Chapter XIX: Front Matter (19)

The societies generally not being established upon any scientific principle, those which met with this prosperity were the exception to the 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 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 industry, tends to the moral deterioration of the people and to the accumulation of heavy burthens upon parishes; and it is desirable, with a view as well to the reduction of the 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 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 fraud or miscalculation." This 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, infancy, advanced age, widowhood or any other natural state or contingency, whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way of 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 to satisfy 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 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 fit and proper, according to the most correct calculation of which the nature of the case would admit. The justices in quarter sessions were also by this act authorized to publish general rules for the formation and government of friendly societies within their county. The practical effect of this statute in requiring that the societies formed under it should be established on sound principles does not appear to have been as great as might have been expected. The justices frequently accepted as "persons skilled in calculation" 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 relating to friendly societies was entirely reconstructed by an act of that year, and a 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 John Tidd Pratt (1797-1870); and no account of friendly societies would be complete that did not do justice to the remarkable public service rendered by this gentleman. For forty years, though he had by statute really very slight authority over the societies, his name exercised the widest influence, and the numerous reports and publications by which he endeavoured to impress upon the public mind sound principles of management of friendly societies, and to expose those which were managed upon unsound principles, made him a terror to evil-doers. On the other hand, he lent with readiness the aid of his legal knowledge and great mental activity to assisting well-intentioned societies in coming within the provisions of the acts, and thus gave many excellent schemes a legal organization.

By the act of 1829, in lieu of the discretion as to whether the formation of the proposed society would be useful and beneficial, and the requirement of the actuarial certificate to the tables, it was enacted that the justices were to satisfy themselves that the tables proposed to be used might be adopted with safety to all parties concerned. This provision, of course, became a dead letter and was repealed in 1834. Thenceforth, societies were free to establish themselves upon what conditions and with what rates they chose, provided only they satisfied the barrister that the rules were "calculated to carry into effect the intention of the parties framing them," and were "in conformity to law."

By an act of 1846 the barrister certifying the rules was constituted "Registrar of Friendly Societies," and the rules of all societies were brought together under his custody. An actuarial certificate was to be obtained before any society could be registered "for the purpose of securing any benefit dependent on the laws of sickness and mortality." In 1850 the acts were again repealed and consolidated with amendments. Societies were divided into two classes, "certified" and "registered." The certified societies were such as obtained a certificate to their tables by an actuary possessing a given qualification, who was required to set forth the data of sickness and mortality upon which he proceeded, and the rate of interest assumed in the calculations. All other societies were to be simply registered. Very few societies were constituted of the "certified" class. The distinction of classes was repealed and the acts were again consolidated in 1855. Under this act, which admitted of all possible 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 Collecting Societies and Industrial Assurance Companies Act 1896. This legislation still bears the permissive and elastic 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 control of a 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 register a society or an amendment of rules, and in the case of suspension or cancelling of registry, is interposed before appeal is to be made to the High Court. Registry under a particular name may be refused if in the 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 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 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 call a general meeting of the members to consider and determine any matter affecting its interests. These are 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 light. In others a system of mismanagement has been exposed and effectually checked. The power of calling special meetings has enabled societies to remedy defects in their rules, to remove officers guilty of misconduct, &c., where the procedure prescribed by the rules was for some 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 cover the benefits assured (upon which he consults his actuary), order the society to be dissolved, and 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 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, whether authorized 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 1908 membership 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 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 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 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 commission of high authority, presided over by Sir Stafford
Northcote (afterwards Lord Iddesleigh), which sat from 1870 to 1874,
and prosecuted an exhaustive inquiry into the organization and
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 Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, the Ancient Order of Foresters,
the Rechabites, Druids, &c. These societies have a central body,
either situated in some large town, as in the case of the Manchester
Unity, or moving from 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
independent branches, called "lodges," "courts," "tents," or
"divisions," having a 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 1000 members; and the affiliated form of society
appears to have great attraction. Indeed, in the colony of Victoria,
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 innocent character, and merely serve the purpose of identifying
a member of a distant branch by his knowledge of the "grip," and of
the current password, &c. Indeed they are now so far from being
"secret societies" that their meetings are attended by reporters and
the debates published in the newspapers, and the Order of Foresters
has passed a wise resolution expunging from its publications all
affectation of mystery.

