DRUID FINANCES

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 50, 1 March 1919, Page 9

DRUID FINANCES

CONSOLIDATION OF SICK

FUNDS

A PLAN TO SECURE BETTER

RETURNS

At the. last meeting of Mungaroa Lodge of Druids, "Upper Hutt, Bro. James Todd, P.A., read a paper in support of at proposal of great interest to the Order of Druids, viz., the compulsory .consolidation of the moneys to the credit of the sick and general funds, and the placing of these.moneys, for investment purposes, in the hands of' the Grand Lodge. Bro. Todd said :

. "I sometimes hear this proposal called the consolidation, of the sick funds, as if it were a plan for .the. centralisation of the whole sick fund machinery, but I wish to emphasise that it is.nothing of .the sort. The investment of moneys in hand, above a certain minimum amount, will be entrusted, to the Grand Lodge, but the administration of the sick fund, and all the machinery for paying out the benefits', will remain with the individual lodges^ Strictly speaking, consolidation is a plan, not tor centralisation of tHe sick funds, but for centralisation of investments, so that the moneys of the fund will earn a higher, rate of interest —so much higher that in the long run benefits may. be increased, or contributions may be reduced, or perhaps both these blessings will happen. "The fact that what is aimed at is a centralisation or consolidation of investments, and not a centralisation of the sick fund: machinery, is important, ■ because critics of the scheme are inclined to say that too much power will be taken, away from the. lodges. The critics seem to think that, after consolidation,- there will-be nothing left for the lodges and lodge officers to do. That is a mistake. 'They' will ■ have to do all they : do now, except invest moneys. Consolidation is not a plan to take away all the administrative work of lodges. . It is a plan to earn interest on the idle moneys of lodges, and to earn a higher interest on those lodge moneys that are not. idle. Therefore I hope that old members and young members and the officers will not pay too much attention to the argument that consolidation takes away the local interest in lodges. The only sort of in.terest that consoliaation affects, is the. interest upon your moneys, and if you thereby receive 5 to 6 per cent, instead of 3J per cent., are yoij goirig to complain about that? Personally, I do,not agree ; with those people who . want to centralise everything, nor do I agree with those people who want to decentralise everything. Where home, rule is best; I believe in home rule, and under consolidation there will be. plenty of things left for the lodges to try_ their brains on. But where centralisation is the better plan, as it certainly is in matters of investment, then I say : 'Consolidate by all means, and thereby give the lodses the benefit of interest: that, they cannot individually earn for themselves.' Grand Lodge investments average a return in interest of 5$ per cent., or about 2 per cent, hotter than many of the present, lodge moneys. That 2 per cent, would 'reduce contributions, greatly. I say that the gain_would far out-weigh any sentimental objection against the lodges parting with a portion of their powers. I say, moreover, that the improved financial results, instead of reducing local interest in the lodges, shouldbe a stimulus to lodge members to take a keener concern, in'their.own.affairs. ■ "Some of the critics who, oh principle, complain about centralisation are sincere, but some, lam convinced, are, not. Their real grievance is a greedy fear that their own lodge, being richer .than others," will contribute more than other lodges .to the consolidation. The r§al argument is: 'I am rich; my brother is poor; Ido not ■want to be tied in any way to my poor relation.' But is this brotherly? And if it is not brotherly, are we'to believe that brotherliness is a feeling to be exr changed between members of the same lodge, but not between lodge and lodge? Such an argument is admittedly bad in principle, being unbrotherly.;. and I also believe that it is bad in business. Admitting that the lodges- sharing in consolidation include both poor and rich, the financial advantage of centralising investments is so.great that I believe in the long run that not only some of the lodges, but every one of the lodges, will benefit. . . . . . .

"Perhaps I may be pardoned for quoting here a statement made in the Grand Lodge in 1915 regarding the Auckland District of the Ancient Order of Foresters :'A most Temarkable Tecoyery from an .unsatisfactory financial position has been effected by the Auckland District of the Ancient Order of Foresters. In 1907, owing to the existence of a too lavish scale of benefits,'the district found its valuation report showing a deficiency of £34,187 and a solvency ratio' of 14s lOd in the pound. Alterations were made in the rules, and a scheme for the consolidation of the funds was brought into operation, with the result that the 1912 valuation showed a deficiency of only £7108 and a solvency ratio of 18s 7d. At the present time the consolidation scheme is proving so successful that the earning power of the district funds has almost doubled, and a valuation would probably show a return to absolute soundness.' That statement was made four years ago, arid shows how_ quickly consolidation works a financial improvement. If the Ticher lodges join this consolidation, they will never have cause to regret it. As to the little lodges, now ■perplexed by small amounts of money not interest-bearing, they will have cause to rejoice. And surely, if the Order means brotherliness, the richer lodges owe something to the poorer. "If we all admit that unity is strength, how can we fail to see that this principle is particularly true in finance? A bank does not invest its moneys at the bidding of;its local agents. Investment is controlled from the head of the bank, and the moneys are handled in large sums instead of in driblets. That is the sort of unity .which commands succefiß in the financial world.

"In conclusion, I may remind officers 'and brothers that we pay now a higher contribution than the members of any other friendly society in New Zealand, except the American Order of Oddfellows. • This. can be remedied. Again, mder compulsory, consolidation, members r.wi go from lodt;e to lodge on transfer without medical re-examination, etc. Clearances will be subject only to the condition that such members are financial. The benefit of this is obvious. Looking at the question all round, consolidation is a good business proposition, and I am quite sure that it ia in tho hizhest sense brotherly. On both grounds I hope to see it adopted and enforced ■without delay." '