BENEFIT SOCIETY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 75, 31 March 1910, Page 4

BENEFIT SOCIETY.

HIBERNIAN CONFERENCE. CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS. The triennial movable meeting of the Australa.-ian Catholic Benefit Society was continued after The Pof-t went to press yesterday, Professor P. J. Nerhevy presiding. FORMING NEW DISTRICTS. The following motion was passed after considerable di?cu.-=MoJi : — "When any branch withdraws fiom a district to winch it belong* for the purpose of forming a new district or joining another district, the district from which the branch withdraws shall pay to the district which the branch joins 'it* shaie of the Benevolent Fund, after deducting from it all funeral allowances due and adding ull moneys (considered good) owing to it at the date of the secession. The value of members t>hall be ascertained by giving one share to cadi member and one share for every five years that he lias been a member. A member shall mean a benefit member on whose account four quarters' levy or more has been paid into the funeral fund. . . . In the event of a dispute arising regarding the umount payable, or delay of payment, the new district nhall b*ve the power, at the expiry of six months after data of secession, of referring the matter entirely or in part to the Registrar of Friendly Societies." Another motion was also passed, providing that, in the case of secession or the formation of a new district, there shall be paid to the new district on the account of a seceding branch the amount fstid into the Mutual Fidelity Guarantee and, with interest added. A PROPOSAL VETOED. The following proposal, put forward by the Napier delegate, wae lost by an overwhelming majority : — "That th« society pay £100 oh tlie deaih of a member, irrespective of what branch he belongs to, and that thi.s amount be raised by a levy of sixpence per member per death throughout the Dominion." INVESTMENT OF FUNDS. Bro. Kane, D.S., moved— "That this meeting affirms the principle of centralising the Sick Fund for the purpose of making moneys lying idle interestbearing, and instructs the district executive to formulate rules in regard to came and submit them for approval to a subsequent meeting of the district." He said that the success of the society depended upon the proper investment of its funds. Th» branch would do well to take into careful consideration the investment of every penny that could be made interest-bearing. Bra Beehan (Auckland) said that according to the last report of the Ue^ftrar of Friendly Societie* a yum of £48,000, included in the aweis of nil societies, was non-interet>t-bearmg. Th» speaker stated that he had discussed the whole question with the late Mr. Soddou, who thought societies could obtain good results when they had email sum» io invest by goingto the nearest po»t oflke and buying » debenture. Thi» society at an early date would have to emfexrk on a policy of investing all a\ailabk < funds. Bro. PoHnd (Invercargill) fcaidly thought » scheme of pooling funds for investment was practicable, especially ?a far a» the smaller lodges were concerned Bro. Flynn (Auckland) &ugge«tcd tti» advisableneM of Mtting up a commute* to go into tie whole question.

Bro. Sellars (Thorndon) agreed with Bro Pound that the bcheme was practicable. Bro. Hooker (Hawera) said he hnd gono to the trouble to take out a few comparative fignrcs. He declared that the Oddfellows hnd 2£ per cent, of it« funds non-interest-boa ring, tho Foresters 3 per cent., tho Rcchabiles 3A per cent , tho Druids 7 per cent., nnd the Hibernians 10 per cent. Thif was bad enough, but it was worse still when it iva« found that the Hibernian Society's fund>: earned less interest than the fund* invested by any of the other societies. Thin «as not right, and it was urgently necessary that something should be done to remedy such a condition of affair*. Bro. Dennehy (Milton) also approved the motion. The president made an appeal for the wise investment of branch funds and urged the affirmation of the principle outlined in the motion. At 9.30 pm, the debate was adjourned, until 10 a.m. to-day.