The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-24 00:00:00

The Garibaldi Friendly Society.

At the Mansion-hvouse yesterday, Mr. Willis, barrister,
waited upon the Lord Mayor, having been instructed, as
he said, to make a statement in reference to a statement
which was made to his lordship a few days back respect-
ing a society called the Garibaldi Friendly Loan and Life
Insurance Society, which if true was calculated to bring
high discredit upon that society. He was instructed by Mr.
Rees, ono of the trustees of the society, whose name had
been mentioned. Mr. Rees was himself a respectable gen-
tleman, having carried on business at Dockhead for about
20 years, without any act on his part which would disen-
title him to a character for hopeaty and uprightness, and
who had not derived any benefit from the society, but had
made advances from time to time to discharge the just
claims made upon it, and ho therefore felt most keenly the
charge that was implied against him, that he with the other
directors had defrauded the poor of their hard earnings. It
was said that the directors had issued a prospectus, which
set forth that the society had reserved a guarantee fund of
£25,000. At the time that prospectus was printed, and even
at the present time there were societies in existence having
the power of raising a guarantee fund by means of shares,
and the directors of the Garibaldi thought confidently that
they would receive such authority from the Registrar-
General, and the prospectus with that announcement was
consequently printed, but at the last moment the registrar
disallowed it. The directors then proceeded to strike it
out, and no prospectus was issued with such a representa-
tion. It was true, as had been stated by Mr. Tidd Pratt,
that it did appear in an agency application, but that had
been given out inadvertently ; but that statement was
never contained in any prospectus, circular, or letter
issued to the members. The next observation of the
Registrar-General he alluded to was that Mr. Stratton
had been connected with the management of the society.
To this Mr. Rees gave a most unqualified denial. Mr.
Stratton never directly or indirectly had anything to do
with the management of the society. Then as to what
appeared in the circular about the society being agents to
Government for the purchase of endowments and an-
nuities. By the 16 and 17 Vic., cap. 45, the com-
missioners of the National Debt were empowered to
grant annuities. It was thought the society would be a
good medium for obtaining from the commissioners the
benefits of such grants for the members of the society, and
that was what they meant to imply, so that the directors
could only thus be said to have committed a mere verbal
mistake, and it was rather hard for that to charge them
with fraud, and a glance at the tables would bear out that
view of the matter, and that no business had been effected
in that branch. With respect to the terms for the agencies,
Mr. Willis was instructed that they wore no higher than
other societies allowed ; and as to the vicious plans upon
which the society was managed, he could only say that other
societies were conducted on the same principle, and worked
very successfully. It was stated that persons were adver-
tised as trustees who had not consented to the use of their
names for such a purpose, and he was instructed to say that
all those parties whose names had been made use of had ver-
bally given their consent ; and as to the clergyman whose
name was said to have been used without his consent, he
was instructed that that gentleman had been to the office
and had sanctioned the rules of the society, and it could be
satisfactorily proved that no person had been advertised as
agent, trustee, or other officer, but with his full consent.
With respect to the auditor, Mr. Pratt had made a mistake,
and had gone to the wrong Mr. Davey, it being the son of
Mr. Davey to whom Mr. Pratt applied who was the auditor,

and he was at present living at Derby. Then came the
very serious and damaging statement that the offices of
this society was a very small room which was left almost
entirely in charge of a boy during most part of the day.
It must be borne in mind that the business of the society
was for the most part in the country, and effected
chiefly by agents, and therefore an extensive place was
not required. The office was open to all who went, and
the fullest information was given to those who required it.
If the secretary had taken an expensive establishment, then
the charge against him would have been for extravagant
and unwarranted expenditure. Touehing what had been said
about the society having provided against any fraud on the
part of the officers, or fraudulent dissolution, no power on
earth could insure a scrupulous discharge of duty, but the
society was formed under the act of parliament, and the sec-
retary had done all he could to effect that object. Something
had been said about a circular having been issued having no
printer's name. There was-nothing in the circular that could
lead the printer into difficulty, and therefore there was no-
thing in that. Very serious charges had been made against
the society, which, taken on the whole, was calculated to
cause an impression, and had, in fact, done so, that the
society was not formed for the benefit of the members, but
for the purpase of defrauding the poor of their earnings,
and enriching the directors. He hoped, however, his state-
ment would remove such an imputation. No false pre-
tence had been made, no false balance-sheet or statement
of accounts had been issued, and they had faithfully dis-
charged all the just claims made upon it, and had, up to the
time of the statement of which he complained, been suc-
cessful. With regard to what had,. been said about the
humble position of the directors, the society was for the
poorer class, and they, therefore, did not want anything
else but strict integrity and an endeavour to do good,
which would not be at all assisted by having high-sounding
names.

