138 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
L Febrnary 13, 1890. 
books again with the present courteous secretary, Mr. Collins, and the 
more I look into the constitution of the Society and its working over 
a period of years the more I am satisfied on the following essential 
points :— 
1. Its absolute safety and undoubted stability. 
2. Its great excellence and wonderful comprehensiveness. 
3. The advantages it offers over general benefit societies. 
4. Its careful, economical, and admirable management. 
Now given those conditions—and I am thoroughly convinced they 
are embodied in this Society—then I ask. What more can be expected or 
desired of a benefit and provident institution ? 
The “ United,” to employ a short term well understood, is safe and 
sound—“ safe ” because the benefit funds are invested in Government 
and Corporation stock, and [nothing can be safer than that; “sound” 
because they have from the beginning until now, and without any 
exception, increased in an enormously greater ratio than the withdrawals 
for sickness, and this preponderating increase of capital over liabilities 
must continue so long as the same conditions continue—a steady 
accession of members and the maintenance of the average health 
statistics. From these any material departure for the worse is an 
extremely remote probability ; indeed, there is no evidence to justify us 
in regarding it as a probability at all, for probabilities lie in the other 
direction—improvement. 
We have learnt from the report now presented for adoption, that the 
past year shows both the prosperity and usefulness of the Society. The 
experience, however, of any one year does not adequately represent its 
character ; yet if we take what may be called the worst year—the year 
in which the deductions for sickness were by far the greatest on record, 
and which may be fairly regarded as abnormal—we find the receipts ex¬ 
ceeded the expenditure by no less than £263 ISs. 7d. That was in 1887. 
Passing to 1889 we find the income exceeded the outlay by £421 Gs. 8d. ; 
or, in other words, a gain in receipts of £134 7s. Cd., and a reduction in 
sick disbursements of £43 5s. 7d. over 1887—a very marked improve¬ 
ment on both sides of the ledger. But a fairer test for ascertaining the 
true position of the Society is to take an average of the last five years, and 
this shows a yearly addition to the benefit fund of £345 2s. 7d., and an 
average annual outlay of £32 3s., or a yearly gain for investment during 
the period of £312 19s. 7d. Multiply this by 5, and we find that the 
sum acquired in as many years, and placed to the credit of the members, 
to be no less than £1564 178. lid. 
Is not that remarkable 2 I suspect it is unparalleled, and especially 
when the fact is remembered, for a fact it is, that there is not a farthing 
of expense as a set off*against it, this being met by a small special fund 
provided by the far-seeing founders of this splendid Institution. Further, 
when, as we find in the balance sheet, that a sum exceeding £5000 now 
stands to the credit of the Society, surely not another word is needed on 
the question of its safety and stability. 
Now we pass to the second claim—the great excellence and won¬ 
derful comprehensiveness of the Society. One of its excellencies is 
common to all benefit societies—namely, the right of members to pay¬ 
ment during sickness over a prescribed period. When che limit is 
reached—a year—and a member continues ill, there is a substantial 
Benevolent fund to grant him further aid, of which he may more than 
ever be in need. No one knows till occasions unfortunately arrive, 
what good this wisely established fund may do. It has been of great 
service under sad circumstances in the past (the last occasion being a 
grant of £20 to four orphans, who lost both parents in three months), 
»nd may be, and probably will be, a perfect Godsend in the future to 
some poor aged and needy fellow mortals. Ordinary members only 
contribute one month’s annual contribution to the fund, its main 
support being by contributions of honorary members. Gardeners’ 
Friends who have the means and disposition to do so are thus 
afiorded an opportunity for sharing in the good work of providing 
against unforeseen calamities, or for affording additional or supplementary 
relief to the sick payments in cases of emergency. It is most gratifying 
to note the great increase of honorary contributions during recent years 
since the character and scope of the Society became better known. 
When I examined the books seven years ago there were only eight of 
these, but now there are forty. And it is to be further noted that 
should misfortune befall any of these members, even they, though 
honorary, are entitled to assistance from the fund which they have 
largely created and largely sustain for the benefit of others. We ought 
to be very proud of the men who formulated rules so comprehensive yet 
so precise, by which the greatest amount of good can be done and 
absolute security maintained. 
Next to be referred to are the striking advantages the “ United ” 
offers over general benefit societies. Here we come to something that 
stands alone, distinct, and superior to anything that can be found, I 
believe, in connection with any other benefit society in the world—the 
investment of the surplus accumulated capital (excluding £1416 143. lOd. 
