The Sun.
London, England, 1826-05-30 00:00:00

BENEFIT SOCIETIES.—No. 1.

The Report of the Select Committee of Inquiry
into the Imes of Friendly Sot ties has rendered• the
subject interesting, and most Journals have been
slightly touching upon the question, but we have as
yet seen no suggestion that can promote the interests
of these Societies, nor do we find that any desire to
grapple with the subject is manifested by the public.
It is no easy task to reconcile the prejudices of the
working classes to a change in the constitution of these
Societies, yet it cats, be. demonstrated ,that they abound.
in evils which destroy the advantages which belong to
the system of mutual insurance, and render mis-
chievous the very establiShments whiCh ought to con-
fer an extendedbenefit upon all classes of the Com-
munity. The public will not always consider that the
removal of an evil may convert bad into good, but too
often condemn an object which is in itself unexcep-
tionable, Merely because it. does not distinguish be-
tween a bad measure, and the abuse of a good one.
If this observation apply more forcibly to one sub-
ject than to another, that subject must be Friendly So-
cieties. In a perfect state they afford the most powerful
incentives to industry and economy, and the strongest
antidote to pauperism. They inculcate benevolence,
encourage the best feelings of humanity, and they teach
that happy independence which makes a man know
his superiority over the.,idler and the drunkard—but
to one mistaken measure in the onset may be ascribed
so many evils, that these-institutions have already been
a frightful and prolific source of mischief.
As an illustration of this, we quote from the address
of a Society formed for
,the purpose of promoting
their improvement, a passage peculiarly applicable to
the case :
" It is dear," says this address, " that Benefit Societies re-
quire reformation. Do they teach soberness ? They are held
at public houses. Do they encourag4 economy ? They en-
force the spending of money in liquori Can their members
rely upon them for the support which they hold out? Too
many of them fail, and the hopes of the contributors end
in tnisery and disappointment. nut these evils do not be.-
long to the system. Benefit Clubs have been neglected by
the higher classes, until sn much mischief has been mixed up
with their operations, that' it becomes necessary to take imme-
diate and active measures for their improvement where it may be
practicable, and for the establishment of good societies wherever
obstacles may be raised to the amendment of the old."
And an anonymous writer on the.aitMe subject, who
has entered deeply into the question, speaking Of the
earliest attempts of the working classes to unite for the
support of each other in sickness and old age, says—
" At this period it was at once the duty and the • interest of
the more wealthy classes to patronize their efforts and encourage
their undertakings ; but instead of this they were driven, by the
indifference of their superiors, to seek accommodation for their
club business in the top-room, awl security for their funds in the
hands of the hipster ; and it is not too touch to say, that to the
associates peculiar to the one, and the sinister designs or ailure
of the other, aided as they were by the general ignorance of the
members,. may bo attributed the accumulated evils under whit::
they now exist."

And what has the mischief led to ? The establish-
ment of Savings Banks, not to be supported on. their
own merits, not to assist clubs, but as a measure of op-
position to the Societies, and their Patrons, sought to
raise the one on the ruins of the other ; but surely it
will be seen that they cannot have the same effect,
they cannot answer the same purpose, their objects
and powers are totally different. In another address
from the Institution to which we have before alluded,
the effect of the two measures are well described ; and
although the abuse of the system, the meetings at
public houses, the miscalculation,' and' other evils, are
strongly reprobated -by the Society in question ; it
puts forth an admirable defence of the system.
" The Benefit Society, it is observed, "sustains a man in sick-
ness, and affords a provision for his family at his death, even if his
claims should have exhausted ten times the amount of his deposits :
the Savings' Bank supports a man in sickness only till his savings
are expended, and he is then,destitnte. In the former, men are
bound together by every tic which tends to exalt the national cha-
racter, and become at once independent, whether their future lives
be distinguished by health- and plenty, or embittered by poverty
and sickness --in the latter, their only hopes depend nn a long
and healthy life, which alone could make their drop-like accumu-
lation* adequate to the emulsion necessities of age;--in the former
the contributors are generous in health, and independent in sick-
ness : in the latter, the fortunate are misers, and the afflicted,
paupers.

The superiority of the Member of u Friendly Society over
the Contributor to a Savings'. Bank is striking; and were there
no other coiraiderations than the effects of the two Institutions
upon the &meter of their Members, the country might rejoice
that the operations of Friendly Societies annually extend through
e wider circle, and tend 'to strengthen all the sentiments which
have placed the working classes ef-England, both in a moral and
and intellectual sense, fur above those of any other nation in the
world.

" To the enemies of Friendly Societies let it be told, that the
Members of these institutions have distributed amongst one
another from their common purse,'during times of difficulty and
instead
of Friendly sivietio,-the sick Meinbers who thus,
of trial, no less a sum than one and a half Sterling, 'an-
-
nuttily ; and that, had all the Members .eontributed to Savings'
Banks,
partook of the deposits of the whole, would have been only enti
tled to their single stocks, and must have gone to the parish, or to
other source for nine tenth* of this amount.

We shall resume the subject. It is one in which
every individual in the kingdom is interested, and is
almost inexhaustible.

John Bull excuses the cu re bto which our female
or ladies and their
each other,
correspondent condemned, lately condeed,
grooms ruling alongside of by observing
that servants have been so much lectured and polished
up by Societieh and Institutions, that it is difficult to
find those who will condescend to ride in any other
fashion.

Majesty
TMENTs. 14:
NEW COLONIAL ArvoiN
has been pleased to.eppoint A. Baxster, Esq. to the
office of Attorney-General in the Colony of New South
Wales, and James Holland, Esq. (late the Attorney-
General of the Bermuda Wands) to be Solicitor-Ge-
neral and Commissioner of the Courts of Request in
the same Colony, in the room of J. Stephen, Esq.
promoted to a Puisne Jude. His Majesty has also
appointed J. P. Musson, Esq. to be Attorney-General'
and Advocate-General in the Bermuda. Islands, in the
place of Mr. Holland.