FRIENDLY SOCIETIES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2745, 14 April 1916, Page 7

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES

AND THE NATIONAL PROVIDENT

FUND ?

IMPORTANT CONFERENCE

ADDRESSED BY MINISTERS

During' last session of Parliament a petition was presented by the United Friendly-Societies of New Zealand praying for: relief from what they considered to be unfair competition from the iterations of the' National 'Provident Fund. The'petition was considered by a Parliamentary Committee, which recommended that a conference be held with the representatives of tho friendly societies with-a view to having, a full, discussion on the subject. This conference was held yesterday' iii a Parliamentary 'Committee room,, and was attended by the flons. J. A. Hauan and A;, Myers. The delegates present were as follow:—J. % Smith, I.'Salek, J. Korkbaw, J. M'Leod, A. J..- Ibbotson, T. T. Archbold, J. A. Hopcraft, J. H. F. 'Tiel (Manchester Unity Oddfellows); ..•jhaldriok; R. Darlow, E. Dixon, W. Marks, J. Hope, J. Eedshaw (Ani. Order of Foresters) : E. Fletcher, j J. N. Grant. A. Thompson, A. ,>;burn, J. W.V.Baty, J. B. Steele united Ancient Order Druids); Chas. Talbot, M.P..-E. ltobb, W. M. : Reid ■ (Independent , Order of Oddfellows)'; Thos. Fathers, J. J. Wesney, J. ,W. Foster (Independent Order of. Reohabites); Hon;. W. Beehan, M.L.C. .(Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society); William ' Henry Frith (Protestant • Alliance' Friendly Society of Australasia); James F. Hosking (Fountain of Friendship Lodge, Auckland), snd other societies. ■ . The Hon. J. A. Hanan, after assuring the delegates of the Government's recognition of the good work the friendly societies were doing, first traced tho various stages which had marked the progress of these great institutions and noted the changes which had been adopted to meet the inevitable • outcome of forces working throughout the social life of. the nation. -, "\Ye all know,", he added, . "that the friendly at its inception, .was what we bow call 'a lodge'; that is, in each town or village the lodge .was a separate entity, having its own funds > wholly and solely controlled by; its local members and having no concern beyond its; local necessities','. The contribution rates-were .on the Crudest lines. In these societies the social; element' was probably more predominant than the financial considerations which at present,are so important. In tho course of years the financial provisions of these isolated lodges were, found .ito be utterly inadequate to meet the benefits which' the members expected,; and thus, the first important stage or change was'reached —both in England and in'this country—. when the adoption of scales of contribu-' tions graduated for age, and the combining of isolated lodges . in >'' district societies Wan brought about. ,1 should here state the fact that these great changes were, carried out'by the societies, themselves with great courage and determination, and; in some societies even at the penalty of schism' and dis> ruption. May I say here that ' tho friendly societies represent the cream of the working class? The effect today'of that great change is seen in tho sound and solid financial position which the leading orders of the friendly societies have, attained. "I should'like to refer to some interesting figures relating to the' New Zealand Societies, which do not always, receive the' attention, they _ merit. In lookng, at the progress of friendly societies' membership. >a real tost is furnish-; ed by a comparison with the population, and this is what we find: The population rate of increase, ■ compared •with friendly societies rate of increase, taking 100 as a basis in 1887, ran as follows:—- ''■■■' Friendly . Societies' :■■-'■ Member- \ ■ ;'. Population. ship. In 1890 It was ... 103 ' 105 -' „ 1896 „ „-■'. ... 118 • 127 „ 1902 „ „■"'.... 133 174' „ 1908 „ „ ... 159:. - '234 „ 19144';.,,";. '.'.. '181- 7 297 "The point is this: Here you have voluntary organisation run on non-profit lines against keen commercial businesses catering for the ' same class of people, and yet the societies hold their own and more. It proves, of-course, the inherent excellence of the sooieties benefits'and that they do really appeal to . the people. The following figures give a good indication of the actual value of the work of the New Zealand societies expressed in coin.of the realm. Since the year 1887: ' Sickness allowances paid have ' amounted to : 1,251,933 Death allowances paid have amounted to 237,680 Medical fees .paid have : amounted to .......; 1,162,105

