Travelling Beggars.

bo nothing " un-Masonic" in exposing the "fraudulent and untruthful , " for " truth" is one of our 2 ; rand principles , as Avell as " relief , " and surely Ave should put our benevolent brethren on their guard when necessary . If that excellent Masonic Eelief Committee of Lancashire were to send you the names of the unworthyit would greatly enhance

, their usefulness , and help to rid the Craft of Avhat many a young Mason ( and Masons' wives , too , ) consider a blot , for the newly-initiated and new lodges are generally the first favoured . Out of at least fifty that I haA'e fully questioned , not more than ten have been really worthy of relief , and the forty , I

feel pretty certain , have been malting a trade of it . A common excuse is to ask for a railway fare to some town about fifty miles off . I remember one , quite an old gentleman in appearance , had just arrived from America , AVIIO got £ 1 here to pay his fare to London , although he had let off all the Liverpool brethrenno

, doubt , (?) scot free . I did not see him for a minute , as I Avas just leaving by train , else I would have known more about him . I never now examine or relieve Avithout the production of a Grand Lodge certificate , and at least one-third have lost theirs by " fire , land , or Avater . " The case to which I have before referred

occurred very recently , and proves clearly that some change is imperatively demanded for our own credit ' s sake . The following are the full particulars : —John Parker , of the ( Old ) Kingscourt Lodgo , Co . Cavan , P . M ., Eoyal Arch , presents a slip of paper Avith these particulars , asking for the second time only in his life for assistance to pay his and family's fare to Shrewsbury , where he has relations doing well . He referred to a friend of mine AVIIO relieved him a ' i

Northwich , and was quite familiar Avith my name . At my request he produced his certificate , which Avas dated July 9 th , 1864 , with the AA'ord " duplicate " written on the Ionic or middle column , and at the bottom , "registered 1838 , " the 33 being clearly substituted , after a clumsy erasure , for some other two figures . These suspicious appearances led ine to

cross-question him very fully , when he stated that he got this duplicate through a Scotch lodge , and produced a receipt for 2 s . Sd ., and the envelope addressed to him bearing the Irish Grand Lodge seal . The word " duplicate " was Avritten in a totally different hand to the rest . Ho signed his name ,

which Avas something similar to the original signature , and I gave him an order on our Almoner for 2 s ., and told him that I should Avrite for full particulars to the Grand Lodge of Ireland . He was sadly annoyed at my doubting him , and never referred to the "Sheffield flood" or the "duplicate . " He asked

when leaving for 1113 ' address , that he might Avrite to me . The following is the reply to my letter to the Grand Secretary : — " Grand Secretary ' s Office , Freemasons ' Hall , Dublin , Oct . 27 th , 1 SG 5 .

" Sir and Brother , —In reply to yours of the 23 rd relative to John Parker , I quite agree Avith you that the circumstances connected with the whole transaction appear most suspicious . John Parker is registered in 451 , Kingscourt , and a certificate issued to him on the ISth July , 1833 . A duplicate was issued to him by order of the Board on 1 st October , 1857 , and a triplicate so marked on the middle column on 9 th July 1864 . This last Avas issued on

the express understanding that he and his family were leaving for America on the 15 th of that month ( July ) , he stating in his application that he had lost all his effects b y the flood at Sheffield on the llth of March . I have compared his letter applying for this certificate Avith a letter asking for a duplicate certificate for a Thomas KinnaAvho is also registered in

, the same Lodge 451 about the same time , and I have no doubt they have been written by the same party , and that we have been deceived in the whole matter . The certificate for Kinna was refused ; but a party purporting to be Kinna has been recently begging in Englandand holds a certificate issued in 1856 .

, Lodge 451 has been cancelled , so both the parties are suspended Masons . Yours fraternally , " J . Bullock , Esq ., Crewe . S . B . OLDHAM . " I am pretty certain that the Avord " duplicate , " and not "tri plicate , " as stated by the Grand Secretary , Was on the middle column of the certificate I saw , but

not in the same hand or anything like a clerk's handwriting . This , no doubt , accounts for the erasure , and the third certificate is now doing duty , perhaps , in America or elsewhere . I Avould , therefore , suggest the following as a modification of the plan proposed by the W . M . of 1051 : —That full particulars be taken down of each applicant , and a letter of inquiry be sent to ascertain his truthfulness , and that the names

of all those Avho give false ones be printed in your MAGAZINE as a warning to Almoners . That no one be examined who is not in possession of his Grand Lodge certificate , and that the amount of relief be written , with date and place , on the back . That no brother give relief to strangers except the Almoner '

AVIIO should receive an order from the examiner . That the names at the end of each quarter be copied from your MAGAZINE into the Grand Lodge quarterly returns , so that every lodge may have the list . The Avaste of money is not the least item of which to complain ; there is the waste of time and the

annoyance in being so frequently called out of your business . I know a banker now who will not be Treasurer for his lodge another year through this very thing . One of the results of a reform will be that real cases of necessity Avill be relieved according to their

need , and our Boys' and Girls' Schools , ancl other standing Charities , be better supported by the country lodges , for all must suffer through this " indiscriminate charity . " To make a beginning , therefore , I hope you Avill print the following as a warning to Almoners and the Craft in general , and I trust that other examiners will clo the same iu all similar cases , and that this correspondence may lead to some reform : —

"John Parker ( Old ) Kingscourt Lodge ( 1 S 0 . 451 ) , Co . Cavan . Certificate from Grand Lodge of Ireland , dated July 9 th , 1884 . Eegistered July , 1833 , the 33 being substituted for an erasure . " "— Kinna , also of Kingscourt ( No . 451 ) . Irish Grand Lodge certificate , issued 1856 . "

My apology , Bro . Editor , for the length of this must be its importance . I am , Yours fraternal ] v , W- . JOHN BULLOCK , W . M . 979 . P . S . I thought several times of retaining Parker ' s certificate . Should I have been justified in doing so , until I had received a reply from the Gand Lodge of Ireland ?