The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 20.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 426, 20 August 1880, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 20.

The third annual report by the Registrar of Friendly Societies has been issued, and now lies before us. It conxains matter of the deepest interest not only to the numerous members of these institutions, but also to all who take the j slightest interest in what -to vitally con- | eerns the welfare of an important section of the community ; in.fact, in what concerns every oue of us as citizens and taxpayers,.

There can be no munner of doubt that these societies churn tho sympathy of every well-wisher of his kind. First, their members are banded together for the purpose of mutual self-help. Fra-t'-rnnl kiiidnoss find assistance to brothers in distress an , inculculcated, but anything tendering to foster a spirit of helplessness nnd pauperism is sternly frowned down. The brother in distress can accept assistance without loss of self-respect, because his own contributions during prosperity have helped to form the fund upon which he draws, but the " rogue who'd rather borrow than he'd toil, John Brown," finds himself out of place in such company.

In every respect, then, fire those societies deserving of encouragement. They promote a spirit of manly self-relinnce, unity and fraternity. They undoubtedly save the State or individual charity from being burdened with the relief of many persons reduced to indigence by sickness. Besides these good points, they possess a high economic advantage, inasmuch as the contributions are paid in in small sums, and probably spared from that portion of the member's income which is devoted to superfluities. In fact, it is not too much to say that in many instances the amounts which as a matter of fact are paid into the societies would, bnt for that claim, be spent in injurious dissipation. These funds, which in the aggregate amount to large sums, are invested or lent out at interest, and thus go to increase the working capital of the country. Iv fact, every shilling which members would not otherwise save is so much clear gain to the community.

But while it is true that these institutions are calculated to effect a great good, there is also the possibility of their doing an immense deal of mischief. If one of them by means of bad management should at any time be unable to meet its engagements, we can hardly contemplate the result without a shudder. Primarily there would be a great amount of individual suffering caused, and this would fall, as is often the case in the world, on those least deserving of it and least able to bear it—viz., the old members, those who had contributed most in the way of contributions, and had arrived at that time of life when they would be most in need of the benefits. But the secondary results would bo, perhaps, still more disastrous. These would infalliby bo a wide-spread distrust of such institutions, and a great falling off in the membership of kindred societies, with n corresponding increase of pauperism and improvidence.

Now, considering that these societies have been established and worked almost entirely by the working classes—all honor to them'for the fact!—it is not to be wondered nt that in many instances they have fallen into grave errors. It ie only of late years that the science of probability has been applied to the facts of life and death, health and disease. It is quite lately that reliable data have been collected on which to found theories, and the knowledge of these data, and the " bearings " or " application on 'era," as Barnsby would say, is confined to a few scientific men who have made them a special study. Non-professional men, therefore, in framing rates of contributions and benefits have been working entirely in the dark, or by some mysterious rule of thumb. It is from this point of view that the Registrar's Department is so valuable. It exists for the purpose of supplying societies with that professional advice aud assistance whicli they could not possibly procure for themselves. By means of this assistance societies can obtain model tables of contributions for any stated benefits desired. Beside this, and what is perhaps of still greaier importance, the Registrar's office is keeping careful records of the sickness and mortality experienced by each society, and by them as a whole. Already, after excluding all data of a suspicious nature, the Actuary, Mr Frankhind, has tabulated the results derived from seven or eight thousand lives equivalent to between twenty and thirty thousand years of life.

We had intended noticing various features of this valuable report at some length, but these preliminary remarks have extended themselves to such an extent that we must postpone further consideration of the report for the pre•i a nt. One quotation, however, we cannot help mnking, as it bears so directly on what is a popular fallacy among members of these societies. The fallacy is that as long as there is a decent balance to the credit of the Bick fund of a ■ lodge, the lodge is necessarily in a sound ' fit., to. Now, during the past year seven lodges have been valued by a competent Actuary, Mr George Leslie, himself a me-nber of the Manchester Unity, : which all the lodges in question belong.

We regret to saj that in six cases out of the seven the valuation shows a deficiency ; but as pointing out in a marked manner the fallacy above alluded to, let us take tho case of one of these lodges reported as having a balance on the wrong side. The Groyniouth Lodge which has 114 members, has an annual benefit income of Ll4B 4s, hasi L 1920 to the credit of its benefit fundj which is producing the high rate of 5£ per cent, interest, and yet is found L 1155 to the bad.

It therefore behoves all these societies to set to r work at once and place their houses in order, to see how they stand, and whether their affairs are conducted on a sound basis, and if they find themselves drifting into an unsatisfactory position to have the courage to set themselves in earnest about the work of reformation. We shall return to this subject in a future issue.