15

a.-2

SCHEDULE 111. To the President and Managing Committee of the Widows' and Orphans' Fund of the Nelson District, M.U.1.0.0.F. Sir and Brethren, — Agreeably to your instructions we have made a valuation of the assets and liabilities of the fund as on the 31st December, 1880. By the certified copy of the rules of the society supplied to us we find that the regulations regarding this fund are contained in District Eules 24 and 25. The benefits assured at the present time are as follow : 1. An annuity of £7 4s. per annum to the widow of every deceased member for the first 6 years of widowhood. 2. An annuity of £1 16s. per annum to each child under 12 years of age of every deceased member, till it reaches that age. The particulars supplied to us for valuation were as follow: 1. A return from each lodge in the district containing the initials of all members not owing more than 12 months' contributions, with the year of birth, year of admission, and whether married or single in each case. 2. A return from the district secretary containing the initials and year of birth of each member having children under 12 years of age, with the month and year of birth and sex of each of his children under the limiting age. 3. A return of the widows and children upon the fund at the date of valuation, with the date of birth and declaration on the fund in each case. 4. A return of the admissions and withdrawals of widows and children, and of the mortality experienced by them during the six years preceding the date of valuation. 5. A summary of the receipts and expenditure for each of the fire years preceding the date of valuation, and a balance-sheet of the fund as at the 31st December, 1880. From the information supplied to us we have compiled the following summary and tables:— Summary. Number of members, single ... ... ... ... ... 241 „ „ married ... ... ... ... ... 383 -— 624 ■„ „ having children under 12 ... ... ... 297 „ such children ... ... ... ... ... 976 Average age of all the members, 35 years 5 months. Number of widows on the fund at Ist January, 1875 ... ... 11 „ entrants to 31st December, 1880 „, ... ... 18 — 29 „ widows whose benefits matured ... ..." ... 11 ~ „ who died ... ... ... ... ... 1 „ „ „ remarried ... ... ... ... 3 „ „ „ left by other causes ... ... ... 1 — 16 ~ „ on the fund at 31st December, 1880 ... ... 13 „ children on the fund at Ist January, 1875 ... ... 22 „ entrants to 31st December, 1880 ... ... ... 38 — 60 „ children whose benefits matured ... ... ... 26 „ „ who died ... ... ... ... ... 1 „ „ whose benefits ceased through remarriage of widowed mothers ... ... ... 7 — 3_ „ „ on the fund at 31st December, 1880 ... ... 26 Table I. Number of Members at each Age, Married and Single, with the Number having Children under 12 Tears of Age, and the Number of such Children. , T , , ht u _■ _ No. of Members Number of . Number of Number Number , . gy, , gB' Members. Single. Married. under g l2 YearB . Children. Under 20 36 36 20 and under 25 111 93 18 12 17 25 „ 30 107 44 63 45 94 30 „ 35 84 25 59 57 173 35 „ 40 90 15 75 65 251 40 „ 45 73 7 66 63 276 45 „ 50 46 7 39 27 81 50 „ 55 42 3 39 23 70 55 „ 60 14 2 12 4 13 60 „ 65 14 6 8 1 1 65 „ 70 5 2 3 70 „ 75 2 1 1 624 241 383 297 976