FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16448, 29 May 1919, Page 6

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

DEPUTATION TO MINISTERS. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, May 28. Cabinet has dealt wnthtbe matters recently brought before Sir James Allen and other Ministers of the Crown by a deputation from the friendly societies. . The Hon. J. Hanan, Minister m Charge of Friendly Societies, made a statement on the subject in connection with’ » request made by a deputation relating to the maternity allowance. He was pleased to say that the recommendation made by the Hon. Myers, Minister in Charge of the National Provident Fund, had been approved, with the result that the necessary legislation would be prepared to raise the allowance to members of friendly societies from £4 to £O, and to increase the wages limitation for this allowance for all persons in the fund and in friendly societies to £260. The Hon. Hanan said that throughout the. war ho had given the question of friendly society finance anxious consideration. The decision to protect the; funds against the war mortality of friendly societies’ members, which resulted in the establishment of a fund for the purpose, had boon successfully carried out. Without this help the loss of about £70,000 would have fallen upon the friendly societies’ benefit funds, but tills deficiency had now been reduced to a- minimum by means of the co-operation adopted. In this scheme the Government had further recognised that friendly societies wore deserving of consideration on account of their soldier members, whose contributions being unpaid while they wore serving with the forces entailed an estimated loss of £29,000. . A scheme had, therefore, been provided in the benefit funds of societies on this account.

In connection with these two subsidies the .Minister said ho was glad to b© able to announce that Cabinet had agreed to the sum of £4OOO (being the Government over-credit to Societies in respect of these two accounts) being devoted) towards further reducing any losses the societies will incur in connection with, the war mortality fund. «. Referring to what he considered ihtf most difficult problem to : deal with, namely, “after discharge” sickness or soldier members of friendly societies, Mr. Hanan said it was very desirable to initiate a system that would enable this matter to be handled on sound lines. In some quarters it was expected that this sickness would constitute a serious drain on the friendly societies’ benefit funds, which were built on contributions quite foreign to the recent war experience. The Government had considered and agreed to the scheme submitted by him, under which the friendly societies should separate all the sickness of discharged soldiers from that of their other members and establish separate funds for the purpose of assessing and valuing the future experience of these members separately. The Government would subsidise the excess sickness disclosed in these funds to the extent of one-half. The Minister hoped and believed the "friendly societies would co-operate with his department in the establishment of those separate sickness funds, in order that this difficult problem _ might ha placed on a good administrative basis as early as possible. Ho had arranged for the registrar (Mr. R. K. Hayes) to confer with the societies in connection with the establishment of the scheme.