306 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 28, 1863. 



standard. A register of all Buch certificated examinates to be 

 kept at the Society's office ; the value of a power to refer to 

 which would be apparent both to the employer and the employed. 



Having thus particularised the objects as wfell as the foun- 

 dation on which a Society so desirable should be established, with 

 a certainty of its being permanent, we will next consider the 

 form and rules which we consider it should adopt. 



As a trustworthy guide in this, we have selected for a basis 

 the Hampshire Friendly Society, which, founded as long since as 

 1825, is now prospering, and after during thirty-eight years 

 meeting all claims upon it promptly and liberally, has now 

 invested in public securities more than £31,000. 



Patron. 

 Vice-Patron. 



president. 



Vice-President. 



Trustees. 



Directors. 



Arbitrators. 



Auditors. 



Honorary Physician. 



Honorary Treasurer. 



Secretary. 



Rule 1. — The object of the Gardeners' Benefit Society Bhall 

 be to raise, by the contributions of its members, a fund for the 

 relief of its benefit members in sickness and old age. 



Rule 2. — The Society shall consist of benefit and honorary 

 members resident in the United Kingdom. 



Rule 3. — Benefit members shall be those who contribute 

 either for themselves or others, in order to obtain any benefits 

 for which provision is made by the tables of the Society. 



Rule 4.— Honorary members shall he those, who, not, being 

 benefit members, contribute not less than £5 by donation, or 5s. 

 hy yearly subscription. 



Rule 5. — The Society shall be under the management of a 

 Central Board, which shall consist of the following officers : the 

 President and Vice-President, who shall be honorary members, 

 five Directors, three of whom shall be benefit and two honorary 

 members, eight Trustees who shall be honorary members. 



Rule 6. — The other officers of the Society shall be a Treasurer, 

 a Secretary, four Auditors, and an Honorary Physician. 



Rule 7. — The President, and, in Iub absence, the Vice- 

 President, shall preside at all meetings of the Society, of the 

 Central Board, and of any Special Committee; and shall have a 

 casting vote in addition to his own. In the absencs of both 

 President and Vice-President, a chairman elected by the meeting 

 shall preside with the same powers. 



Rule 8.- — The Trustees shall from time to time invest all 

 monies which may not be required for the current expenses in 

 real or Government securities ; or, with the consent of the 

 Central Board, in such other ways as are in accordance with the 

 provisions of the act 13 & 14 Vict., c. 115 ; and such funds may 

 be transferred, or withdrawn, as the Board may direct, for the 

 use and benefit of the Institution, upon the authority of not less 

 than two Trustees, whose signatures to that authority shall he 

 duly attested. 



Rule 9. — The Treasurer shall be responsible for such sums of 

 money as mny from time to time be placed in his hands on 

 account of the Society, and for the investment and application of 

 them under the authority of the Central Board, or Trustees, as 

 the case may be, m such manner as not less than two of them, 

 whose signatures shall be attested by the Secretary, shall in 

 writing direct. He shall balance his cash accounts quarterly, 

 and supply the Secretary with a duplicate thereof. 



Rule 10. — The Secretary shall transact the business of the 

 Society under the direction of the Central Board ; he shall 

 attend all the meetings of the Society, and of the Central Board ; 

 he shall keep all the books, of which, together with all 

 documents, he shall have charge. His salary shall be such as 

 shall be fixed by the Board. 



Rule 11. — Tlie Auditors, any two of whom shall be competent 

 to act, shall examine the accounts of the Society quarterly, and 

 report the same to the Trustees and Central Board ; they shall 

 prepare a general statement of the funds and effects of the 

 Society up to the 31st of December inclusive in each year, 

 specifying in whose custody the said funds and effects shall he 

 then remaining, together with an account of all sums of money 

 received and expended by, or on account of the Society since the 

 publication of the preceding report. Every such statement 



having been attested by two Auditors, and countersigned by the 

 Secretary, shall be presented at the general annual meeting, 

 together with the report of the Central Board j and this state- 

 ment and report, if approved of by such meeting, shall be 

 printed, and every member shall be entitled to a copy free of 

 expense. 