"The capital per member of friendly societies in-New Zealand in 1914 /was £22 65., much higher than in any other State. I am also able to 6tate, .that in the last ten years; the finance methods and the standard of actuarial soundness have been very much improved. It' is the more satisfactory to record,this, as it has been brought about without the imposition of drastic compulsory •egislation. ...'.- ' The War and the Societies. "Tho serious war now raging will, of course, affect the membership of so--cieties and it is gratifying to note tho large number of members who have come forward at the call of King and country. As you are aware.the Gov. ernment, on the outbreak of war, agreed to assist the, societies to the'extent of subsidising the reinsurance of the death benefit of members on active service. Subsidies already paid to societies and in hand for payment on this account amount to £3700. "Nriw, as to the present position and tho future of societies. Since the days when the friendly society movement came into prominence, manv national .changes have taken place. During tho last'few decades forces have come into operation which have affected friendly Focictres in their work of catering for the sickness and death insurance of working people. Not only has 'Indus-, trialism' grown, but all.over the world the problem of comprehensive provision for the masses of the people has occupied increasing attention. That as the outcome of the war we shall do moro in promoting social service and bringi'ng about a hiVher plane of social jus-, tice, I firmly believe. The British Scheme. "In England, for instance, despite the enormous work of the friendly societies and their younger compeer—lndustrial Insurance'—the State itself has taken up the work, and in its National Insurance Act has invoiced tho ac. i-ivo assistance of these two power, ful agencies, which operate in competition with each other, »ach holding about the same num. ber of members under the Act. It is of interest to note that the Gm-crnnifnt in the Old Country practically adopted the. friendly society system of benefits. Could there possibly he given a stronger proof that the wi rker does the right, thing when he joins 1 a friendly sociotv? If we look, however, at the greatly increased influence of the Industrial Insurance organisations, which are run on commercial lines. And at tho enormous

share of the British State system they administer, we can readily see that a voluntary and non-commercial system— suoh as the friendly societies —requires all the strength and alertness it can command, in order to be equipped for the great work of the future.

