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FRIEDRICHSRUH
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FRIEDRICHSRUH , a See also:village in the Prussian See also:province of See also:Schleswig-See also:Holstein, 15 M. S.E. of See also:Hamburg, with a station on the See also:main See also:line of railway to See also:Berlin. It gives its name to the famous See also:country seat of the See also:Bismarck See also:family. The See also:house is a See also:plain unpretentious structure, but the See also:park and See also:estate, forming a portion of the famous Sachsenwald, are attractive. See also:Close by, on a knoll, the Schneckenberg, stands the See also:mausoleum in which the remains of See also:Prince See also:Otto von Bismarck were entombed on the 16th of See also: The origin of the friendly society is, probably in all countries, the See also:burial See also:club. It has been the policy of every See also:religion, if indeed it is not a See also:common See also:instinct of humanity, to surround the disposal of a dead See also:body with circumstances of pomp and See also:expenditure, often beyond the means of the surviving relatives. The See also:appeal for help to See also:friends and neighbours which necessarily follows is soon organized into a See also:system of mutual aid, that falls in naturally with the religious ceremonies by which See also:honour is done to the dead. Thus in See also:China there are burial societies, termed " See also:long-See also:life See also:loan companies," in almost all the towns and villages. Among the Greeks the Epavot combined the religious with the provident element (see CHARITY AND CHARITIES). From the Greeks the See also:Romans derived their See also:fraternities of a similar See also:kind. The Teutons in like manner had their See also:gilds. Whether the See also:English friendly society owes its origin in the higher degree to the See also:Roman or the Teutonic See also:influence can hardly be determined. The utility of providing by See also:combination for the See also:ritual expenditure upon burial having been ascertained, the next step—to render mutual assistance in circumstances of distress generally—was an easy one, and we find it taken by the See also:Greek iipavot and by the English gilds. Another modification—that the societies should consist not so much of neighbours as of persons having the same occupation —soon arises; and this is the germ of our trade unions and our See also:city companies in their See also:original constitution. The See also:interest, however, that these inquiries possess is mainly antiquarian. The legal definition of a friendly society quoted above points to an organization more complex than those of the See also:ancient fraternities and gilds, and proceeding upon different principles. It may be that the one has grown out of the other. The common element of a See also:provision for a contingent event by a See also:joint contribution is in both; but the friendly society alone has attempted to define with precision what is the See also:risk against which it intends to provide, and what should be the contributions of the members to meet that risk.
See also:United See also:Kingdom.—It would be curious to endeavour to trace how, after the suppression of the religious gilds in the 16th See also:century, and the substitution of an organized system of relief by the poor See also:law of See also: This society has distinguished itself by the intelligence with which it has adapted its machinery to the successive modifications of the law, and it completely reconstructed its rules under the provisions of the Friendly Societies Acts 1895 and 1876. Another is the society of See also:Lintot, founded in See also:London in 17o8, in which the See also:office of secretary was for more than half a century filled by persons of the name of Levesque, one of whom published a See also:translation of its original rules. No one was to be received into the society who was not a member, or the descendant of a member, of the church of Lintot, of recognized probity, a good See also:Protestant, and well-intentioned towards the See also:queen [See also:Anne] and faithful to the See also:government of the country. No one was to be admitted below the age of eighteen, or who had not been received at See also:holy communion and become member of a church. A member should not have a claim to relief during his first See also:year's membership, but if he See also:fell sick within the year a collection should be made for him among the members. The See also:foreign names still See also:borne by a large proportion of the members show that the connexion with descendants of the refugees is maintained. The example of See also:providence given by these societies was so largely followed that See also:Rose's Act in 1793 recognized the existence of numerous societies, and provided encouragement for them in various ways, as well as relief from See also:taxation to an extent which in those days must have been of great pecuniary value, and exempticn from removal under the poor law. The benefits offered by tnis See also:statute were readily accepted by the societies, and the vast number of societies which speedily became enrolled shows that Rose's Act met with a real public want. In the See also:county of See also:Middlesex alone nearly a thousand societies were enrolled within a very few years after the passing of the act, and the number in some other counties was almost as great. The societies then formed were nearly all of a like kind—small clubs, in which the feature of good fellowship was in the ascendant, and that of provident assurance for sickness and death merely See also:accessory. This is indicated by one provision which occurs in many of the early enrolled rules, viz. that the number of members shall be limited to 61, 81 or See also:lot, as the case may be. The See also:odd 1 which occurs in these See also:numbers probably stands for the See also:president or secretary, or is a contrivance to ensure a clear See also:majority. Several of these old societies are still in existence, and can point to a prosperous career based rather upon good See also:luck than upon scientific calculation. Founded among small tradesmen or persons in the way to thrive, the claims for sickness were only made in cases where the sickness was accompanied by distress, and even the funeral See also:allowance was not always demanded. The societies generally not being established