Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-10 00:00:00

ANNUAL R,EPOJIT.

• "It is with much-satisfaction thatthe committee of the
District Provident Society present their 30th annual
report to its subscribers and friends. •
• "The additional aides and regulations which have been
adopted daring the last two years, as necessary for the
safer and more •efficient working out of its valuable ob-
jects, liave been strictly observed, and the results have
been most satisfactory.
" The accounts have been punctually audited; and the
sub-committee appointed for the purpose of exercising a
monthly supervision over the practical details of each
department have diligently, and they trust successfully,
discharged their important duties.
"It is gratifying to your committee to remark that
there has been a considerable increase in the amount of
deposits during the past year, as appears from the fol-
lowihg comparative statement :—Amount received by
visitors in 1858, £8,261 Os. 6d.; 1859, £10,412 Is. 20.;
increase, £2,151 Os. 84d. Amount received at the office
in 1858, £1,317 3s. 7d.; 1859, •£1,993 Is. 9d. ; increase,
£675 18s. 2d. Total increase, £2,826 18s. 104 d. The
greatest number of depositors in any one month was
5,934 (in November), exceeding that of the preceding
year (also in November) by 728. The total number of
deposits, if an average be taken of three payments every
month by each registered depositor, will be 181,215.
aTmhoeunatmroeutnurnt
erdetuartned the by
cv tox 7:910£9,1 9s
.57848. s; . t
01
tday,
£11;867 9s. 9d. The number of visitors at the end of
the year was 267, exceeding by 11 that of December,
1858.
. _ _

"From the agent's Report of the Mendieity Board,
we learn that during the past year 8,737 applicants have
been relieved-0,822 with bread alone, and 4,915 with
,bread and other provisions. Of these, 5,372 were
English, 2,616 Irish, 267 ScOtch, 48 country unknown.
3,117 were reported as cases of sickness' 'and the rest of
casual distress, including these 0f.950 ofOur own deposi-
tors. The total number of individuals relieved was
36,932, and the cost of relief £843 Os. 6d.
"The annual subscriptions last .year amounted to no
more than £709 16s. 6d., and your committee would
again repeat the regret which they have so often before
expressed at so small a sum being derived from this most
important source of the finances of the society. Their
funds having become completely exhausted in the 'early
part of the math of December just at the time when)
in consequence of,the severity of the weather, the appli-
'cations for relief were daily and rapidly increasing, it
became a matter Of necessity to make au immediate and
earnest appeal to the public. That appeal appeared for
The first time in the newspapers on the 12th of December,
and, so promptly and liberally was it replied to, that be-
fore the end of the month contributions amounting to
£652 98. 6d. were paid in to the treasurer's account.
By this seasonable addition to the funds, the donations
during the year have reached the large sum of ,£1,335
18s. 6d., which, with the annual subscriptions, legacies
to the amount of £lB2 108., and £8 14s. 6d., derived
from the sale of relief tickets, have made up the total of
£2,236 19s. 5d., exceeding by just £lOO that of the pre-
vious year. The balance on the 31st December was
£560 18s. 4d. to the credit of the society.
4' Your' committee have pleasure in announcing that
they have taken successful steps to transfer the funds of
the deposit department from the Bank 4-Liverpool to
the Bank for Savings. By this change not only will the
bank commission be saved to the society, but a clear gain
of interest to the amount of from £4O to £5O annually
be secured. _ _

..f' For the convenience 'of the depositors wh6 live in
the remote parts of the north and south districts of the
town, two-roonis, gratuitously offered for the use of the
society, were opened on the sth of-August for the weekly
payment of deposits, ,by their agent ; and Ithe result of '
the • experiment has been highly satisfactory, ;Your
'committee would wish it to be borne in mind that this
arrangement has been made'fin: Ilirkroleilf only, and
not for the receipt of - deposits ; and that the im-
portant rule adopted two years ago continues to be
strictly observed----1 That in no case deposits' be received
at the office unless a' member,of the committee be pre-
sent.' Your committee record with peculiar pleasure
that the Monday receipts at the office are rapidly increas-
ing, for surely it is Most• gratifying, to find so great a
number of that class which the society seeks to benefit,
voluntarily and without' solicitation, entrusting their
little savings to its care, and that, too, 'without the
inducement, which, a premium might be expected to
offer. This circumstance .in some measure alleviates
the regret which your. committee 'feel and. express in
all their reports at the inadequate number of visitors
for the wide field of the sbeiety's operation, there being
at the present time 51' districts, of which 37 Alone,
visited at all, and many of them most indifferently.
"Your committee have decided to part with their
agent, Mr. Fulton, who (though in many respects well
qualified for his situation) has been found not suffi-
ciently conversant with bookkeeping, and unequal to
the efficient discharge of the multifarious duties now
devolving on his office. Aftev a careful examination of
the claims of several candidates for the vacancy thus
occasioned, their" choice, fell upon Mr. John Cutts,. the'
schoolmaster of the West Derby workhouse, who is
to enter upon his duties, on the 25th of March next,
the day. nn which the term of Mr. Fulton's services
wilolßexeo pfirree.thy,
conclude their present report, your 'com-
mittee would -briefly advert to what the society has
effected during the thirty years of its. valuable existence.
During that period ;the funds placed' at their disposal
from various sauces have amounted ta £56,000 Is. 40..
The total number of cases of casual distress relieved
has been 351,826, representing, it is calculated, from
1,600,000 to 1,700,000 individuals. With 'regard to
the other, and, as the name of the society itself
implies, its more distinctive, and important depart-
ment, the collection of deposits, your committee have
the gratification of stating that no less a slim total than
past husbandry usband' 'society's etY's operations.ry before them,.
£304,982 16s. sd. is recorded in the books as received
Pith
suchthe fruitscommeonfcetmheeinrt
poasf
your committee, whilst referring the great success with
which the society has been blessed, with deVout thank_
fulness to Him who "alone giveth the increase," see
every reason to set hopefully forward on another stage
of its useful progress. The objects for which they are
working are such as no one who has the well-being of
others at heart can fail to approve and appreciate. Nor
will the public, they feel assured, ever -Withdraw their
support from 'a society.which so successfully seeks to