Benefit or Friendly Societies. 141 



payments for this allowance are calculated more directly than the others, 

 upon the " probability of a person at any given age living to a certain 

 higher age, or upon the number of years which, taking lives of the same 

 age, one with another, any one of those lives may be considered as sure of 

 enjoying, — those who live beyond that period enjoying as much more, in 

 proportion to their number, as those who fall short of it enjoy less." It 

 will therefore be obvious, that, as no disbursement is made from the An- 

 nuity Scheme till each surviving member reaches the 71st year of his age, 

 the capital of this fund must accumulate very rapidly for a number of years 

 after the commencement of the society, and that the survivors must be 

 very great gainers by every death which has previously taken place. On 

 the other hand, it will likewise be obvious, that, as the disbursements of 

 the Funeral Scheme are calculated to commence with the very institution of 

 the society, the capital of that fund must accumulate much more slowly, 

 and that a loss will be sustained to the society by those who die early, which 

 must be again compensated by those who live to old age. Hence it follows, 

 that, in the Annuity Scheme, those who die soon are great losers, and those 

 who live long are as much gainers ; while in the Funeral Scheme, on the con- 

 trary, the representatives of those who die early are gainers, and those who 

 live long are losers,— the younger class in this scheme receiving more than 

 they pay, and the older class paying more than they receive. 



Such being the nature of the operations of these two schemes, and to a 

 certain degree also of that for sickness, it would be of great advantage, both to 

 the members individually and to the society as a body, that, alongst with any 

 benefit during sickness or at death, there should likewise be assured an annuity 

 in old age. In this way the members who should be favoured with long 

 health and life, and consequently be losers by the sickness and funeral 

 schemes, would be as great gainers by the annuity scheme ; and the society 

 would also be in a great measure protected against the admission of bad lives 

 and premature allowances during sickness and at death, as none such would 

 choose to pay for an annuity which there was no probability of their ever en- 

 joying. This combination of benefits, too, would greatly tend to diminish 

 that species of imposition so frequently practised upon societies, of understa- 

 ting ages at entry, and which there is frequently no possibility of detecting ; 

 for few insuring for an annuity would understate their ages for the purpose 

 of at first saving a trifle on their annual contributions, while they would ulti- 

 mately run the risk of loss by their annuity being so much longer deferred. 

 Laying, therefore, entirely out of view the necessity for providing for old 

 age, it will be seen that it is only by having an annuity combined with the 

 other benefits that a society will be safe from imposition, and that the mem- 

 bers themselves will be insured of an adequate return for their contributions 

 to the sickness and funeral schemes. 



It is trusted that enough has now been stated to convince the members of 

 Friendly Societies that the rates of both sickness and mortality are much less 

 in the earlier than in the more advanced periods of life, and that the contri- 

 butions at the commencement must therefore be either greatly more than is 

 necessary at first to defray the allowances, or that the former must be increased, 



