10 Village Clubs and Associ((tio))s. 



higher rates of interest. But it must be stated to the credit of 

 village sick clubs, especially the branches of the large affiliated 

 orders, that by a system of mortgages they have helped many 

 members to buy houses and small pieces of land, and have 

 thus maintained the " credit society " tradition of the village 

 guild. 



The county societies and some of the branches of the 

 national societies have also continued the tradition of the 

 village festival, with a procession, a feast, and a social fete. 

 The wisdom of organising these feasts and their value has often 

 been questioned, but most unprejudiced and broadminded 

 persons will agree that anything which will add gaiety to rural 

 life, and promote good fellowship, should be encouraged in 

 every possible way. 



Deposit and Building Societies. 



The well-known sick and dividing society, often called a 

 sick and dividend club, has always existed in some English 

 villages, generally in connection with a public-house or a 

 ■workman's club. Sometimes it took the place of a permanent 

 sick benefit society, but quite often it existed alongside more 

 permanent societies of this character. Such associations require 

 no comment, except that their history shows a remarkable 

 degree of honesty amongst secretaries and treasurers, and 

 illustrates the extreme confidence of the village workmen in 

 his fellows. But another form of association of this type is 

 not nearly so well known. Tontines, a form of semi-permanent 

 dividing society, in which there is a gambling chance of 

 considerable gains accruing to some of the members, have 

 been much more common amongst agricultural labourers than 

 might be expected.' 



These societies take regular subscriptiftns from their 

 members, and make periodical divisions of part of their funds, 

 retaining the remainder for future division amongst surviving 

 members. They were common amongst the industrial workers 

 in the north of England in the early part of the nineteenth 

 century, and later spread into agricultural districts. During 

 the last quarter of the century they were common in the 

 villages of the southern and eastern counties. 



The operations of these two types of societies were generally 

 confined to one village, but a larger type of dividing society 

 was also developed, often in connection with the county benefit 

 societies. Prominent among these was the Wiltshire society 



' Tontine. — A kind of life annuity, characterised by a community of 

 interest and equality of profit, with the right of survivorship attached, the 

 profit inerea«iu{; to each survivor as the number diiuinislifs. until the fina,} 

 survivor takes the whole. 