Most of the lodges existing before 1875 have converted themselves into
registered branches. The requirement that for that purpose a vote of
three-fourths should be necessary was altered in 1895 to a bare
majority vote. The provisions as to 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 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 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 secession or 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 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 "general societies," principally
existing in London, of which the commissioners enumerated 8 with
nearly 60,000 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 financial soundness.

Class 4, "local town societies," is a very numerous one. Among some of
the larger societies may be mentioned the "Chelmsford Provident," the
"Brighton and Sussex Mutual," the "Cannon Street, Birmingham," the
"Birmingham General Provident." In this 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 cab for the mourners and rabbi, and a tombstone
for the departed, and the same benefits as an ordinary friendly
society during sickness. Some also provide a place of worship. Of
these the "Pursuers of Peace" (enrolled in December 1797), the "Bikhur
Cholim, or Visitors of the Sick" (April 1798), the "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 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 Christmas the balance
not so applied is divided among the members equally, with the
exception of a small sum left to begin the new year with. The 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 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 division takes
place.

Class 8, "deposit friendly societies," combine the characteristics of
a savings 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 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.

Class 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 attention on the part of the commissioners. They deal with a
lower class of the community, both with respect to means and to
intelligence, than that from which the members of ordinary friendly
societies are 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 radical evil
of the whole system (the commissioners remark) appears to us to 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 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 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 penny, and
a signed policy for the same charge. Forfeiture of benefit for
non-payment is not to be enforced without fourteen days' written
notice. The 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 advertisement or by letter or
post card to each member. The balance-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 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 L6 on the death of a child under five years of age, or more
than L10 on the death of one under ten. Previous to the act of 1875,
however, there was no machinery for ascertaining that the law was
complied with, or for enforcing it. This is supplied by that act,
though still somewhat imperfectly. When the 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 L3, but this amendment was
unfortunately disagreed with by the House of Commons.

Class 10, annuity societies, prevail in the west of 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 L4: 11: 3% per annum interest. Now annuities may be
purchased direct from the National Debt commissioners. These societies
are more numerous, however, in Ireland.

Class 11, 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 northern counties of England they are
sometimes termed "life boxes," doubtless from the old custom of
placing the contributions in a box. The trustees, treasurer, and
committee are usually females, but very frequently the secretary is a
man, paid a small 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; purchase of coals and
other necessaries to be supplied to members; relief or maintenance in
case of lameness, blindness, insanity, paralysis, or bodily hurt
through accidents; also, the assurance against loss by disease or
death of cattle employed in trade or 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 total therefore 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 L9,336,946 funds. Twenty-two societies
returned over 10,000 members each; nine over 30,000. One society (the
Royal Liver Friendly Society, 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 11,260
societies with less than 10,000 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 registration,[2] 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 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 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 assured for all these
benefits, viz. a weekly payment if at any time sick before attaining a
certain age, a weekly payment for the remainder of life after
attaining that age, and a sum to be paid upon his death. Of course the
object of the allowance in sickness is to provide a substitute for the
weekly wage lost in consequence of being unable to 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 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 statistics based upon observations previously
made upon similarly circumstanced 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 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 1880 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 standard tables for friendly societies; and that it
would be inexpedient to impose any longer on the societies the 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 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 Alfred W. 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 weeks of
sickness.

