13 JULY 1867, Page 2

At the opening of the Alexandra Orphanage for Infants at

Hornsey Rise last Saturday, Lord Granville made some admirable remarks on the vices of the system of election to these charities, involving, as it does, all the machinery of a long canvass and the unscrupulous use of personal influence by those who interest them- selves for individuals, and usually euding in the election, not of the child or other object of charity who is most in need of help, but the one who has fortunately enlisted the most influential assist- ance. The mischief is due, of course, to the supposed necessity of giving each subscriber a little private power in return for his money,—giving him, that is, a right to aid in selecting the object of charity, as well as the disinterested satisfaction of having done good. More good would no doubt be usually effected, if a perfectly impartial Committee examined carefully the claims of all the appli- cants, and admitted in the order of urgency. But then, it is feared, subscriptions might fall off, in spite of the great saving of worry to busy subscribers. Perhaps some compromise might be effected by lodging in the managing committee officially a full majority of all the votes, and only distributing the remainder among the sub- scribers. It would be better, however, to limit the power of subscribers to electing the managing committee, and throw all the responsibility of selection upon them.