SECTION I
Its Origin, Increase and Investment, and of Insurance Quotas
1st. A permanent fund shall be established by the Grand Lodge of Virginia, in. manner and form following, and shall not be touched but for the purposes therein expressed.
2d. All the cash that shall remain in the Grand Treasurer's hands, after discharging the expenses of each Grand Annual Communication, all Charter and Dispensation Fees, and all fees arising from affixing the seal of the Grand Lodge, shall be appropriated to the said fund.
3d. There shall be a subscription paper opened in every Lodge, and presented to the brethren on each St. John's day, for the purpose of receiving their voluntary donations, in aid of the aforesaid fund.
4th. All the moneys which shall thus accrue to the Grand Charity Fund shall be laid out in some public stock, by and in the name of a committee of five members, to be appointed by the Grand Master annually for that purpose, of whom the Grand Treasurer shall always be one; and that they, or a majority of them, be authorized to make such investments in such public stock as the said committee shall deem most advantageous; and that all certificates of such stock be deposited with the Grand Secretary immediately after purchase; and the said committee, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized and required, immediately after the close of each Grand Annual Communication, also to invest in some public stock all such sums of money as may have been received and unaccounted for by the Grand Treasurer [263] in his last settlement with the Grand Lodge; and that the said committee be, and they are hereby required to make report of their proceedings to every Grand Annual Communication.
5th. The interest alone arising out of the said stock, shall be applied to the purpose of educating Master Masons' orphans, and relieving their distressed widows; and the principal shall remain untouched.
6th. As soon as the net proceeds of the said fund shall amount to one hundred dollars, the Grand Lodge may then, and not till then, at their Grand Annual Communication, dispose of the said annual proceeds, in such way as to them in their wisdom and discretion may seem best, in educating the orphan children, and relieving the widows of Master Masons; and that all the Lodges may have an equal opportunity of making their wishes known as to the appropriation of said fund, every proposition for disposing of the proceeds thereof, shall be made and decided on, either on the first or second night of each Grand Annual Communication.
7th. The annual taxes on the Masons' Hall in the city of Richmond, owned by the Lodges Nos. 10 and 19, shall be paid out of the funds of the Grand Lodge.
SECTION II
Of the Beneficiaries and Mode of Distribution
1st. The surplus proceeds of the Grand Charity Fund, after defraying the expenses of each Grand Annual Communication, shall be annually distributed to the Masonic Districts, as follows:
2d. Each District shall be entitled to one or more Beneficiaries, and the number of the Working Lodges in each District shall be separately drawn for biennially, in open Grand Lodge, on the first night of its session.
[264] 3d. As many Lodges shall be drawn for as the Grand Lodge may determine the interest of the fund will usefully serve the ensuing year.
4th. Not more than TWENTY dollars shall be allowed any Subordinate Lodge for its Beneficiary for one year.
5th. Each Subordinate Lodge so chosen by allotment, shall select its own Beneficiary.
6th. No Beneficiary, so chosen shall continue for a longer term than two years.
7th. It shall be the duty of the Master of the Subordinate Lodge to enter at school the aforesaid Beneficiary to some good teacher, on the best terms he may, and to have the same taught spelling, reading, writing and arithmetic; and it shall be the duty of the Master and Wardens especially, to see to and superintend the education of the Beneficiary aforesaid.
8th. Should there be any Masonic District in which there is no Working Lodge, then the District Deputy Grand Master of such District shall attend to all the duties hereby imposed on the Subordinate Lodges, and execute all the requirements of the Masters, Wardens and Treasurers of the same.
9th. Whenever, from the thriving condition of any Subordinate Lodge, by addition to the sum allowed it by the Grand Lodge, for any Beneficiary, it shall be able to send one or more children of poor worthy Masons to school under like care and management, it is earnestly recommended to her to do so.
10th. The Grand Secretary shall make and keep an exact record of all the Lodges who may first become recipients of said Charity, and they shall not be included in subsequent allotments, until all the Working Lodges under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, have in like manner received the aid of said fund.
11th. The Grand Secretary shall also keep a correct [265] list of the Beneficiaries aforesaid, and report the same annually to the Grand Lodge.
12th. The Grand Treasurer shall also keep a separate and correct account in his books with the Treasurer of each Subordinate Lodge, who shall be a recipient of any part of this charity; and no second payment shall be made to the Treasurer of any Lodge, until he shall have returned to the Grand Treasurer, evidence showing that all previous payments have been applied to the objects for which they are hereby appropriated.
13th. No Subordinate Lodge which shall be
chosen as a beneficiary, shall be entitled to and receive its
quota, unless the same be called for within the ensuing Masonic
year from and after the time it shall have been so chosen by ballot;
and on failure thereof, it shall forfeit its quota back to the
Grand Charity Fund, and the Grand Treasurer shall make the proper
entries thereof, and shall account for the same in like manner
as for any other money falling due, and coming to his hands as
Grand Treasurer.
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