upon any scientific principle, those which met with this prosperity were the exception to the See also:rule; and accordingly the cry that friendly societies were failing in all quarters was as great in 1819 as in 1869. A writer of that time speaks of the instability of friendly societies as " universal "; and the See also:general conviction that this was so resulted in the passing of the act of 1819. It recites that " the habitual reliance of poor persons upon parochial relief, rather than upon their own See also:industry, tends to the moral deterioration of the See also:people and to the See also:accumulation of heavy burthens upon parishes; and it is desirable, with a view as well to the reduction of the See also:assessment made for the relief of the poor as to the improvement of the habits of the people, that encouragement should be afforded to persons desirous of making provision for themselves or their families out of the fruits of their own industry. By the contributions of the savings of many persons to one common fund the most effectual provision may be made for the casualties affecting all the contributors; and it is therefore desirable to afford further facilities and additional See also:security to persons who may be willing to unite in appropriating small sums from time to time to a common fund for the purposes aforesaid, and it is desirable to protect such persons from the effects of See also:fraud ormiscalculation." This See also:preamble went on to recite that the provisions of preceding acts had been found insufficient for these purposes, and great abuses had prevailed in many societies established under their authority. By this statute a friendly society was defined as " an institution, whereby it is intended to provide, by contribution, on the principle of mutual insurance, for the maintenance or assistance of the contributors thereto, their wives or children, in sickness, See also:infancy, advanced age, widowhood or any other natural See also:state or contingency, whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way of See also:average." It will be seen that this act dealt exclusively with the scientific aspect of the societies, and had nothing to say to the element of good fellowship. Rules and tables were to be submitted by the persons intending to form a society to the justices, who, before confirming them, were tosatisfy themselves that the contingencies which the society was to provide against were within the meaning of the act, and that the formation of the society would be useful and beneficial, regard being had to the existence of other societies in the same See also:district. No tables or rules connected with calculation were to be confirmed by the justices until they had been approved by two persons at least, known to be professional actuaries or persons skilled in calculation, as See also:fit and proper, according to the most correct calculation of which the nature of the case would admit. The justices in See also:quarter sessions were also by this act authorized to publish general rules for the formation and government of friendly societies within their county. The See also:practical effect of this statute in requiring that the societies formed under it should be established on See also:sound principles does not appear to have been as great as might have been expected. The justices frequently accepted as " persons skilled in calculation " See also:local schoolmasters and others who had no real knowledge of the technical difficulties of the subject, while the restrictions upon registry served only to increase the number of societies established without becoming registered. In 1829 the law See also:relating to friendly societies was entirely re-constructed by an act of that year, and a See also:barrister was appointed under that act to examine the rules of societies, and ascertain that they were in conformity to law and to the provisions of the act. The barrister so appointed was See also: Under this act, which admitted of all possible See also:latitude to the framers of rules of societies, 21,875 societies were registered, a large number of them being lodges or courts of affiliated orders, and the act continued in force till the end of 1875. The Friendly Societies Act 1875 and the several acts amending it are still, in effect, the law by which these societies are regulated, though in form they have been replaced by two consolidating acts, viz. the Friendly Societies Act 1896 and the See also:Collecting Societies and See also:Industrial Assurance Companies Act 1896. This legislation still bears the permissive and elastic See also:character which marked the more successful of the previous acts, but it provides ampler means to members of ascertaining and remedying defects of management and of restraining fraud. The business of registry is under the See also:control of a See also:chief registrar, who has an assistant registrar in each of the three countries, with an actuary. An appeal to the chief registrar in the case of the refusal of an assistant registrar to See also:register a society or an See also:amendment of rules, and in the case of suspension or cancelling of registry, is interposed before appeal is to be made to the High See also:Court. Registry under a particular name may be refused if in the See also:opinion of the registrar the name is likely to deceive the members or the public as to the nature of the society or as to its identity. It is the See also:duty of the chief registrar, among other things, to require from every society a return in proper form each year of its receipts and expenditure, funds and effects; and also once every five years a valuation of its See also:assets and liabilities. Upon the application of a certain proportion of the members, varying according to the magnitude of the society, the chief registrar may appoint an inspector to examine into its affairs, or may See also:call a general See also:meeting of the members to consider and determine any See also:matter affecting its interests. These are See also:powers which have been used with excellent effect. Cases have occurred in which fraud has been detected and punished by this means that could not probably have been otherwise brought to See also:light. In others a system of mismanagement has been exposed and effectually checked. The See also:power of calling See also:special meetings has enabled societies to remedy defects in their rules, to remove See