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Evening Star, Issue 16195, 17 August 1916, Page 1

" What is the Duma doing towards the organisation of future peace?" was asked by the 'Daily Chronicle' of Professor. Muliukoff, one of the Duma Deputies recently in England. He jumped as from an electric shock. " Who speaks of peace? We are organising the country .for war, fnd for war to a-finish. We never say. 'Si vis pacem para pacem.' We should consider this high treason. Even the Black Hundred in Russia have now ceased to speak of a separate peace. We are there to lead the countrv to final victory, and when that victory is achieved, then, and then only, shall we begin to think of peace."

The report of the Registrar of 'Friendly . Societies, which was preA Valuable sented to Parliament at , Report. a late hour of the session, has many features of interest to friendly societies. The Registrar makes brief mention of a conference held in Wellington, at' which representatives of all friendly societies met the Hon. J. A. Hanan {Minister in charge of Friendly Societies) and the Hon. Arthur A. Myers (Minister in charge-of the National Provident Fund). The conference was.convened on the representations of friendly societies that the National Provident Fund as constituted was inimical to them, and the points in issue were fully put forward by the delegates. The two Ministers submitted proposals for annuities on the lines of the National Provident Fund at rates "representing contributions equal to one"half of the amounts set out in the " National Provident Fund Act, 1910." This, as not affording adequate relief from the aggressive propaganda work of the National Provident Fund, was not accepted in a cheerful spirit, and the following resolution was carried : Believing that the offer of a Govern-ment-subsidised superannuation proposal by the Minister is an earnest endeavor to grant a measure of relief to friendly societies, this meeting accept such prcn posal on an optional basis, relying on, the statement of the Hon. Mr Myers that the representations of this meeting, whereby immediate relief is strongly urged for friendly societies (more particularly in the form of-maternity benefits), shall be- taken into consideration by the Hon. Mr Myers in conjunction with the Hon. Mr Hanarf. A maternity bonus of £4 has since been, added, but does not yet meet the demands of the societies, and another conference

will probably meet the Ministers during the recess, when it is hoped that a larger measure of relief will be granted. The friendly societies of the Dominion "approach this question in no spirit of hos-

tility to the National Provident Fund; they recognise that social insurance must necessarily form part of the equipment of every properly organised State. What they ask for is that they should be placed in a position to compete with the National Provident Fund on fairly equal terms. It is recognised that the societies are doing excellent work in the Dominion socially and practically—work that no social insurance scheme can ever hope to cover. What will probably happen in the future is that the National Provident scheme will be so modified that a system of co-ordination with the friendly societies on the lines of the Lloyd George scheme may be possible, to the mutual advantage of the friendly societies and the National Provident Fund. This is, however, too large a subject to discuss in a newspaper article.

We note that a sum of £B,IOO (half the premium cost of reinsuring the 4,860 members of friendly societies on active service) has been paid by the Government. As there are 73,027 members of the various societies in the Dominion at present serving with the colors, this payment represents a very large proportion of those eligible for active service. The Registrar embodies in his report an important judgment which invalidated as an -illegal act (according to section 40 of the Friendly Societies Act of 1909) the rules of societies that had consolidated their sick funds. An amending Act was passed which repealed this section, and gave societies the right to deal with their own funds in a more comprehensive a'nd liberal manner, " without weakening the " powers of the Act in regard to irregular "transfers of benefit fund moneys." The amending Act also provides for the following important matters: The legalising of the "officer" status of members of advisory or controlling bodies appointed by a society or branch to assist in the investment of funds; the furnishing of evidence of assets, etc., on valuation, as required and when required by the Registrar; the limiting of the protection of the rights of soldier members to service in Now Zealand; the reinstatement of provisions relative I to "specially authorised societies" making their rules binding and giving the

right to sue for subscriptions. There were 13 registrations of new lodges during the year, as follow : M.U.1.0.0.F., one lodge; 1.0.0. F., three lodges; A.0.F., five courts; 1.0. E., one tent; and isolated friendly societies, three. There were 909 registrations at January 1, 1915, and 917 at the end of tlie year, representing an increase of eight branches. The membership at January 1, 1914, was 74.337, and at December 31 73,027, a loss of 1,350 —a not unexpected result when it is remembered that "trie number of eligible entrants has been so seriously re"duced by enlistment and by the conser- " vative policy of some societies in refus- " ing admission to entrants of military "age."

