ODDFELLOWSHIP.

Evening Star, Issue 2966, 21 August 1872, Page 4

ODDFELLOWSHIP.

From the A.M.C. edition of the Lancaster Guardian welearn that the animal moveab'e committee of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity Friendly Society, held their meeting for 1872 in May last, at the Palatine Hall, Lancaster, where great preparations were made for the reception of the two hundred and eighty-one delegates, as well as for conducting the proceedings of the A.M.C, The meetings and doings of the committee appear, from the lengthy report before us, to have been ably conducted, The success of the Order, as will be subsequently seen, has greatly increased; while the usefulness of the society can hardly be estimated in the benefits it confers and has conferred upon the brother* hood. The Unity, we find, now consists of 3495 lodges. On the Ist of January its members numbered 458,159, and its funds had an accumulated capital of L 3,300,000. During last year, notwithstanding that the society lost from 6000 to 7000 of its members by deaths, there was an increase of 15,000, or very nearly double the increase of 1870. The income for the year exceeded L 700,000, while the expenditure for the funeral benefits and medical attendance amounted to nearly L 500,000. The fund towards the Manchester Unity Lifeboat Institution had increased to Ll7 lls Id against Ll4 15s 7d for the previous year, the LSO subscription for the boat having been paid. The profits this year from all sources of income to the society were LIO2O against L 985 last year ; and the management expenses show a dc* crease of Ll4B 7s lid on last year’s expendi* ture, which was L 1242 10s. The number of members admitted during the year 1871 was 35,260, showing a nett increase of 15,584; of these admitted in England 22,391 were uuder twenty-five years of age. Mr James Gerrard, D.U.M. for Chester, was elected G.M. for next year.