also:officers guilty of misconduct, &c., where the See also:procedure prescribed by the rules was for some See also:reason or other inapplicable. Upon an application of a like proportion of members the chief registrar may, if he finds that the funds of a society are insufficient to meet the existing claims thereon, or that the rates of contribution are insufficient to See also:cover the benefits assured (upon which he consults his actuary), See also:order the society to be dissolved, and See also:direct how its funds are to be applied. Authority is given to the chief registrar to direct the expense (preliminary, incidental, &c.) of an inspection or special meeting to be defrayed by the members or officers, or former members or officers, of a society, if he does not think they should be defrayed either by the applicants or out of the society's funds. He is also empowered, with the approval of the See also:treasury, to exempt any friendly society from the provisions of the Collecting Societies Act if he considers it to be one to which those provisions ought not to apply. Every society registered after 1895, to which these provisions do apply, is to use the words " Collecting Society " as the last words of its name. The law as to the membership of infants has been altered three times. The act of 1875 allowed existing societies to continue any rule or practice of admitting children as members that was in force at its passing, and prohibited membership under sixteen years of age in any other case, except the case of a juvenile society composed wholly of members under that age. The treasury made special regulations for the registry of such juvenile societies. In 1887 the maximum age of their members was extended to twenty-one. In 1895 it was enacted that no society should have any members under one year of age, whetherauthorized by an existing rule or not; and that every society should be entitled to make a rule admitting members at any age over one year, but by the Friendly Societies Act 1998 member-See also:ship was permitted to minors under the age of one year. The Treasury, upon the enactment of 1895 coming into operation, rescinded its regulations for the registry of juvenile societies; and though it is still the practice to submit for registry societies wholly composed of persons under twenty-one, these societies in no way differ from other societies, except in the circumstances that they are obliged to seek officers and a See also:committee of management from outside, as no member of the committee of any society can be under twenty-one years of age. In order to promote the discontinuance of this anomalous proceeding of creating societies under the Friendly Societies Act, which, by the conditions of their existence, are unable to be self-governing, the act provides an easy method of amalgamating juvenile societies and See also:ordinary societies or branches, or of distributing the members and the funds of a juvenile society among a number of branches. The liability of schoolboys and See also:young working lads to sickness is small, and these societies frequently accumulate funds, which, as their membership is temporary, remain unclaimed and are sometimes misapplied. The legislation of 1875 and 1876 was the result of the labours of a royal See also:commission of high authority, presided over by See also:Sir See also:Stafford See also:Northcote (afterwards See also:Lord See also:Iddesleigh), which sat from 187o to 1874, and prosecuted an exhaustive inquiry into the organization and See also:condition of the various classes of friendly societies. Their reports occupy more than a dozen large bluebooks. They divided registered friendly societies into 13 classes. The first class included the affiliated societies or " orders," such as the See also:Manchester Unity of See also:Oddfellows, the Ancient Order of Foresters, the See also:Rechabites, See also:Druids, &c. These societies have a central body, either situated in some large See also:town, as in the case of the Manchester Unity, or moving from See also:place to place, as in that of the Foresters. Under this central body, the country is (in most cases) parcelled out into districts, and these districts again consist each of a number of See also:independent branches, called " lodges," " courts," "tents," or " divisions," having a See also:separate fund administered by themselves, but contributing also to a fund under the control of the central body. Besides these great orders, there were smaller affiliated bodies, each having more than l000 members; and the affiliated form of society appears to have great attraction. Indeed, in the See also:colony of See also:Victoria, See also:Australia, all the existing friendly societies are of this class. The orders have their " secrets," but these, it may safely be said, are of a very See also:innocent character, and merely serve the purpose of identifying a member of a distant See also:branch by his knowledge of the " grip," and of the current password, &c. Indeed they are now so far from being " See also:secret societies " that their meetings are attended by reporters and the debates published in the See also:news-papers, and the Order of Foresters has passed a See also:wise See also:resolution expunging from its publications all affectation of See also:mystery. Most of the lodges existing before 1875 have converted themselves into registered branches. The requirement that for that purpose a See also:vote of three-fourths should be necessary was altered in 1895 to a See also:bare majority vote. The provisions as to See also:settlement of disputes were extended in 1885 to every description of dispute between branches and the central body, and in 1895 it was provided that the forty days after which a member may apply to the court to See also:settle a dispute where the society fails to do so, shall not begin to run until application has been made in succession to all the tribunals created by the order for the purpose. In 1887 it was enacted that no body which had been a registered branch should be registered as a separate society except upon See also:production of a certificate from the order that it had seceded or been expelled; and in 1895 it was further enacted that no such body should, after See also:secession or See also:expulsion, use any name or number implying.that it is still a branch of the order. The orders generally, especially the greater ones, have carefully supervised the valuations of their