5

H.—l

STAFF. I am pleased to report that the officers of the Department have worked well during the past year, particularly as it has been necessary at times to require them to carry out many additional duties owing to the rapid increase of business consequent on the growth of the National Provident Fund, which is co-ordinated with the Friendly Societies Branch of the Department.

GENERAL STATISTICS. Membership and Funds. The following table shows the increased membership in 658 lodges* which furnished returns for 1911 :— Number of members, Ist January .. .. .. .. .. 69,228 Number admitted by— Initiation, &c. .. .. .. .. ..7,885 Clearance .. .. .. .. .. .. 734 8,619 77,847 Number who died .. .. .. .. .. 475 Number left by— Clearance .. .. .. .. .. .. 886 Arrears, &c. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4,715 6,076 Number of members at 31st December .. .. .. .. 71,771 The increase in membership during 1911 was 3-67 per cent., as compared with 3-29 per cent, for 1910, thus showing a slightly better result than the previous year, and indicating that the societies are slowly recovering the normal rate which obtained prior to 1909. I give below an interesting table covering a period of ten years to the 31st December last, showing the proportion of lapses to initiations each year. The marked departure in 1909 from the normal rate is significant, and would appear to indicate that the forces which go to increase membership in good times are quickly affected when a set-back is experienced.

The total funds of the societies and branches as on the 31st December, 1911, amounted to £1,441,352 17s. 5d., made up as follows : Sick and Funeral Funds (inclusive of amounts transferred to special funds out of surplus), £1,333,998 19s. 2d. ; Medical and Management Funds, goods, &c, £107,353 18s. 3d. Dividing the total funds by the number of members at the end of the year, it is found the average capital per member is now £20 Is. Bd. Taking the several years 1902-1911, the number of lodges whose returns were tabulated, the number of members, total funds, and average capital per member at the end of each were as under :—

Year. New Members initiated. Members lapsed by Arrears. Percentage of lapses to New Members. 1902 .. 1903 .. 1904 .. 1905 .. 1906 .. 1907 .. 1908 .. 1909 .. 1910 .. 1911 .. 4,635 5,285 5,264 6,352 6,564 7,690 7,700 6,772 7,453 7,885 4,635 5,285 5,264 6,352 6,564 7,690 7,700 6,772 7,453 7,885 2,818 2,719 2,965 3,223 3,178 3,265 3,754 4,880 4,751 4,715 60-8 51-5 56-3 50-7 48-4 • 42-5 48-8 72-1 63-8 59-7

Year. Number of Lodges tabulated. Number of Members. Total Funds Average Capital. .902 .903 .904 .905 .906 .907 .908 .909 .910 911 462 465 479 501 500 516 505 567 609 658 43,408 45,255 47,302 51,103 53,759 56,817 58,517 64,428 68,006 71,771 £ 846,315 883,751 936,388 996,224 1,057,821 1,118,217 1,123,886 1,266,297 1,367,282 1,441,358 i £ s. d. 19 9 11 19 10 7 19 15 11 19 9 11 19 13 6 19 13 7 19 4 1 19 13 1 20 2 1 20 1 8 * The word " lodge," w :< court," " tent," &c, as usei ten applied to all soci in the various orders. ieties, is to be understood as embracing the synonymous terms