Rule 12.: — The Honorary Physician shall examine and report 

 upon all Medical Certificates referred to him by the Central Board. 



Rule 13. — The Treasurer, Secretary, and Local Agents shall 

 give such security as the Central Board may require, pursuant 

 to Act of Parliament. 



Rule 14. — An Annual Meeting of the members shall be held 

 at London on the third Wednesday in April, at which every 

 member who is not in arrear of his contributions, fines, or 

 subscription, shall have one vote ; due notice shall be given of 

 such meeting in two at least of the London newspapers, and 

 two at least of the London gardening journals. At this 

 meeting, the members shall consider the financial statement of 

 the Auditors, and the report of the Central Board. They shall 

 elect for the ensuing year, the President, Vice-President, and 

 Directoi-3; they Bhall also appoint the Auditors, and fill up 

 vacancies among the Trustees ; and take into consideration any 

 other matter connected with the welfare of the Society. 



Rule 15. — The President, or Vice-President, on a requisition 

 signed by ten members, shall summon a Special General 

 Meeting of the Society : in each case five days' notice shall be 

 given by circular, which circular shall state the object of such 

 meeting ; and at such meetings no business Bhall be transacted 

 except that specified in the notice. At all meetings of the 

 Society, general or special, except in the ease of alteration of the 

 rules, five shall be a quorum. 



Rule 16. — The Central Board, three of whom shall be a 

 quorum, shall meet at London every Saturday. They shall 

 appoint the Treasurer, Secretary, and Honorary Physician. 

 They shall accept or reject the proposals for payments in 

 sickness, which shall be transmitted to them ; and provide for 

 the payment of all sums due from the Society. They shall, on 

 the second Saturday in every month, examine the books and 

 accounts of the Society, and decide upon all other questions 

 that may be referred to them ; and they shall, every quarter, 

 take into consideration the Auditors' Report. 



Rule IV. — If within half-an-hour of the time appointed for 

 holding any meeting of the Sooiety, or of the Central Board, a 

 sufficient number of members to constitute such meeting be not 

 present, the Secretary of the Society shall have power to adjourn 

 the meeting to such time as to him may seem expedient. 



Rule 18. — Any person wishing to become a benefit member 

 of the Society, shall satisfy the Directors as to his charaoter, 

 obtain the recommendation of two benefit members, fill up the 

 forms adopted for the admission of members, and make a 

 deposit of one monthly contribution, which shall be returned to 

 him if he be not admitted. He shall give such proof of his age 

 as the Directors shall think fit, when the payment required 

 from him is governed by it ; and if his proposal be for an 

 allowance in sicknesB, he shall produce a certificate of good 

 health from a surgeon : provided always that when he is 

 unknown to the Surgeon, he shall produce an additional certifi- 

 cate from some other medical man who is acquainted with him 

 and his family ; but if there be none such, then from such other 

 person or persons as the Directors may consider competent to 

 give one. 



Rule 19. — The monthly contribution of a member shall he 

 due on the day on which his proposal is dated, and on the first 

 Monday in every succeeding month. If all contributions be not 

 paid within a month of the day when due, he shall pay a fine of 

 sixpence for every month they shall continue unpaid ; and, if 

 at the end of three months, such contributions, with all fines 

 due, shall remain unpaid, he shall forfeit all claim to the 

 insurance for which the contributions are due. But if such 

 arrears shall have been occasioned by absence from the United 

 Kingdom, the member may, on discharging within six months 

 after his or her return, all arrears with compound interest 

 thereon at £3 5s. per cent, per annum, be again enrolled at the 

 Bame rate of insurance as before; provided that every such 

 member, if insuring an allowance in sickness, shall have no 

 claim for such allowance on account of any sickness occurring 

 during his absence, and shall, before his re-enrollment, prove 

 the goodness of his health in the same manner as on his first 

 admission into the Society. 



Rule 20. — Every member shall, in addition to his monthly 