branches, and have urged and, as far as circumstances have rendered it practicable, have enforced upon the branches See also:measures for diminishing the deficiencies which the valuations have disclosed. They have organized plans by which branches disposed to make an effort to help themselves in this matter may be assisted out of a central fund. The second class was made up of " gener'al societies," principally existing in London, of which the commissioners enumerated 8 with nearly 6o,000 members, and funds amounting to a quarter of a million. The third class included the " county societies." These societies have been but feebly supported by those for whose benefit they are instituted, having all exacted high rates of contribution, in order to secure See also:financial soundness. Class 4, " local town societies," is a very numerous one. Among some of the larger societies may be mentioned the " See also:Chelmsford Provident," the " See also:Brighton and See also:Sussex Mutual," the " See also:Cannon See also:Street, See also:Birmingham," the " Birmingham General Provident." See also:Ili this See also:group might also be included the interesting societies which are established among the Jewish community. They differ from ordinary friendly societies partly in the nature of the benefits granted upon death, which are intended to compensate for loss of employment during the time of ceremonial seclusion enjoined by the Jewish law, which is called " sitting shiva." They also provide a See also:cab for the mourners and See also:rabbi, and a tombstone for the departed, and the same benefits as an ordinary friendly society during sickness. Some also provide a place of See also:worship. Of these the " Pursuers of See also:Peace " (enrolled in See also:December 1797), the " Bikhur Cholim, or Visitors of the Sick " (See also:April 1798), the " See also:Hozier Holim " (1804), may be mentioned. Class 5 was " local village and country societies," including the small public-house clubs which abound in the villages and rural districts, a large proportion of which are unregistered. Class 6 was formed of " particular trade societies." Class 7 was " dividing societies." These were before 1875 unauthorized by law, though they were very attractive to the members. Their practice is usually to start afresh every See also:January, paying a subscription somewhat in excess of that usually charged by an ordinary friendly society, out of which a sick allowance is granted to any member who may fall sick during the year, and at See also:Christmas the See also:balance not so applied is divided among the members equally, with the exception of a small sum See also:left to begin the new year with. The See also:mischief of the system is that, as there is no accumulation of funds, the society cannot provide for prolonged sickness or old age, and must either break up altogether or exclude its sick and aged members at the very time when they most need its help. This, however, has not impaired the popularity of the societies, and the act of 1875, framed on the sound principle that the See also:protection of the law should not be withheld from any form of association, enables a society to be registered with a rule for dividing its funds, provided only that all existing claims upon the society are to be met before a See also:division takes place. Class 8, " See also:deposit friendly societies," combine the characteristics of a savings See also:bank with those of a friendly society. They were devised by the Hon. and Rev. S. Best, on the principle that a certain proportion of the sick allowance is to be raised out of a member's separate deposit account, which, if not so used, is retained for his benefit. Their advantages are in the encouragement they offer to saving, and in meeting the selfish objection sometimes raised to friendly societies, that the See also:man who is not sick gets nothing for his money ; their disadvantage is in their failing to meet cases of sickness so prolonged as to exhaust the whole of the member's own deposit. C lass 9, " collecting societies," are so called because their contributions are received through a machinery of house-to-house collection. These were the subject of much laborious investigation and close See also:attention on the part of the commissioners. They See also:deal with a See also:lower class of the community, both with respect to means and to intelligence, than that from which the members of ordinary friendly societies are See also:drawn. The large emoluments gained by the officers and collectors, the high percentage of expenditure (often exceeding half the contributions), and the excessive frequency of lapsing of insurances point to mischiefs in their management. " The See also:radical evil of the whole system (the commissioners remark) appears to us to See also:lie in the employment of collectors, otherwise than under the direct supervision and control of the members, a supervision and control which we fear to be absolutely unattainable in burial societies that are not purely local." On the other hand, it must be conceded that these societies extend the benefits of life insurance to a class which the other societies cannot reach, namely, the class that will not take the trouble to attend at an office, but must be induced to effect an insurance by a house-to-house canvasser, and be regularly visited by the See also:collector to ensure their paying the contributions. To many such persons these societies, despite all their errors of constitution and management, have been of great benefit. The great source of these errors lies in a tendency on the part of the managers of the societies to forget that they are simply trustees, and to look upon the concern as their own personal See also:property to be managed for their own benefit. These societies are of two kinds, local and general. For the general societies the act of 1875 made certain stringent provisions. Each member was to be furnished with a copy of the rules for one See also:penny, and a signed policy for the same See also:charge. See also:Forfeiture of benefit for non-payment is not to be enforced without fourteen days' written See also:notice. The See also:transfer of a member from one society to another was not to be made without his written consent and notice to the society affected. No collector is to be a manager, or vote or take part at any meeting. At least one general meeting was to be held every year, of which notice must be