FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 388, 5 September 1874, Page 3

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

The interests involved in Friendly Societies of different kinds are of nn little magnitude. They have a total membcrshipof aboutfour million persons, with more than double that number directly interested, as wives or children, in the benefits they promise to confer, and they are ultimately responsible for payments to the extent of about twelve millions. It is, therefore, a matter of direct aud intimate concern to a very large part of the nation that these societies should be thoroughly sound and healthy, and that they should be able when called upon to fulfil to the letter the engagements they have undertaken. The late Mr. Tidd Pratt, who for many years held the office of registrar to these societies, and who had occasion to examine their official accounts, freely' expressed tlie opinion that many ox them were msolveutr. His representations occasioned considerable alarm, and a growing suspicion that all was not square led to doubts as to the propriety of continuing a system of registration, which, while possessing no special authority, seemed to make the Government in some way responsible for the societies, and thereby to inspire a confidence in them to which they were by no means entitled. On the death of Mr. Tidd Pratt, Mr. Lowe, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, proposed to abolish the office of Registrar, and introduce a system of open registration. Some of the societies, however, raised objections to this change, and preferred to have a Royal Commission to inquire into the whole~subject. The great mass of members had a substantial interest in seeing that the societies were placed on a sound healthy basis, and if they were unsound, it was desirable that, at all events, the worst should be known, and that delusive hope^ should be removed before it; Was tOO late. A Commission was accordingly appointed, and for three years has carried on a searching inquiry, a3 we have had occasion to show. It is satisfactory to find that some of the larger societies have latterly been doing a great deal to improve their position, and to retrieve any errors that may have been committed in their past management. The greatest society of all - the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows — has been improving itself with a zeal that has deservedly drawn forth the commendation of the Commissioners. They boldly started a thoroughly-going actuarial inquiry into the solvency of the different lodge the result being the rather unpleasant discovery that all over the organisation there was a deficiency of assets as compared with, liabilities amounting to more than a million sterling. A fact likrc this, while n. atata things urgently requiruig amendment, also suggests the practicability, and, so far, indicates the desi re of having that reform effected from within. In view of the proposed legislation, for which, unfortunately, there is only too much necessity — the Chancellor of the Exchequer was able to point to this great society, and to s.iy that " when a body of men came forward to encounter such revelations as that with the view of putting themselves on a footing of soundness, it was impossible not to see that a feeling was abroad which deserved encouragement, and which promised great things for the cause of progress ; " and that "if they hail no other societies to deal with than the Manchester Unity, the Foresters, and some other largo societies of that kind, with, perhaps, soms of the large county societies also, they might fairly leave them to work out their own improvement." This is doubtless q^ite true, and the principle is a sound one that tho less the Government has to do with the direct management of societies of this kind the better. Tf State action is pushed beyond a certain point— if it is carried into the sphere of management, and the societies are not allowed full autonomy, much injury will be done. The societies at present, and notwithstanding the doubts that have been cast on their solvency, retain in a larcje measure the confidence of their members. Sir Stafford Northcofce is therefore guided by a sound principle in laying it down as his first rule of action in framing the bill now before Parliament,, thoucrh with little hope of passing this session, that there ought to be as little interference as possible with the voluntary action of those carrying on these org misations It may very well be that th»ir mode of goim* to work is not always the boat that could be deviserl— oftsn it obviously is not ; but any deficiency in this rfsppct would be more than counterbalanced by the evils that would certainly attend any Government restriction on their freedom of action. But within the limits of this principle there is considerable scope for action of a benficial kind on the part of the executive. The state may even materially aid the societies in governing themselves without in the slightest desrree impairing there freedom of action. The bill has been constructed avowedly with the view of aiding efficient self-govern-ment, as distinguished from government from without. In regard to Burial Societies — the great scandal of the Friendly Society system — the Chancellor of the Exchequer follows the Commissioners in pronouncins; a judgement of emphatic condemnation. " These societies," he said "had constituted one of the chief evib of the scheme, because it was in connection with them that the greatest amount of fraud and cruelty had been found to exist." It is not denied that some of them are reasonably well managed, and for the local, as distinguished from the general societies, there is admittedly a great deal to be said. But the evidence epvon before the Commissioners leaves no room for doubt that, as hitherto carried on, many of these societies have b^en based on utterly vicious principles ; but they have exifrted primarily for the benefit, of the officers, though ostensibly for the advantage of the " members ;" and that they are kept afloat dv the enormous number of "lapses," which -there is at lpast a strong temptation to stimulate by artificial means. If it be true, as ia stated, that not one in eight, of those who have subscribed to them derive any benefit from their subscriptions, there would be reasonable sjronnrl for a more drastic purge than the Chancellor of thp Exchequer has seen fit to prescribe. Restrictions are to be | placed on their power of confiscating the property of members who have allowed their subscriptions to " lapse," or fall in arrear. Further, it ia alleged, and it is to be feared n^t without reason, that the insurance of infants has had a marked effect in inducing carelessness, if not something worse, in regard to infant life. It is, therefore, proposed to prohibit the granting of insurances on the lives of children under three years of age. — Home Exchange,