The total funds of the societies and branches as on December 31, 1915, amounted to £1,852,355, made up as follows : —Sick and funeral funds (inclusive of amounts transferred to special funds out of surplus), £1,699,790; medical and management fund, goods, etc, £152,565. Dividing the total funds by the number of members at the end of the year, it is found the average capital per member is now £25 7s 4d, representing an increase of capital of £107,899. Of this, £1,558,231 is invested at interest and £197,129 in land and buildings, the remainder being non-interest bearing. New Zealand still holds pride of place in Australasia in regard to " capital per member "—£23 lis—--the lowest being New South Wales, with £9 15s lOd, The sickness experience during the year was : " The number, of mem"bers sick during 1915 was 11,864, equal to " 16.44 per 100 members at risk. The '.' sickness experience during 1915 was " 113,682 weeks, equal to nine weeks four " days per sick member, and one week " four days for each member at risk. " The amount of sickness benefit paid was " £76,554 in 1915, equal to £6 9s Id per "member sick and £1 Os 9d per member, "as against £6 9s lid and £1 O3 lid "respectively for 1914. Viewing the " amount paid in relation to the weeks of " sickness, the average benefit per week "is found to be 13s 6d in 1915, as com- " pared with 13s 9d in 1914." The number of deaths was 767, being 10.63 of the number per 1,000 members at risk, being the highest during the qujiquennium; the lowest being in 1912 6.80 per 1,000 members at risk. This is no doubt accounted for by the toll of death at Gallipoli and elsewhere during the war. The funeral benefit paid amounted to £19,701 in 1915, equal to 5s 4d per member, as compared with 4s 4d for 1914.

The valuations computed during the year were as follow :

Tha Independent Order of Oddfellows t A consolidated society, showing as at December 31, 1912, a sickness liability of £220,771, a funeral liability of £63,883; total, £284,654. AssetsAmount of sick and funeral fund, £81,991; present value of contributions receivable from members, £215,288; total. £297,279; surplus, £12,625. The A.O.F South Canterbury, at December 31, 1913: A society with individual funds, showing the following aggregate results :—Liabilities, £44,322; assets, £40,463; deficiency, £3,859; amount of assets to liabilities, equal to 17s lid in the £. .

Canterbury United District, A.O.F. : A society with branches {as at December 31,' 1912), showing the following aggregate results :—Liabilities, £70,748 ; assets, £75,552. showing a net surplus of £7,157, including £2,353 in district funeral fund.

U.A.O. Druids, Otago and Southland District: A society valued with branch funds as at December 31, 1912, and showing the following aggregate results : —Liabilities, £160,232; assets, £145,915; deficiency, £14,317. Court Coromandel, an isolated branch of the A.0.F., shows the following aggregate results as at December 31, 1912 : —Liabilities, £3,074; assets, £2,534; deficiency, £540. In this connection Mr Traverci makes the following pronouncement, which is pregnant with interest to members of all friendly societies; and it is pleasing to note that the Actuary writes that " those with " deficiencies—except Coromandel—show a "distinct tendency towards improve"ment":— The valuations completed during the past year have been made upon the same mortality and sickness bases as in previous years—namely, upon the experience of New Zealand friendly societies up to age 70, and upon Sutton's English sickness tables and Farr's healthy English mortality tables after that age, with modifications in special cases.

In my report of a previous year I stated that "though the above tables are on the whole very suitable for the valuation of New Zealand societies, it is found in certain geographical districts and in oertain societies that there are well-defined departures from the standard rates of mortality and sickness, and before long it will become necessary to undertake a thorough investigation of the data with a view to the construction of auxiliary tables." The need for these auxiliary valuation tables is becoming more and more pronounced, and this_ work should be undertaken at the earliest opportunity. No allowance has, so far, been made in the valuations for the prospective effect of the war upon the liabilities of the society, and_ that fact will require to be borne in mind in .basing any transactions upon the results. So far as immediate mortality is concerned, tho financial effect _ of the war will to a great extent disclose itself during the continuance of the war—that is to say. the first valuation following the war will automatically indicate the exact effect of deaths that have actually oocurred in action or from disease. The case is different, however, when we consider temporary or permanent impairment caused by the war and involving prospective sickness or early death, or both. This_ will constitute an addition to the liabilities of the societies, depending, of course upon the manner in which societies deal with these cases. There is no doubt that, if it were feasible, the proper course would be to estimate the prospective effect of this factor and add it to the liabilities in the valuation. An alternative course, is to leave the matter in abeyance pending the end of the war, and then to make estimates on the best facts that can be obtained. Meanwhile, each Taluation must bo considered to be subject to a reservation. It is, of course, possible that in many lodges the additional liability so produced may be negligible when measured against tlie total strength of the lodge.