given either by See also:advertisement or by letter or See also:post card to each member. The balance-See also:sheet is to be open for inspection seven days before the meeting, and to be certified by a public accountant, not an officer of the society. Disputes could be settled by justices, or county courts, notwithstanding anything in the rules of the society to the contrary. Closely associated with the question of the management of these societies is that of the risk incurred by See also:infant life, through the facilities offered by these societies for making insurances on the death of children. That this is a real risk is certain from the records of the assizes, and from many circumstances of suspicion; but the extent of it cannot be measured, and has probably been exaggerated. It has never been lawful to assure more than £6 on the death of a child under five years of age, or more than Do on the death of one under ten. Previous to the act of 1875, however, there was no machinery for ascertai.ning that the law was complied with, or for enforcing it. This is supplied by that act, though still somewhat imperfectly. When the See also:bill went up to the House of Lords, an amendment was made, reducing the limit of assurance on a child under three years of age to £3, but this amendment was unfortunately disagreed with by the House of See also:Commons. Class to, See also:annuity societies, prevail in the See also:west of See also:England. These societies are few, and their business is diminishing. Most of them originated at the time when government subsidized friendly societies by allowing them £4: II: 3 % per annum interest. Now annuities may be See also:purchased direct from the See also:National See also:Debt commissioners. These societies are more numerous, however, in Ireland. Class 1 t, See also:female societies, are numerous. Many of them resemble affiliated orders at least in name, calling themselves Female Foresters, Odd Sisters, Loyal Orangewomen, Comforting Sisters and so forth. In their rules may be found such a provision as that a member shall be fined who does not " behave as becometh an Orangewoman." Many are unregistered. In the See also:northern counties of England they are sometimes termed " life boxes," doubtless from the old See also:custom of placing the contributions in a See also:box. The trustees, treasurer, and committee are usually See also:females, but very frequently the secretary is a man, paid a small See also:salary. Under Class 12 the commissioners included the societies for various purposes which were authorized by the secretary of state to be registered under the Friendly Societies Act of 1855, comprising working-men's clubs, and certain specially authorized societies, as well as others that are now defined to be friendly societies. Among these purposes are assisting members in search of employment; assisting members during slack seasons of trade; granting temporary relief to members in distressed circumstances; See also:purchase of coals and other necessaries to be supplied to members; relief or maintenance in case of lameness, See also:blindness, See also:insanity, See also:paralysis, or bodily hurt through accidents; also, the assurance against loss by disease or death of See also:cattle employed in trade or See also:agriculture; relief in case of shipwreck or loss or damage to boats or nets; and societies for social intercourse, mutual helpfulness, mental and moral improvement, rational recreation, &c., called working-men's clubs. Class 13 was composed of cattle insurance societies. These are the thirteen classes into which the commissioners divided registered friendly societies. There were 26,034 societies enrolled or certified under the various acts for friendly societies in force between 1793 and 1855; and, as we have seen, 21,875 societies registered under the act of 1855 before the 1st January 1876, when the act of 1875 came into operation. The See also:total there-fore of societies to which a legal constitution had been given was 47,909. Of these 26,087 were presumed to be in existence when the registrar called for his annual return, but only 11,282 furnished the return required. These had 3,404,187 members, and £9,336,946 funds. Twenty-two societies returned over io,000 members each; nine over 30,000. One society (the Royal See also:Liver Friendly Society, See also:Liverpool, the largest of the collecting societies) returned 682,371 members. The next in order was one of the same class, the United Assurance Society, Liverpool, with 159,957 members; but in all societies of this class the membership consists very largely of infants. The average of members in the 11,26o societies with less than so,000 members each was only 171. Such were the registered societies; but there remained behind a large body of unregistered societies. With increased knowledge of the advantages of See also:registration,' and of the true principles upon which friendly societies should be established, the number of unregistered societies, in comparison with those registered, ought to become much less. On the actuarial See also:side it is in the highest degree essential to the interests of their members that friendly societies should be financially sound,—in other words, that they should throughout their existence be able to meet the engagements into which they have entered with their members. For this purpose it is necessary that the members' contributions should be so fixed as to prove adequate, with proper management, to provide the benefits promised to the members. These benefits almost entirely depend upon the contingencies of See also:health and life; that is, they take the form of payments to members when sick, of payments to members upon attaining given ages, or of payments upon members' deaths, and frequently a member is ' These may be briefly summed up thus:—(1) power to hold See also:land and vesting of property in trustees by See also:mere See also:appointment; (2) remedy against misapplication of funds; (3) priority in See also:bankruptcy or on death of officer; (4) transfer of stock by,direction of chief registrar; (5) exemption from See also:stamp duties; (6) membership of minors; (7) certificates of birth and death at reduced .cost; (R) investment with National Debt Commissioners; (9) reduction of fines on See also:admission to copyholds; (to) See also:discharge of mortgages by mere See also:receipt; (11) See also:obligation on officers to render