of the Benevolent Fund), now amounting to £3478 18s. 114d., to the 
credit of the members. This is theirs, not only without any draw¬ 
backs, but with all accumulations, for the yearly interest on each 
member’s share is added to his capital investment, for it'is as surely 
his as if the money passed from his own hands into the Bank of 
England. Further, the exact amount banked for each member is made 
known to him every year. The sums are steadily accumulating, last 
year’s increase being £400, and will do so as long as the subscriptions 
are paid ; and even if they lapse the amount invested remains the 
property of the defaulting member, and is payable to him if he attains 
the age of sixty years, or at his death, whenever that may occur, to his 
nominee, whose name is entered on the books ; but, and here is a little 
penalty which the shrewd authors of this grand scheme imposed. When 
a member ceases payment—ceases, in fact, to be a member, the interest 
earned by his share of invested capital is not added to it, but is trans¬ 
ferred to the management fund ; and at the present moment a sum of 
£339 iGs. 44d. stands to the credit of persons whose payments have 
lapsed. They lose the interest on that amount, therefore the Seciety 
does not lose by losing a few members, but gains. Still, it is always 
striving for more. Why ? Because it is for tbeir benefit. That is the 
great central, indeed only possible, object of its existence. No power 
on earth can deprive a member of one farthing of his investment, and 
no official has a fraction of pecuniary interest in the increase of those 
investments. It is said that corporations have no souls, but here we 
have an exception, for this corporation of gardeners for the benefit of 
gardeners has 310 souls, for that is the present number of members, and 
each has an irrefragible claim for a clearly defined share of the accumu¬ 
lated property. He pays his contributions, his share of the disburse¬ 
ments are yearly deducted, and the rest, the great bulk, is placed in 
the bank for him. Nor has he many years to contribute before nearly 
the whole of his payments to the benefit fund are added to his 
accumulated store, for the interest arising from this approaches his 
yearly contributions to this fund. An example or two will show this 
clearly. . 
The first name on the books is that of Mr. W. Heale, but he is dead, 
so we take the account of Mr. J. George, whose name stands second. 
His accumulated stock is £59 4s. 6d.; his contributions for the year 
were £1 193., while the interest from his stock, and added to it, was 
£1 12s. Id., so that as compared with ordinary benefit societies, in 
which no surplus is invested for the members, he insured himself for 
16s. a week in case of illness by a yearly payment of Gs. lid., or less 
than 2d. a week ; he, of course, paid his 9d. a week, but 7d. of this was 
added to his invested property. Third on the list of subscribing mern- 
bers stands Mr. J. Wheeler. His invested fund is £39 Ss. 7d. ; years 
contributions, £1 Gs.; interest from and added to stock, £1 Is.; difference, 
6s. It will be noted that these two members joined at the same time, oim 
paying 9d. a week for IGs. during illness, the other 6d. a week for 10s. 6d. 
during illness ; but the former has £20 more than the latter standing to 
his credit in the books. Though the advantage of the larger contri¬ 
bution is shown here it does not follow that all young men do best by 
commencing with the larger payment—on the contrary, experience 
tends to 'show that it is better for those with very low wages to com¬ 
mence at the lower scale and pass to the higher when they can better 
afford to do so, as it is found that a considerable per-centage of those 
who join on the maximum rate fail to meet their engagements. Tms is 
to be regretted, but it is better to state facts than suppress them because 
they do not happen to be the most agreeable. 
Now, all the benefits of this Society, including the substantial per¬ 
sonal investments, are insured by smaller annual payments than to 
general benefit societies, the members of which have no share whatever 
in the invested reserve funds. Mr. George Baker of Membland Hall, 
one of the oldest members of the Society, and I think one of its founders, 
but certainly for some years its Treasurer, once showed me so forcibly 
the great advantages cf this over such societies as the Odd Fellows, 
Foresters, and others, that I repeat his words, which I took down at the 
time, and I should be glad if they could reach the ears of every gardener 
in the kingdom. “ I have paid,” he said, “7d. a week into one of tlmse 
clubs since I was eighteen years of age, and I am now fifty. I have for¬ 
tunately had nothing out in that time, and if I go on paying all my life 
there will be £12 at my death.” And then he continued, “ I have paid 
Id. a week less into our Gardeners’ Society for seventeen years, and have 
nearly £40 to my credit, and if I continue paying as long as I paid into 
the other 1 shall have £100.” This, mark you, is £100 in the “ United 
against £12 (at death) in the general, and a penny a week more for 
insuring the £12 than the £100, the benefits during the sickness being 
practically the same in both cases. Mr. Baker’s words should be pondered 
over by every gardener between eighteen and forty-five years of age, 
whose ears they may reach, and he will surely take advantage of hi* 
position and opportunity in joining this combined benefit society and 
savings bank in preference to the general societies, which, however 
valuable they may be to a mixed community of workers, cannot offer 
anything like the advantages that the “ United ” does to those for whom 
it was established. . 
Before a member of ordinary societies can receive^ payment during 
sickness he must "relinquish work entirely. This is not so in the 
“United.” He can do some work, and thus keep his situation, and at 
the same time receive a proportion of sick pay on a doctor’s certificate. 
This is a provision; but as if to help what may be called a half pay man 
off the fund, there is a slight deduction from his payment, which goes 
to the benevolent fund. What astute men the framers of these rules 
must have been, and I think I am safe in saying their equals have not 
been found outside the gardening ranks. It is the duty of all gardens* 
to take advantage of their positions and the privileges offered them by 
this Society, and those of them who have joined the mixed general 
societies have little to lose and much to gain by having themselves 
enrolled as members of the “ United.” Many have done so, and more 
on reflection must follow their example. I certainly would not suggest 
their doing this if I were not convinced it would be to their advantage, 
for a thousand new recruits would not benefit me in the slightest, 
nor others who are connected with the institution. 
The last of the four essentials that have occurred to me as such is 
the careful, economical, and admirable management of the Society. 