The establishment of the National Conference of Friendly 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
strongly to represent to the government and the legislature any
grievance entertained by them. A complaint that membership of a 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 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 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 board of conciliation 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 1905:

+---------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| | Number of | Number of | Amount of |
| | Returns. | Members. | Funds. |
+---------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| Ordinary Friendly Societies (classes 2 to 8, 10 and 11) | 6,938 | 3,132,065 |L17,042,398 |
| 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 |
| Medical Societies (see last paragraph) | 95 | 324,145 | 62,049 |
| Cattle Insurance Societies (class 13) | 57 | 3,736 | 7,746 |
| Shop Clubs (under act of 1902) | 7 | 10,859 | 773 |
| +-----------+-----------+------------+
| | 29,588 |13,978,790 |L50,459,060 |
+---------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+

_British Empire._--In many of the British colonies legislation on the subject similar to that of the mother-country has been adopted. In those forming the Commonwealth of Australia and in New Zealand the affiliated orders hold the field, there being few, if any, independent friendly societies. The state of Victoria has more than 1000 lodges with more than 100,000 members and nearly 1-1/2 million pounds funds, averaging nearly L14 per member. Besides the registrar there is a government actuary for friendly societies, by whom the liabilities and accounts of all societies are valued every five years, a method which ensures uniformity in the processes of valuation. The friendly societies in the other Australasian states are not so numerous nor so wealthy, but are in each case under the supervision of vigilant public officials. In New Zealand a friendly society was established at New Plymouth in 1841, the first year of that settlement. The formation of a society at Nelson was resolved upon by the emigrants on shipboard on their passage out, and the first meeting was held among the tall fern near the beach a few days after they landed. The societies have now a registrar, an actuary, a revising barrister and two public valuers. Investigations have been made into their sickness experience, with results which compare favourably with those of the Manchester Unity and the registry office in the mother-country until the higher ages, when greater sickness appears to result from lower mortality. The average funds per member are L19, 10s. Nearly four-fifths are invested in the purchase or on mortgage of real estate.

In Cape Colony no society is allowed to register unless it be shown to the satisfaction of the registrar that the contributions which it proposes to charge are adequate to provide for the benefits which it undertakes to grant. The consequence is that little more than one-third of the existing societies are registered.

In the Dominion of Canada, province of Ontario, extensive powers of control are given to the registrar, and societies are not admitted to registry without strict proof of their compliance with the conditions of registry imposed by the law. Very full returns of their transactions are required and published, and registry is cancelled when any of the conditions of registry cease to be observed. These conditions apply not only to societies existing in Ontario, but to foreign societies transacting business there.

In several of the West Indian Islands statutes have been passed on the model of British legislation and registrars have been appointed.

_European Countries._--In foreign countries the development of friendly societies has proceeded upon different lines. Belgium has a _Commission royale permanente des societes de secours mutuel_. Under laws passed in 1851 and 1894 societies are divided into two classes, recognized and not recognized. The recognized societies were in 1886 only about half as many as the unrecognized. There were in 1904 nearly 7000 recognized societies with 700,000 members. They enjoy the privileges of incorporation, exemption from stamp duty, gratuitous announcement in the official Moniteur and may have free postage.

In France under the second empire a scheme was prepared for assisting friendly societies by granting them collective insurances under government security. The societies have the privilege of investing their funds in the Caisse des Depots et Consignations, corresponding to the English National Debt commission. The dual 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 list of officers with the sousprefet. Approved societies are entitled to certain state subventions for assisting in the purchase of old-age pensions and otherwise. A higher council has been established to advise on their working.

In Germany a law was passed on the 7th of April 1876 (amended on the 1st of 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 provisions 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 series of imperial statutes has been passed, commencing in 1883 with that for sickness insurance, followed in 1884 by that for workmen's accident insurance, extended to sickness insurance in 1885, 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 building trade and of 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 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 internal peace and the welfare of the German empire.

In Holland it is stated that the number of burial clubs and sickness benefit societies appears to be greater in proportion to the population than in any other country; but that the burial clubs do not rest upon a scientific basis, and have an unfavourable influence upon infant mortality. Half the population are insured in some burial club or other. The sick benefit societies are, as in England, some in a good and some in a bad financial condition; and legislation follows the English system of compulsory publicity, combined with freedom of competition.

In Spain friendly societies have grown out of the religious gilds. They are regulated by an act of 1887. Their actuarial condition appears to be backward, but to show indications of improvement. (E. W. B.)