accounts; (12) settlement of disputes; (13) insurance of funeral expenses for wives and children without insurable interest; (14) nomination at death; (15) payment without See also:administration; (16) services of public auditors and valuers; (17) registry of documents, of which copies may be put in See also:evidence. assured for all these benefits, viz. a weekly payment if at any time sick before attaining a certain age, a weekly payment for the See also:remainder of life after attaining that age, and a sum to be paid upon his death. Of course the See also:object of the allowance in sickness is to provide a substitute for the weekly wage lost in consequence of being unable to See also:work, and the object of the weekly payment after attaining a certain age, when the member will probably be too infirm to be able to See also:earn a living by the exercise of his calling or occupation, is to provide him with the necessaries of life, and so enable him to be independent of poor relief. There is every reason to believe that, when a large group of persons of the same age and calling are observed, there will be found to prevail among them, taken one with another, an average number of days' sickness, as well as an average rate of mortality, in passing through each year of life, which can be very nearly predicted from the results furnished by See also:statistics based upon observations previously made upon similarly circumstanced See also:groups. Assuming, therefore, the necessary statistics to be attainable, the computation of suitable rates of contribution to be paid by the members of a society in return for certain allowances during sickness, or upon attaining a certain age, or upon death, can be readily made by an actuarial See also:expert. Accordingly, to furnish these statistics, the act of 1875, in continuation of an enactment which first appeared in a statute passed in 1829, required every registered society to make quinquennial returns of the sickness and mortality experienced by its members. By the year 188o ten periods of five years had been completed, and at the end of each of them a number of returns had been received. Some of these had been tabulated by actuaries, the latest tabulation being of those for the five years ending 1855. There remained untabulated five complete sets of returns for the five subsequent quinquennial periods. It was resolved that these should be tabulated once for all, and it was considered that they would afford sufficient material for the construction of tables of sickness and mortality that might be adopted for the future as See also:standard tables for friendly societies; and that it would be inexpedient to impose any longer on the societies the See also:burden of making such returns. This requirement of the act was accordingly repealed in 1882. The result of the tabulation appeared in 1896, in a bluebook of 1367 See also:folio pages, containing tables based upon the experience of nearly four and a half million years of life. These tables showed generally, as compared with previous observations, an increased liability to sickness. This inference has been confirmed by the observations of Mr See also:Alfred W. See also:Watson, actuary to the Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity Friendly Society, on his investigation of the sickness and mortality experience of that society during the five years 1893-1897, which extended over 800,000 individuals, more than 3,000,000 years of life and 7,000,000 See also:weeks of sickness. The See also:establishment of the National See also:Conference of Friendly Societies cease to be observed. These conditions apply not only to societies by the orders and a few other societies has been of great service in obtaining improvements in the law, and in enabling the societies existing in See also:Ontario, but to foreign societies transacting business strongly to represent to the government and the legislature any there. grievance entertained by them. A complaint that membership of a In several of the West See also:Indian Islands statutes have been See also:shop club was made by certain employers a condition of employment, and that the rules of the club required the members to withdraw from other societies, led to the appointment of a departmental committee, who recommended that such a condition of employment should be made illegal, except in certain cases, and that in every case it should be illegal to make the withdrawal from a society a condition of employment. In 1902 an act was passed based upon this recommendation. It is an increasing practice among societies of combining together to obtain medical attendance and See also:medicine for their members by the formation of medical associations. In 1895 trade unions were enabled to join in such associations, and it was provided that a contributing society or See also:union should not withdraw from an association except upon three months' notice. The working of these associations has been viewed with dissatisfaction by members of the medical profession, and it has been suggested that a See also:board of See also:con-ciliation should be formed consisting of representatives of the Conference of Friendly Societies and of an equal number of medical men. The following figures are derived from returns of registered societies and branches of registered societies to the beginning of i9o5 : Number of Number of Amount of Returns. Members. Funds. Ordinary Friendly Societies (classes 2 to 8, to and i t). 6,938 3,132,065 £17,042,398
Societies having Branches (class 1) 20,819 2,606,029 23,446,330
Collecting Friendly Societies (class 9) . 45 7,448,549 7,862,569
Benevolent Societies (class 12) 75 26,509 317,913
Working Men's Clubs (class 12) . 913 236,298 318,945
Specially Authorized Societies (class 12) 122 75,089 628,759
Specially Authorized Loan Societies (class 12) 517 115,511 771,578
I Medical Societies (see last See also:paragraph) . 95 324,145 62,049
1 Cattle Insurance Societies (class 13) 57 3,736 7,746
i Shop Clubs (under act of 1902) 7 10,859 773
29,588 13,978,790 £50,459,060
See also:British See also:Empire.—In many of the British colonies legislation on the subject similar to that of the See also:mother-country has been adopted. In those forming the See also:Commonwealth of Australia and in New See also:Zealand the affiliated orders hold the See also: The average funds per member are £19,1os. Nearly four-fifths are invested in the purchase or on See also:mortgage of real estate.
