166 Friendly Societies, State Action, and the Poor-law. 
funds, or securities guaranteed by Government, Bonds of the 
City of London, Bank of England Stock, East India Stock or 
Bonds, stock or securities of any colony or dependency of the 
United Kingdom, or on mortgage of freehold, copyhold, or 
leasehold property ; on rates, tolls, duties, assessments, bonds, 
stocks, debentures, or other securities of any persons, body, 
corporation or company, municipal, sanitary, commercial, or 
otherwise, authorised by Act of Parliament. Here is a great 
variety for choice, and no income-tax to pay, or, if paid, re- 
payment of the tax can be obtained on affidavit before the local 
Commissioner. There is no difficulty in obtaining good invest- 
ment of Friendly Society capital at 4 to 4J per cent. Provided 
that the contributions ot" members are kept in these dangerous 
days sufficiently high, and calculated at 3i per cent., a source 
of income is available on the difference, which in some societies 
becomes very considerable. 
Care should be taken to elect none but healthy candidates to 
be members. Something like 10 per cent, of those who pass with 
the agent, will be declined on the examination of the medical 
man and the deliberations of the board of directors. I refer, of 
course, to proposals for sickness-pay and burial-money. For 
old-age pay, no such precaution is necessary. " The worse the 
constitution of the candidate, the better for the funds." We are 
still very much in the dark about the duration of life of persons 
who are suddenly relieved from the labour and anxiety of 
obtaining a living. Their lives are wonderfully prolonged — 
to the ruin of the Annuity Society or the insolvency of the 
branch of the Friendly Society which is responsible for their 
insurances. 
There is a danger in the air with respect to the contributions 
for benefits, that of their being fixed lower than they commonly 
are. The rough-and-ready rule of saying that a halfpenny 
a week shall secure a shilling a week in sickness and a tenth of 
the burial-money, does not err on the side of economy. It 
represents the calculation made by the members of the village 
clubs, and the rate at which they can afford, and are willing to 
pay, for benefits, their contributions being uniform, and not 
graduated according to age. Taking their own calculation, 
and stipulating for a fixed age — say 25 — beyond which members 
shall not be admitted to the society, the contribution would, 
with good management, in time accumulate a surplus capital, 
and allow of a bonus,* of the greatest use to those members 
* The County of Kent Friendly Society applies a portion of itB surplus capital 
to this purpose, and also <o tlie increase of old-age pay. A reduction of 25 per 
cent, on contributions for sickness and liurial-money benefits nfter three years' 
membership is also given by way of bounty from the same source. 