_United States._--Under the title of fraternal societies are included in the United States what are known in England as friendly societies, having some basis of mutual help to members, mutual insurance associations and benefit associations of all kinds. There are various classes and a great variety of forms of fraternal associations. It is therefore difficult to give a concrete historical statement of their origin and growth; but, dealing with those having benefit features for the payment of certain amounts in case of sickness, accident or death, it is found that their history in the United States is practically within the last half of the 19th century. The more important of the older organizations are the Improved Order of Red Men, founded in 1771 and reorganized in 1834; Ancient Order of Foresters, 1836; Ancient Order of Hibernians of America, 1836; United Ancient Order of Druids, 1839; Independent Order of Rechabites, 1842; Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, founded in 1843; Order of the United American Mechanics, 1845; Independent Order of Free Sons of Israel, 1849; Junior Order of United American Mechanics, 1853. A very large proportion, probably more than one-half, of the societies which have secret organizations pay benefits in case of sickness, accident, 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 auxiliary societies with such features. There is also a class of secret societies, based largely on masonic usages, that have for their 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 Typographical Union, while many subordinate unions and great publishing houses have mutual relief associations purely of a local character, and some of the more important newspapers have such mutual relief or benefit societies. The New 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 Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Improved Order of Red Men, Royal Arcanum, Knights of the 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.

Assessment insurance.

Since about the year 1870 a new form of benefit organization has come
into existence. This is a life insurance based on the assessment plan,
assessments being levied whenever a member dies; or, as more recently,
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 "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 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 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 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 $500
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-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 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 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 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.

Railway relief departments.

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 benefit
features of labour organizations and secret societies, providing the
members not only with payments on account of death, but also with
assistance of definite amounts in case of sickness or accident, the
railway companies contributing 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 Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia & Reading, the Baltimore & Ohio,
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Plant System. The relief
department benefits the employes, the railways, and the public,
because it is based upon the sound principle that the "interests and
welfare of labour, capital and society are common and harmonious, and
can be promoted more by co-operation of effort than by antagonism and
strife." 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
Locomotive 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 oldest and
largest of these is the International Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers, founded at Detroit in August 1863. Like other labour
organizations of the higher class of workmen, the 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 Albert C.
Stevens, _The Cyclopaedia of Fraternities_ (New York, 1899); _Facts
for Fraternalists_, published by the _Fraternal Monitor_, Rochester,
N.Y.; for annual statements, "The _World_ 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. W.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The word "friend" (O.E. _freond_, Ger. _Freund_, Dutch _Vriend_)
is derived from an old Teutonic verb meaning to love. While used
generally as the opposite to enemy, it is specially the term which
connotes any degree, but particularly a high degree, of personal
goodwill, affection or regard, from which the element of sexual love
is absent.

[2] These may be briefly summed up thus:--(1) power to hold land and
vesting of property in trustees by mere appointment; (2) remedy
against misapplication of funds; (3) priority in bankruptcy or on
death of officer; (4) transfer of stock by direction of chief
registrar; (5) exemption from stamp duties; (6) membership of minors;
(7) certificates of birth and death at reduced cost; (8) investment
with National Debt Commissioners; (9) reduction of fines on admission
to copyholds; (10) discharge of mortgages by mere receipt; (11)
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 administration; (16) services of public auditors and valuers;
(17) registry of documents, of which copies may be put in evidence.

FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF, the name adopted by a body of Christians, who, in law and general usage, are commonly called Quakers. Though small in number, the Society occupies a position of singular interest. To the student of ecclesiastical history it is remarkable as exhibiting a form of Christianity widely divergent from the prevalent types, being a religious fellowship which has no formulated creed demanding definite subscription, and no liturgy, priesthood or outward sacrament, and which gives to women an equal place with men in church organization. The student of English constitutional history will observe the success with which Friends have, by the mere force of passive resistance, obtained, from the legislature and the courts, indulgence for all their scruples and a legal recognition of their customs. In American history they occupy an important place because of the very prominent part which they played in the colonization of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The history of Quakerism in England may be divided into three periods:--(1) from the first preaching of George Fox in 1647 to the Toleration Act 1689; (2) from 1689 to the evangelical movement in 1835; (3) from 1835 to the present time.