In Cape Colony no society is allowed to register unless it be shown to the See also:satisfaction of the registrar that the contributions which it proposes to charge are adequate to provide for the benefits which it undertakes to See also: In See also:France under the second empire a See also:scheme was prepared for assisting friendly societies by granting them collective insurances under government security. The societies have the See also:privilege of investing their funds in the Caisse des Depots et Consignations, corresponding to the English National Debt commission. The dual See also:classification of societies in France is into those " authorized " and those " approved." By.a law of the 1st of April 1898 a friendly society may be established by merely depositing a copy of its rules and See also:list of officers with the sousprefet. Approved societies are entitled to certain state subventions for assisting in the purchase of old-age See also:pensions and otherwise. A higher See also:council has been established to advise on their working. In See also:Germany a law was passed on the 7th of April 1876 (amended on the 1st of See also:June 1884) which prescribed for registered friendly societies many things which in England are left to the discretion of their founders; and it provided for an amount of official interference in their management that is wholly unknown here. The superintending authority had a right to inspect the books of every society, whether registered or not, and to give formal notice to a society to call in arrears, exclude defaulters, pay benefits or revoke illegal resolutions. A higher authority might, in certain cases, order societies to be dissolved. These See also:pro-visions related to voluntary societies; but it was competent for communal authorities also to order the formation of a friendly society, and to make a regulation compelling all workmen not already members of a society to join it. Since then the great See also:series of imperial statutes has been passed, commencing in 1883 with that for sickness insurance, followed in 1884 by that for workmen's See also:accident insurance, extended to sickness insurance in 1885, See also:developed in the laws relating to accident and sickness insurance of persons engaged in agricultural and forestry pursuits in 1886, of persons engaged in the See also:building trade and of See also:seamen and others engaged in seafaring pursuits in 1887, and crowned by the law relating to infirmity and old-age insurance in 1889. Mr H. Unger, a distinguished actuary, remarks that the whole See also:German workman's insurance and its executive bodies (sickness funds, trade associations, insurance institutions) are constantly endeavouring to improve the position of the workmen in a social and sanitary aspect, to the benefit of See also:internal peace and the welfare of the German empire. In See also: A very large proportion, probably more than one-half, of the societies which have secret organizations pay benefits in case of sickness, accident, See also:disability, and funeral expenses in case of death. This class of societies grew out of the English friendly societies and have masonic characteristics. The Freemasons and other secret societies, while not all having benefit features in their distinctive organizations, have See also:auxiliary societies with such features. There is also a class of secret societies, based largely on masonic usages, that have for their See also:principal object the payment of benefits in some form. These are the Oddfellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honour, the Royal Arcanum and some others. Many trade unions have now adopted benefit features, especially the Typo-graphical Union, while many subordinate unions and great See also:publishing houses have mutual relief associations purely of a local character, and some of the more important See also:newspapers have such mutual relief or benefit societies. The New See also:York trade unions, taken as a whole, have paid out large sums of money in benefits where members have been out of work, or are sick, or are on strike or have died. The total paid in one year for all these benefits was over $500,000. It is impossible to give the membership of all the fraternal associations in the United States; but, including Oddfellows, Freemasons, purely benefit associations and all the class of the larger fraternal organizations, the membership is over 6,000,000. Among the more important, so far as membership is concerned, are the Knights of Pythias, the Oddfellows, the Modern See also:Wood-men of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Improved Order of Red Men, Royal Arcanum, Knights of the See also:Maccabees, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Foresters of America, Independent Order of Foresters, &c. These and other organizations pay out a vast amount of money every year in the various forms. Since about the year 187o a new form of benefit organization has come into existence. This is a life insurance based on the assessment See also:plan, assessments being levied whenever a member See also:dies; or, as more recently, See also:regular assessments being made in advance of death, as post-mortem assessments have proved a fallacious method of securing the means of paying death benefits. There are about 200 mutual benefit insurance companies or associations in the United States conducted on the " See also:lodge system "; that is to say, they have regular meetings for social purposes and for general improvement, and