Mr. Tidd Pratt proceeded to make a few remarks upon
the explanation given by his learned friend, and said he
did not think anything he had said in the course of his
statement had done much to alter the statement which he
himself made to his lordship a few days back. One of the
gentlemen advertised as a director was Mr. E. D. Evans,
of Fore-street. He had endeavoured to find out Mr. Evans,
and was told he was a commercial gentleman, who was then
in court, and would relate what had taken place. Mr.
Evans told him that Mr. Rees had called upon him with a
printed paper ,and showed him his name as a trustee, and
he told him he would have nothing to do with it ; and Mr.
Rees said his name should be taken out.

Mr. Rees, who was also present, said he denied that in
toto.

Mr. Evans was then asked by the Lord Mayor whether
or not he had ever consented to his name being used as a
trustee to the society, and he said he had not done so. Mr.
Rees showed him a prospectus with his name in it. He
asked him ►hat it was, and he said a new friendly society,
and he wanted his name to fill up as a form, that he would
not be responsible, that a gentleman named George Adams,
from Derby, had consented, and he had not been ashamed
to have his name there. He, however, refused to have
anything to do with it, and requested that his name should
be struck out.

Mr. Pratt continued ; and said his complaint against
tho society was, that it was not one which the working
classes could beheficially become members of. The act
required that the names of the trustees should be lodged
with him; and if Mr. Evans had not, with regard to the
clergyman he believed he certainly had been at the office,
but he understood that it was in consequence of having
received a printer's bill, and he went to know who was to
pay it. With regard to the auditors, by one of the rules
the accounts ought to be laid before two auditors twice in
each year, and submitted to a general meeting. He did
not know whether a general meeting had been held, but
the auditor had never seen the accounts the whole time.
Then, as to what he said about the account at the London
and County Bank being a miserable affair and constantly
overdrawn, and that it was closed in 1863, Mr. Rees in-
formed him that it was still open, and on his asking him
how much he had there, he admitted only a few shillings.
(Laughter.) Something had been aaid about the expenses
and management. By one of the rules 15 per cent. of the
subscriptions were to go to the expenses of the general
management of the business of the society, when by the
prospectus the agent was to receive 50 per cent. The
circular stated that the secretary was prepared to advance
money to members upon security, when by the rules any
overplus was to be invested in a particular manner, and
the advancing of any sum of money was illegal ; and he
did not know, therefore, out of what fund the secretary
could make advances. The prospectus, signed by Mr. Fair-
weather as secretary, stating that the guarantee fund was
£25,000, was sent to the agent, who from that, of course, must
have recommended the society as having that reserved
fund. On the whole, it did not appear to him that Mr.
Willis's statement, notwithstanding its ability, would con-
tradict what ho had said upon the last occasion, that the
society was one of those to which the working classes
should not contribute their hard earnings. What ho said
about Mr. Stratton had been misconstrued, and it wait
stated that Mr. Stratton was connected with this society.
What he meant to imply was that Mr. Stratton had been
connected with a society with which Mr. Rees was con-
nected, but had loft it and had gone to another, and had
been since convicted of misdeameanour. -

The Lord Mayor said he supposed that when the mem-
bers bad paid in their money to these and other societies,
they were supposed to have it again if they wanted it.
_ _ _

Mr. Pratt said that was so.

His lordship said he could not at all see how, in the
event of their paying their agents 50 per cent., they could
do that. If, for instance, the sum of £5OO were raised,
and they were called upon to pay it, it could not possibly
be done, as only £250 would remain.

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