3

H.—l

Statistics of Membership and Funds. The following table shows the. membership of 717 lodges* of the Dominion, which furnished returns for 1914: — Number of members, Ist January .. .. .. .. 74,643 Number admitted by— Initiation, &c. .. .. .. .. .. 5,064 Clearance .. .. .. .. .. .. 718 5,782 80,425 Number who died . . .. .. .. ... 500 Number left by— Clearance .. .. .. .. .. .. 798 •Arrears, &c. .. .". .. .. .. 5,047 6,351 Number of members at 31st December .. .. .. .. 74,074 It will be seen from the above figures that the members admitted by initiations during the year only exceeded the lapses through arrears by the small number of 17 ; and with the addition of the deaths and the adverse clearance balance, there is shown on the whole a small decrease in membership equal to 0'76 per cent. Apart from the effect of the war on general, trade-conditions the call for the Expeditionary Forces would naturally divert from the friendly societies' ranks many of the young lives that go to create the increase in their membership, an effect which is also noticeable in other States. It is satisfactory to note that the propaganda work of the New Zealand societies has been well maintained, the number of new branches opened being well above the average. The total funds of the societies and branches as on the 31st December, 1914, amounted to £1,744,456, made up as follows : Sick and Funeral Funds (inclusive of amounts transferred to special funds out of surplus), £1,604,895 : Medical and Management Funds, goods, &c, £139,561. 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 £23 lis. Taking the several years 1905-1914, the number of lodges whose returns were tabulated, the number of members, total funds, and average capital, per member at the end of each year were as under :

The above figures include only the statistics of those lodges which furnished annual returns by the legal date in each year. The following statement shows the disposal of the total funds (including those of the central bodies) as on the 31 st December, 1914 : —

The next table shows the number of members of friendly societies, the amount of their accumulated capita], and the average capital per member, in each of the Australian States and in the Dominion of New Zealand, according to the latest received statistics, arranged in order of membership : —

1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 Year. Number of Lodges tabulated. 501 500 516 505 567 609 658 664 681 717 Number of Members. Total Funds Average Capital. 51,103 53,759 56,817 58,517 61,428 68,006 71,771 73,243 73,691 74,074 £ 996,224 1,057,821 1,118,217 1,1-23,886 1,266,297 1,367,282 1,441,353 1,553,339 1,643,177 1,744,456 £ a. d. 19 9 11 19 13 6 19 13 7 19 4 1 19 13 1 20 2 1 20 1 8 21 4 2 22 6 0 23 11 0

Funds. Assets. s s IV V I Sick aud Funeral Funds Surplus Appropriation Funds, &c. .. Management Funds, goods, Ac. Widow and Orphans' Funds Distress, Benevolent Funds, &c. £ .. 1,548,417 56,478 90,332 13,866 35,363 Investments ac interest .. Value of land and buildings Cash not bearing interest.. Value of goods Other assets Owina by Management Fund Total £ .. 1,479,775 184,217 51,522 14,018 12,997 1,927 .. £1,744,456 Total .. .. £1,744,456

Number Number Stato or Dominion. Date of Return. of of Number of Lodges. Number of Membors. Amount of Funds. Capital per Member. JJVUgttB, iVlUIIIUUlB. New South Wales .. ... .. 31st December, 1913 I 1,965 190,725 Victoria .. .. .. .. „ 1913 1,501 157,280 New Zealand .. .. .. „ 1913 710 73,691 South Australia .. .. .. „ 1909 529 58,292 Queensland .. .. .. „ 1913 585 50,461 Tasmania.. .. .. .. „ 1912 187 22,480 Western Australia .. .. ' .. „ 1913 287 19,616 £ 1,720,394 2,190,957 1,643,177 863,998 685,401 216,334 218,832 £ s. d. 9 0 5 15 16 9 22 6 0 14 16 5 13 11 8 9 12 6 11 3 1 * The word " lodge," when applied to all societies, is to be undorstood as embrai " court,"- " tent," &o., as used in the various orders. cing the synoi lymous terms