in their work there is found the See also:mysticism, forms and ceremonies which belong to secret societies generally. These elements have proved a very strong force in keeping this class of associations fairly intact. The " work " of the lodges in the See also:initiation of members and their passing through various degrees is attractive to many people, and in small places, remote from the amusements of the city, these lodges constitute a resort where members can give See also:play to their various talents. In most of them the features of the Masonic ritual are prominent. The amount of insurance which a single member can carry in such associations is small. In the Knights of Honour, one of the first of this class, policies ranging from 50o to $2000 are granted. In the Royal Arcanum the maximum is $3000. This form of insurance may be called co-operative, and has many elements which make the organizations practising it stronger than the ordinary assessment insurance companies having no stated meetings of members. These co-operative insurance societies are organized on the federal plan—as the Knights of Honour, for instance—having local assemblies, where the lodge-See also:room element is in force; state organizations, to which the local bodies send delegates, and the national organization, which conducts all the insurance business through its executive officers. The local societies pay a certain given amount towards the support of the state and national offices, and while originally they paid death assessments, as called for, they now pay regular monthly assessments, in order to avoid the weakness of the post-mortem assessment. The difficulty which these organizations have in conducting the insurance business is in keeping the average age of membership at a See also:low point, for with an increase in the average the assessments increase, and many such organizations have had great trouble to convince younger members that their assessments should be increased to make up for the heavy losses among the older members. The experience of these purely insurance associations has not been sufficient yet to demonstrate their See also:absolute soundness or desirability, but they have enabled a large number of persons of limited means to carry insurance at a very low rate. They have not materially interfered with regular level See also:premium insurance enterprises, for they have stimulated the people to understand the benefits of insurance, and have really been an educational force in this direction. A modern method of benefit association is found in the railway relief departments of some of the large railway corporations. These departments are organized upon a different plan from the Railway benefit features of labour organizations and secret societies, relief providing the members not only with payments on account depart. of death, but also with assistance of definite amounts in ments. case of sickness or accident, the railway companies con- tributing to the funds, partly from philanthropic and partly from financial motives. The principal railway companies in the United States which have established these relief departments are the See also:Pennsylvania, the See also:Philadelphia & See also:Reading, the See also:Baltimore & See also:Ohio, the See also:Chicago, See also:Burlington & See also:Quincy, and the Plant System. The relief See also:department benefits the employes, the See also:railways, and the public, because it is based upon the sound principle that the interests and welfare of labour, See also:capital and society are common and harmonious, and can be promoted more by co-operation of effort than by antagonism and strife." Assessment insurance. The railway employes support one-twentieth of the entire population, and most of their associations maintain organizations to provide their members with relief and insurance. The Brotherhood of See also:Locomotive See also:Engineers, the Order of Railway Conductors of America, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railway Trackmen, the Switchmen's Union, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and the Order of Railway Telegraphers, all have relief and benefit features. The See also:oldest and largest of these is the See also:International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, founded at See also:Detroit in See also:August 1863. Like other labour organizations of the higher class of workmen, the See also:objects of the brotherhoods of railway employes are partly social and partly educational, but in addition to these great purposes they seek to protect their members through relief and benefit features. Of course the relief departments of the railway companies are competitors of the relief and insurance features of the railway employes orders, but both methods of providing assistance have proved successful and beneficial. For a history of the various American organizations, see See also:Albert C. See also:Stevens, The Cyclopaedia of Fraternities (New York, 1899) ; Facts for Fraternalists, published by the Fraternal See also:Monitor, See also:Rochester, N.Y.; for annual statements, " The See also:World See also:Almanac," " Railway Relief Departments," " Brotherhood Relief and Insurance of Railway Employes," " Mutual Relief and Benefit Associations in the Printing Trade," " Benefit Features of American Trade Unions," Bulletins Nos. 8, 17, 19 and 22 of the U.S. Department of Labour. (C. D. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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