Part II: Insurance and Thrift 



ARGENTINA. 



AN INQUIRY INTO THE MUTUAL SYvSTEM 

 AND THE NEW BILI/ ON MUTUAL AID vSOClETlF^. 



OFFiciAiv sources: 



IvAS asociAciones de mutualidad en Buenos Aires. {Mutual Aid Societies in Buenos 

 Aires). — Boletin del Departamento Nacional del Trabajo. — No. 24, August, 1913. 



MENSAIE y PROYECTO DE LEY ORGAnICA SOBRE LAS SOCIEDADES DE SOCCORROS MUTUOS 



{Report and Bill for an Organic Law on the Mutual Aid Societies). Do. No. 24, 

 December, 1913. 



Mutual institutions have not yet made great progress in Argentina, 

 any more than has association generally (i): the movement has been trans- 

 planted to the soil of the Republic by the immigrant groups mindful 

 of the benefits they have reaped in their own lands from these thrift 

 societi s. The want of guiding principles and encouragements and the 

 difficulties presented by the environment has prevented the movement 

 becoming important. With several failures some great successes have been 

 reahsed, and important organizations are not wanting wliicli insure 

 thousands of members assistance in case of sickness or temporary 

 disablement. 



In recent years mutual societies have made considerable progress. 

 There are no statistics available with regard to them, except in the case 

 of the city of Buenos Aires: from a recent enquiry conducted by the Nation- 

 al Labour Office it would appear that while in 1906 there were (nly 

 30 mutual aid societies in the capital with 25,258 members, in 1911 there 

 were 108 with 247,272 members. The following table shows the progress 

 made in the five years 1906-1911, and the importance of the mutual soci- 

 eties in the Argentine capital : 



(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social InteUt'^ence, December, 1913. "The Co-op- 

 erative Movement in Argentine Agriculture ". 



