In case any person shall die intestate whose representatives shall be entitled on his account to receive any sum from the funds of the society not exceeding 204, the treasurer or trustees may pay the money to the persons entitled to receive the property of the deceased, without its being necessary to take out letters of administration.
It is not lawful to dissolve any friendly society, so long as any of the purposes declared in its rules remain to be carried into effect, " without obtaining the votes of consent of five-sixths in value of the then existing members, and also the con.. sent of all persons then receiving or then entitled to receive relief from such so ciety; and for the purpose of ascertaining the votes of such five-sixths in value, every member shall be entitled to one vote, and an additional vote for every five years that he may have been a mem ber, provided that no one member shall have more than five votes in the whole," By 9 & 10 Viet. o. 27, a. 13, all die.
pates between the managers and mem bers, or their representatives, of any such society, for the settlement of which recourse must now be had to the supe rior courts in the respective countries, may be referred in writing to the several registrars; and where the subject matter in dispute does not exceed 201., it shall be so referred, unless the attorney or solicitor•general, or the lord-advocate in Scotland, shall certify that it ought to be decided by a superior court: the re gistrar, in case of reference, to have power to proceed es parte on notice being given to the parties; the award to be final, and the proceedings not subject to any stamp duty.
There is no regulation for the pay ment of the registrars of Scotland or Ireland, but it is presumed that they are to be paid by fees as under the previous acts. The registrar of England, by s. 11, is to retain, out of the fees re ceived by him, sufficient money to defray office-rent, the salaries of clerks, and all other incidental expenses, and to pay over the balance, if any, to the accoun tant of the consolidated fund, the ac counts of the fees and their application being kept in the form from time to time prescribed by the commissioners.
Minors, if they act with the consent of parents or guardians, may become members of friendly societies, having authority to act for themselves on the one hand, and being held legally respon sible for their acts on the other. A statement, attested by two auditors of the funds, to be made annually, of which every member may receive a copy on pay ment of a sum not exceeding sixpence.
Every friendly society enrolled under this act is obliged, within three months after the expiration of every five years, to transmit a return of the rate of sickness and mortality, according to the experi ence of the society during the preceding five years; such return to be made in a prescribed form to insure uniformity. These returns are directed by 9 & 10 Viet. c. 27, to be addressed to the regis trar appointed to certify the rules of friendly societies, London.
The following are among the benefits derived from a Friendly Society being enrolled under the 10 Geo. IV. c. 56, as
amended by 5 Wm. IV. and 10 Vict. :— 1, The rules are binding, and may be le gally enforced ; 2, Protection is given to the members, their wives and children, &c., in enforcing their just claims, and against any fraudulent dissolution of the society; 3, The property of the society is declared to be vested in the trustee or treasurer for the time being; 4, The trus tee or treasurer may, with respect to pro perty of society, sue and be sued in his own name ; 5, Fraud committed with re spect to property of society is punishable by justices ; 6, Court of Exchequer may compel transfer of stock, &c., if officer of society abscond or refuse to transfer, &e.; 7, Application may be made to Court of Exchequer by petition, free from payment of court or counsel's fees, &c.; 8, Disputes settled by reference to justices or arbitra tors—order of justices or award of arbi trators final ; 9, Power to invest their funds to any amount in savings' bank ; 10, Power to invest their funds with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, and to receive interest at the rate of 31. Os. 10d. per cent. ; 11, Priority of payment of debts, in case of ficer, &c., of society become bankrupt, in solvent, has an execution, &c., against his property, or dies ; 12, In case of death of members, payment may be made of sum not exceeding 201., without the expense, &c., of obtaining letters of administration ; 13, Members are allowed to be witnesses in all proceedings, criminal or civil, re specting property of society ; 14, Exemp tion of all documents, &c., from stamp duty.
Societies thus constituted and privileged must be acknowledged to be a great im provement upon the old benefit clubs. Before these societies were regulated by statute, temptation was held out to ob tain members by the smallness of the contributions, which proved in the course of years wholly inadequate to answer the demands that were then sure to arise, although the income of the so ciety had at first, while the members continued young, been sufficient for the purpose. The mischief thus fell upon them when they had become old and infirm, and had no means of relieving themselves from it : this evil is now prevented by the compulsory adoption of tables prescribing such rates of contribu tions and allowances as experience has demonstrated to be sufficient and equitable.
It is unnecessary to give the tables of contributions required from members of Friendly Societies, in order to insure to their members the benefits of such insti tutions, as every information respecting the establishment of Friendly Societies may be obtained, free of expense, on ap plication, through a post-paid letter, to the "Registrar appointed to certify the Rules of Friendly Societies, London." On the 20th of November, 1844, the number of friendly societies which had direct accounts with the Commissioners for Reduction of the National Debt was 428, and the amount of their deposits was 1,770,7751. There were besides, at the same date, 10,203 friendly societies which had the sum of 1,272,0461. invested in savings' banks.