H.—i.

SCHEDULES.

SCHEDULE I. Explanation of Principal Changes made by " The Pjkiendlt Societies Act, 1882." (Circular.) Sir, — Registrar-General's Office, Wellington, 13th October, 1882. I have the honour to draw your attention to the fact that an Act of Parliament has been passed during the session of 1882 consolidating and slightly amending the law relating to friendly societies, and to lay before you a brief statement and explanation of the principal changes which are embodied in it. Section 10 (1, a). —By section 10 (1, a) of the new Act the Registrar is empowered to cancel the registration of a society or branch, if he thinks fit, on proof to his satisfaction that it has less than seven members. Experience has shown that where a society or branch has a very small number of members it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain the services of competent officers, and that the returns and documents required by the Act are in danger of being negligently and inefficiently prepared. Moreover no society with a very limited number of contributors can be expected to meet its engagements for the payment of sick and funeral benefits ; and as, by section 10 of the Act of 1877, and by section 9 of the Act of 1882, seven is fixed as the minimum number of members of a society making application for registration, it is, therefore, consistent with this that the same number should be fixed as a minimum for a society remaining on the register. It must not be inferred, however, that a society with a small number of members, though exceeding seven, can be expected to work safely. Section 12 (1, e). —By section 12 (1, e) it is rendered necessary that societies, if electing to be valued by an Actuary appointed by the Registrar, should send to the Registrar, in advance, the fee required for such valuation. Section 12 (4).- —The 4th subsection of the 12th section is one of a most important nature. It has been one of the unfortunate consequences of the non-recognition of the peculiar constitution of the great affiliated orders in the Acts of 1856 and 1867 that a large number of lodges and courts which are, as a matter of fact, branches of registered societies, are either not registered at all, or are registered as independent societies. This being so, a doubt has arisen whether the annual return required to be furnished, and the valuation required to be made, by a registered " district " of one of the affiliated orders, are to be understood as including returns and valuations respectively of all the lodges comprised in that district, whether registered as branches, as separate societies, or not at all. The spirit of the Act of 1877 clearly required that this comprehensive sense should be attached to the provisions referred to ; for the annual return, and still more the valuation of a "district," must be fatally incomplete unless all its lodges are taken into account. Section 12 (4) of the new Act, therefore, explicitly provides that returns and valuations relating to districts of the affiliated orders shall be complete in the sense that they shall include all lodges (whether registered as branches, as separate societies, or not at all) which are, in fact, affiliated to such distriets. The effect of this provision is also to throw more distinctly on the district secretary the responsibility of making these complete returns to the Registrar, and, as a consequence, to render him liable for a default if he should neglect to furnish them. To enable such complete returns and valuations to be made it is also provided that lodge secretaries shall furnish the district secretary with every assistance that may be necessary to enable the returns to be supplied and the valuations to be made. Section 12 (6) renders it an offence under the Act if any registered branch wilfully fails to send any return or document, or wilfully neglects or refuses to furnish any information, required for the purposes of the Act by the Registrar or - other person authorized under the Act. Section 12.—Societies are, under the new Act, relieved from the duty of furnishing quinquennial returns of sickness and mortality, all the information formerly required in quinquennial returns being now supplied from year to year in the return specified in the second half of section 12 (1, d). The obligation to furnish the last-mentioned return is now expressly limited to friendly societies, to the exclusion of cattle insurance societies, benevolent societies, working men's clubs, and speciallyauthorized societies. Section 14 (5).- —Returns to District Land Registrars are no longer required to include the names of treasurers, but only of trustees, the latter being the only persons in whom the property of a registered society or branch is or can be vested. Section 14 (30).■ —The penalty for fraud and misappropriation of funds, and the obligation to make restitution, are now expressly annexed to the offence of applying to management or medical expenses, except on the authority of a Valuer's report made in accordance with the Act, any moneys (including interest) belonging to a benefit fund. The person so misapplying the funds becomes liable, not only to a heavy penalty, but also to the repayment of the money so misapplied. A treasurer or secretary effecting such a misappropriation will not be relieved of his liability to punishment and to make restitution even if his act is dictated to him by a general meeting or is authorized by the rules of his society or branch. Section 16. —The statutory provisions respecting the dissolution of registered societies are made capable of being extended to branches, if the central body of the society (i.e., the district executive) consents to have them so extended. Section 16 (7,"c). —In any case, however, the dissolution of a branch in an illegal manner (i.e., in a manner contrary to the rules and authority of the society of which it is a branch) renders every person aiding or abetting such dissolution liable to three months' imprisonment. Lodges or courts

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