A.M.P. SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 193, 4 May 1918, Page 8

A.M.P. SOCIETY

ANNUAL MEETING IN SYDNEY NEW ZEALAND DELEGATE'S SPEECH OVER A MILLION CONTRIBUTED TO ' DOMINION WAR LOANS. The annual meeting of the Australian Mutual Provident Society waa held at the society's head office building, 8f Pitt Street, Sydney, at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The annual report was adopted. Mr. Harold Beuuchiuiip (representing the New Zealand Board), in supporting the- motion, said:— "I have listened with much pleasure and interest to the lucid and cornprehsnsive remarks of the chairman on tho report now before us, and 1 shall probably express tho sentiments of most of you when I say the impression left upon my mind is that never before has the greatness and beneficence of our rplendid institution been 60 manifested as in these times of stress and adversity. No words of mine could, more eloquently voico tho claims of this institution to the fullest support and sympathy of Governments and the people than those figures on the disbursement side of the balance-sheet. Let me repeat .them: Claims by <leath .£2,092,353 • By maturity .'• 856,698 Or a total of i2,9-i9,056 -nearly three million pounds sterling. What a world of meaning is conveyed in thoso figures! Try and realise the immensity of suffering ami misery the disbursement of that enormous sum has alleviated; "I venture to say that if the great body of ou.r policyholders eould only grasp the full meaning of the report which is placed before them each year they would more actively help in adding to the membership of our society. "Again, take the war claims alone, representing nearly a million sterling: when I look upon those figures it fcoms to mo that at last the society is almost coming | into its own. Surely never before has it i been so near to 'realising the ideals ot | what a great life assurance society .jjliould be This vast outgo, of course, temporarily increases the cost of assurance to policyholders by decreasing the surplus j divisible between them, but I feel certain i that so far from deploring that tact; our policy-holders consider it a matter : for pride that they are able in this wa> ; to' help the great cause to whiotl oui Empire ie eo deeply and wrevocably coin"rnt chairman has dealt so fully with ; the general remits that little remains; for branch delegates' but to place boforo , the meeting the position as it is in their ( States! . I would however ask you to bear with me Tor a little whilst I try. and flhow you how m . m Now Zealand have fared. At the outset, I must, of course, admit that our new business figures show a Mling-off oe compared with previous years, but we make no apology for that-far from i, indeed, when -we remember the. conditions under .which our work has been carried out. Most of you, I Mjume, are aware that New Zealand has compulsory military service, and let, me add New Zealanders are proud' of that fact, notwithstanding what you may have heard to the contrary. When we consider that a small country such as ours, with a population of barely over one million souls, has enrolled, voluntarily and compulsorily, • 103,000 men-the flower of our manhood-to fight for freedom and justice, I think we may be pardoned for claiming to have responded generously to the Empire's call to arms. _ Probably Ho portion of the outer dominions ot our Empire has contributed a larger proportion of its men of military age than New Zealand. The official records show that of the 103,000 men who have been mobilised, no fewer than 11.784 have been killed, and 30,000 wounded, missing, and | taken prisoner. In. every list of hon- j ours won there appear names of J\e\v Zealandere who have shown on the various battlefields that they are worthy to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men of those little isles in northern seas which have peopled the four, corners of the eaith. . "If w.e, as representing the society in New. Zealand, were disposed to adopt a selfish view of our obligations, we might deplore the depletion of our manhood, which has made our task of getting new business extremely difficult. Not only have assurable men been called up to the, colours, but our agents as well; nevertheless, the volume of business is large, and for the period of the present year is substantially in advance of last year s record at a corresponding date. We owe this in some measure to the admirable system of war loan policies, by means of -which a large number of people have been onablcd, with the society s assistance to subscribe to tho substantial loans which have been raised in New Zealand for war purposes. It may interest you to learn that no less than ,£55,000,000 has been so raised, and of this sum the A.M.P. Society has subscribed 41,150,000. Wo have been told by our Government that in the near future some .620,000,000 more will be required. You may rest assured that the society's support will be freely accorded to any future issues; but I need hardly remind you that.it ie largely owing to the arrangements made by the British 'Government in respect to tho purchase of produce at high prices, and providing shipping for its "emoval, which have placed us in a position to respond to the heavy demands which we being made upon us for war ixpenditiire. "Incidentally, I may mention that, since the outbreak of war, the Imperial Government, has purchased over i>loo.000,000 worth of our products. All branches of trade and commerce, despite war conditions, continue prosperous, and the financial position of the Dominion is extremely sound. New Zealand has not hesitated to tax herself in order to provide for her heavy financial obligations. On that point, however, I may say that our society has n. grievance against the Dominion Government, in the fact that the taxation of the Government Life Department has been reduced by about 50 per cent., whilst our own has enormously increased—a most unfair distinction, we claim. However, through tho representations we have mnde we expect to get some relief in the near, future, the Government having promised to reconsider tho quest-ion during the next cession of Parliament.

"The safe investment of nearly nine i millions of money, now forming the assets of the society in New Zealand, necossnriiy occupies the chief attention of the Branch Board, and I am happy to be in a position to siiy that there need bo no anxiety in regard to those investments. Perhaps no belter grounds for our confidence can he given than the fact that at the close of the year's accounts tnero was not one penny of interest in arroar. "Towards the «nd of last year, Mr. E. W Lowe who liad beon in tho society's service for nrariy fifty years, and for forty-one years mawiger tor New Zealand, reached the age limit, and had coneequer.rly to retiro; , b;it it is a mailer for sincere congratulation tliat the principal board hjis appointed him to a seat on the Bran-jo Board. In. view of Mr. Lowe's splendid record ns manager, and the conspicuous services he rendered in that, capacity, wo cordially welcome him "'"Befme'Telose these remarks, permit me to Mid. on behalf of m."®" , *"" and myself, our sympathy to that which has been so appropriate y exprnwtl . hy the chairmnn, to the relatives of those members of the sfrtf who have given their lives, not only m defence of their country, hut in Iho cause of civilisation, liWtv, ami justice. ■ "I have pleasure in supporting the motion for tho Mnntion of the report and balr,.nce-Rheet."-(Puhlished l:y arrangement.)