"I have brought this point out for the reason that 1 think friendly societies should remember to look at these national probloms as a pare of their business: It is a human weakness probably to rely on our past successes for our future efficiencies, and this often blinds us to tlio effect of changing conditions brought about by new social growths, hi this movemcut, as in others, it is therefore a dut.Vj I think,, to apply ourselves to the wider aspect of this social, insurance- feature of modem life, both in the interests of the societies as well as of the State. National Provident Fund. "Now, ; the Parliamentary Coinmitteo of last session has.referred the friendly societies' • petition to the Government for consideration, 'with, a view to co-or-dinating the work of the friendly societies and the National.Provident Fund.' This is the present position in New Zealand: "(1) Tho social insurance functions of the Dominion at present aro officially directed towards a solution of the provision for old-age problem, for which policy the National Provident Fund Act. stands. No sooieties provide for this. "(2) The social insurance functions of the Government in Now Zealand are not at'present directed to provide the benefits of the friendly societies, as in Great Britain. " .''"'.' .''(3) Co-ordination, therefore, with a view to promoting the social insurance functions of the Dominion lies in enabling socicsties'to provide an annuity in addition to their own benefits. By doing so the State's object is furthered .fn the solution of 1 the 'provision for old-age' problem, and 00-ordination is effected. : . ■ • "In connection with this provision for oldrago superannuation, etc., the following remarks by; 'Rubinow' in bis work on social insurance are of importance to note; 'The basic principle of social insuranon—the necessity of active constructive interference by- tho State—is perhaps best illustrated in the case of old-age'".. insurance. The problem is simply too big to be handled l>y th« wage-workers unaided, either individually, or collectively. Hence, the very limited results of such co-onoratlve efforts indicated in preceding pages. The necessity for. national action has been admitted by the modern State for a long time. As a matter of priority it is interesting to note that the first timid steps in. what we now call social insurance wore made' in sevoral, Kuropean countries in connection x with old ago,' A New Scheme. "I have, in consultation with the Minister of the National Provident Fund and; departmental officers, given careful consideration to methods that might be adaptable to tho societies, and the details of a system will be submitted to you to deliberate upon. I. have no doubt the' practical experience of delegates will enable them to disouss these proposals with great advantage to the societies, and also, I may say, to the Government; which sincerely desires to. learn the friendly societies' view of this problem, the successful solution of which calls for the best "efforts of all who' are concerned in the happiness and well-being of the .working community. Co-operative Action. "I have tried to convey to you 'in this short address that the Government fully recognises the valuable work done by friendly societies, and it should" 'be supported', and;, -as far as possible, strengthened to keep' its' important place in the life of the community. As my colleagues',will no doubt point out, the Government is also concerned with the sucoess of the National-Provident Fund; The extension of the fund means an extension of those .thrift principles which the societies ;havo done so ■ much to foster, and it should be tho aim of us all to encourage r»tber than retard any movement in, that direction. It is for tho purpose of arriving at some possible means through cooperative action, whereby the object of the State may'be attained in its provision for old age, while at the same time the societies may continue as successl fully as hitherto, to provide theso inj dispensable benefits for which they aro ■ famed, that this conference has been summoned." .: < Address by Mr. Myers, The Hon. A. M. Myers, Minister in Charge of the National Provident Fund, hoped the conference would remove from' its miutk any thought, if such there were, that all matters brought by it before the Government would not receive full and most serious consideration. As members of the National Government, his colleagues and himself felt that' the objects the friendly societies had in' view were calculated to prove to be in the highest and best interests 'of the State. In the' titanio struggle now going on the organising of all the Dominion' resources would~probably be of greater importance than ever before, and anything that the Government could do to assist the people must be regarded as. of.paramount importance. Ho believed it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility to prepare a scheme which- would, be favourably considered by all concerned, and in no way antagonistic to the interests which the delegates of friendly societies represented. The time was not one for speech, but for action. He then explained the steps taken-by the Government and by local bodies in the direction of superannuation, and went on to explain the raison d'etre of the National Provident scheme, and the necessity to advertiso that scheme and give it the widest publicity. The Government fully recognised the splendid work done by friendly societies, and wished for their co-operation,- and ho hoped that tho conference would be of tho utmost mutual benouv The Hon. J. A. Hanan was appointed chairman, and the conference went into committee to consider the details'of tho scheme, which has yet to be submitted to Cabinet. .- An Amicable Compromise. . The conference.then wont info committee to consider an annuity proposal submitted by the Minister in Charge of tho National Provident Fund (Hon. A. M.. Myers). After a lengthy discussion, in which delegates showed a desire to have the scheme extended ,in. scope, tho Minister' stated that ho was prepared to consider favourably a proposal in the direction of providing for .some financial aid towards maternity benefits. ■'.."'•

After further debate, Mr. Hamel (Dunedin) moved the following resolution : "Believing that the offer of a subsidised superannuation proposal.by the Minister is .an earnest endeavour, to grant a measure of relief to- 'friendly societies, this meeting accepts such pro. posal on an optional basis, relying on the statement made by tho Hon. A. M. Myers that tho representations made at this meeting by the friendly societies' delegates, strongly urging immedi-ate-relief to bo given to friendly socio, ties (more particularly in the form of maternity benefits) shall have attention 1 and consideration at once by the Hon. Mr. Myers, in conjunction with tho Minister of Friendly Societies (Hon. J. A. Hanan)." This resolution was seconded by Mr. Talbot,- and carried unanimously. .

The closing proceedings wore market! by. appreciative references to tlifl Ministers for their intimate knowledge and capable handling of the technical questions under discussion. Delegates were also high in their praise of tlio valuable services rendered by Mr. Hayes (the Registrar) and his officers.. The conference closed with cheers for the Miniutet and- (*»■ Department.