J.—2a.

20

|B. E, HATES

particularly solicitous, as' far as they can, not to touch upon friendly-society influence in any place they go to, and I think the men themselves that have gone out have honestly endeavoured to preserve that rule as far as they can. They are paid by the Board according to results, and a great portion of their earnings are on results. 50. And the lecturers get a commission?—Yes, on the result of their lectures. 51. Mr. Parr.] Supposing this Committee were to recommend Parliament to abolish your canvassers and assistants during the period of the war or for a year or so, what effect would that have?—-It would shut the Fund up, of course. It would probably close it down. 52. And have a very serious effect?—l think so. We have now forty men in the post-offices in the second-class towns who act as our agents, and they look after the business in those places. That is one phase of it; and then there are the lecturers themselves. Once the activity is dropped the result is obvious, and we know that the Fund would go down very quickly. You could expect that. 53. You would cease to get members?—Yes. 54. Could you not stand on your own feet for a year? —I doubt it. The organization already successfully established would be broken up. At present we are more or less inactive. For some months after the War broke out there was practically no new business done. 55. Are you still employing lecturers?—They started again at the end of the year, and seem to be getting on, but there is very little travelling being done now. 56. Mr. Coates.] What is the average contribution of the National Provident Fund as compared with the friendly society?-—Somewhere about £4 4s. per annum in the National Fund as compared with the friendly society average contribution of about £3.

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