"It sounds perfectly terrible to me," agreed the Old Tiler, sympathetically; "what was the committee and what did it do ?"

"Why, that Committee on the Budget. And they brought in a report which is to lie over for a month before discussion, and I am just seething with indignation!"

"Well, seethe out loud a bit. Maybe I can seethe, too, and there will be two of us doing it!" suggested the Old Tiler without a smile.

"Oh, you'll seethe all right!" assured the New Brother. "The committee has averaged our in come from past years to find what we can get this year. Then they have laid aside a fund of $2,000, subtracted the fixed charges from what is left, and apportioned the remainder among our other activities."

"Well, isn't that all right?" asked the Old Tiler.

"You don't understand! This committee has dared to say that we should spend only so much for entertainment, only so much for relief and charity, only so much for education!"

"I guess I am getting old or stupid or something," said the Old Tiler. "That sounds perfectly reasonable to me!"

"What? Reasonable to decide beforehand that we can't spend but a certain amount in a year for charity? For entertainment? For education? Why, Masonry is built on the thought of relief! How can we function as Masons should if we are to circumscribe our charities?"

"Softly, softly!" countered the Old Tiler. "Perhaps, in your excitement, you forget that Masonry is founded not only on relief but on brotherly love and truth as well. And if we spend all our resources on relief, where do we get the money to spend on 'truth' and on cementing the ties of 'brotherly love'?"

"Oh, fine words!" cried the New Brother. "But this report puts it down in figures, and says that only such and such a percentage of our receipts must be spent in charity and——"

"Now, wait a minute!" The Old Tiler roused himself and spoke sharply for the first time. "Either you didn't listen to the report or you couldn't understand it. Evidently you didn't know that they did me the honor to make me a member of that Budget Committee, so I know all about it. The Budget Committee didn't say one word in its report about confining charity to the amount stated. It merely said that the average expended for charity during the past five years was so-and-so much, so that we could reasonably look forward to spending a similar amount in the coming year. The figure was set down in order to allow a basis of comparison and a decision as to how much could be spent for other purposes.

"Running a lodge without a budget is as foolish as trying to run an automobile without gasoline. The budget is the instrument by which we determine how and where and when and why we are to function. Without a budget we over play our hand. Without a budget we are apt to spend too much in entertainment and not enough in relief. Without a budget we may put ourselves in the position of robbing our future brethren by encroaching upon the capital assets of the lodge. With a budget we have an adviser constantly at our elbow saying, 'go slow. Brother,' when we start to splurge on something which, no matter how worthy, may be beyond our means."

"That sounds very nice," said the New Brother, a little less excitedly, "but you still don't explain what we are going to do when our charity calls exceed the average of the past five years."

"Do? Why, we are going to meet them, of course," snapped the Old Tiler. "No Masonic lodge ever ducked a call for charity when it had the means or the credit. But if we find that the fund for charity is twice as big as we expected, then we know we must cut down on the entertainment. If we have no budget and no line to which to hew, we go on the same old way, spending just as much for entertainment as before, and so coming out at the end of the year a loser."

"But this budget cut down on a lot of things; we have to use less printed matter or cheaper printed matter, and we are only allowed a certain sum for ladies' night instead of——"

"Instead of giving a committee of three authority to loot the lodge treasury of all that's in it to provide free entertainment for a lot of fellows to give their wives and sweethearts! You said it! And while no man in this lodge loves his wife any better than I love mine, I am perfectly willing to stand up in meeting and say that I am content to have the lodge entertain her once a year with a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and undertake her entertainment on more elaborate lines myself. Don't forget, my brother, that our primary purpose is neither charity nor entertainment, and that when we make either or both the principal parts of our Masonic activities, we are actually working against the best interests of the fraternity rather than for them.

"Masonry is a cultivation of love between man and man; it is education, as between heart and heart. It stands for patriotism, for freedom of thought and conscience, for a simple devoutness, for reverence, as well as for fun and frolic. Our ancient brethren found 'refreshment' necessary, but only when the 'work' was done; the 'pay as you please' system of too many lodges always skimps something, and it's usually the work, not the refreshment. No, Brother, I'm for the budget, and for it strong."

"So am I!" agreed the New Brother, in a very small voice.