George Fox.

1. _Period 1647-1689._--George Fox (1624-1691), the son of a weaver of Drayton-in-the-Clay (now called Fenny Drayton) in Leicestershire, was the founder of the Society. He began his public ministry in 1647, but there is no evidence to show that he set out to form a separate religious body. Impressed by the formalism and deadness of contemporary Christianity (of which there is much evidence in the confessions of the Puritan writers themselves) he emphasized the importance of repentance and personal striving after the truth. When, however, his preaching attracted followers, a community began to be formed, and traces of organization and discipline may be noted in very early times. In 1652 a number of people in Westmorland and north Lancashire who had separated from the common national worship,[1] came under the influence of Fox, and it was this community (if it can be so called) at Preston Patrick which formed the nucleus of the Quaker church. For two years the movement spread rapidly throughout the north of England, and in 1654 more than sixty ministers went to Norwich, London, Bristol, the Midlands, Wales and other parts. Fox and his fellow-preachers spoke whenever opportunity offered,--sometimes in churches (declining, for the most part, to occupy the pulpit), sometimes in barns, sometimes at market crosses. The insistence on an inward spiritual experience was the great contribution made by Friends to the religious life of the time, and to thousands it came as a new revelation. There is evidence to show that the arrangement for this "publishing of Truth" rested mainly with Fox, and that the expenses of it and of the foreign missions were borne out of a common fund. Margaret Fell (1614-1702), wife of Thomas Fell (1598-1658), vice-chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and afterwards of George Fox, opened her house, Swarthmore Hall near Ulverston, to these preachers and probably contributed largely to this fund.

Their insistence on the personal aspect of religious experience made it impossible for Friends to countenance the setting apart of any man or building for the purpose of divine worship to the exclusion of all others. The operation of the Spirit was in no way limited to time, or individual or place. The great stress which they laid upon this aspect of Christian truth caused them to be charged with unbelief in the current orthodox views as to the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the person and work of Christ, a charge which they always denied. Contrary to the Puritan teaching of the time, they insisted on the possibility, in this life, of complete victory over sin. Robert Barclay, writing some twenty years later, admits of degrees of perfection, and the possibility of a fall from it (_Apology_, Prop. viii.). Such teaching necessarily brought Fox and his friends into conflict with all the religious bodies of England, and they were continually engaged in strife with the Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Episcopalians and the wilder sectaries, such as the Ranters and the Muggletonians. The strife was often conducted on both sides with a zeal and bitterness of language which were characteristic of the period. Although there was little or no stress laid on either the joys or the terrors of a future life, the movement was not infrequently accompanied by most of those physical symptoms which usually go with vehement appeals to the conscience and emotions of a rude multitude. It was owing to these physical manifestations that the name "Quaker" was either first given or was regarded as appropriate when given for another reason (see Fox's _Journal_ concerning Justice Bennet at Derby in 1650 and Barclay's _Apology_, Prop. II, S 8). The early Friends definitely asserted that those who did not know quaking and trembling were strangers to the experience of Moses, David and other saints.

Some of the earliest adherents indulged in extravagances of no measured kind. Some of them imitated the Hebrew prophets in the performance of symbolic acts of denunciation, foretelling or warning, going barefoot, or in sackcloth or undress, and, in a few cases, for brief periods, altogether naked; even women in some cases distinguished themselves by extravagance of conduct. The case of James Nayler (1617?-1660), who, in spite of Fox's grave warning, allowed Messianic homage to be paid to him, is the best known of these instances; they are to be explained partly by mental disturbance, resulting from the undue prominence of a single idea, and partly by the general religious excitement of the time and the rudeness of manners prevailing in the classes of society from which many of these individuals came. It must be remembered that at this time, and for long after, there was no definite or formal membership or system of admission to the society, and it was open to any one by attending the meetings to gain the reputation of being a Quaker.