ODDFELLOWSHIP IN VICTORIA.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 490, 13 April 1869, Page 3

ODDFELLOWSHIP IN VICTORIA.

The following, in reference to the growth of Oddfellowship in the Ballarat district, Victoria, taken from the Telegraph, will be read with interest by members of the order, as well as others without the pale: " During the past year eleven applications to open new lodges have been granted by the board —four more than in the previous year, and no lodges have been closed. Among "other matters the Order are contemplating the formation of a guarantee society. From the returns we find that the receipts of the Order in the year have been £40,563, or nearly £2OOO in excess of those for the year 1867, and that a balance of £10,332 comes forward to the present year; the average receipts per member per annum are calculated at £3 6s 7d, and the expenditure only at £2 7s 7d. so that the Order must be steadily increasing its wealth. There are, on the books 10,062 good members, against 9,775 for 1867. In the Ballarat District especially, the Order appears to have made excellent progress. In 1861 there were in Ballarat 750 members, and the funds amounted to £5,200; in 1868 these figures had risen to 1590 members, and £14,440. The various speeches made were very congratulatory, and from them it would seem that most of public institutions of Ballarat, the Orphan Asylum especially, ■owe their origin to the efforts of the friendly societies, and notably of the Manchester Unity."