and geography. Latin should be taught only in the senior clas's in the middle school. lie also recommends that German should be made a regular and compulsory study — it being optional at present— after a fair degree of efficiency had been attained in French. Ability to teach German, he suggests, must be added to the requirements of those who seek places as teachers in the school. Spanish and Italian he would nbt at present include in the regular course, but would form classes for the study of those languages out of school hours. The recommendations of the Committee are favourably spoken of by most of the London papers,"