Death Levies.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43376, 22 September 1908, Page 3

Death Levies.

POSITION OF DRUID LODGES,

The system of death levies instituted by the Druid lodges here seems to have caused the registrar of friendly societies some uneasiness, and a clause has been inserted ir> the friendly Societies Rill which will have the effect of abolishing the system. The I'ruids are at a loss to understand why their scheme should be ai ied at when they are practically unanimously in favour of it.

Mr. Michaels, a member of the executive of the Druids’ lodges in Auckland, speaking to a Herald represeLtative yesterday, said that when a member of a lodge died, and his wife and family were left in poor circumstances, a subscription was got up. It was always a few willing ones who subscribed, and it occurred to to them that it would be better to make a levy on each member. This levy was entirely distinct from all the rest of the funds. It was neither put in nor was it part of the general funds. Each member paid Gd, and the system had been Such a pronounced success that it mounted up to the sum of £l2O per death. It was decided to limit the sum payable to £l2O and the consequence now was that one levy of 6d paid two death allowances of £l2O each. The executive thought of r. during the levy to 3d, but the lodge members opposed it. It stood to reason that a system which was so enthusiastically supported must have some good in it and the best answer to the criticism was the rapidly increasing membership of the lodges. The executive offered to make the levy optional, but the lodge members decided against this by a vast majority. Twenty-five years ago there was one Druid lodge in Auckland district, with a membership of 30. At the present time there were 13 lodges in the province of Auckland, with a total membership of b ;t ween 3000 and 1000, and the biggest i icrease had taken place since the levy wis instituted. The Ponsonby Druids’ Lvdge, ho believed, had the largest membership of auy lodge in Auckland cl strict.

A question had been raised by someone added Mr. Michaels, as to what would hippen if a thousand deaths occurr d. Well, what would happen to any other 1 Age under similar extraox dinary circums'auces 5 Moreover, all the branch lodges of the Druids were self-supporting, none of them being assisted by the district funds. One critic had spoken of old and young paying the same levy, but practically all the members were young, none bring over d 0 years of age, and tlm lodges bad only been formed 25 years.