rather on account of their popularity than for their fitness for the position, and this is true in the election of officials of a lodge. Many of the most substantial members of any local society do not take an active interest in the conducting of the society, and are not chosen as officials, but if it was left to the Board of Directors to select a person to represent the financial part of the local lodge a choice could be made of a capable business man who would interest himself in the society when he is thus selected by the Board of Control to represent the society in this way. The selection of such an officer should be made by some one capable of judging the qualifications of the person and also capable of giving the person selected such instructions as might be necessary regarding his duties and we believe there is no way to meet this necessity except by the employmnt by the Board of Directors of a capable man or capable men, depending upon the magnitude of the society, whose entire time would be devoted to visiting the local societies, selecting persons to act as local collectors, and giving the persons selected such instructions as would be necessary to enable them to properly represent the society as its agent. It may be true that some of the societies represented here have already made such changes as would meet the new conditions, and have taken steps toward avoiding the litigation that arises through their local officers, and at this time and place the officials representing these societies could give valuable information to others. who realize the increased responsibility and have not taken steps to meet it. We believe, however, that it is a matter for careful consideration and requires the best thought of the beneficial insurance societies at this time. SUGGESTIONS UPON THE RATE ADJUSTMENT QUESTION. Drawn from the Experiences of the Old English Friendly Societies. By Benjamin Crane. Read Before Law Section, August 28, 1912, Mackinac Island, Michigan. This is a period of stress in every direction, in silence, in art, in religion. Principles long regarded as fully established, and as safe guides to the honest searcher of truth, are challenged. It is no longer sufficient to declare that any given course of action or doctrine is right, because it was ever so regarded. Even in religion, in view of the advance in knowledge and the growth of applied sciences, every generation is required to review and restate the evidences of its faith. Evidences, formerly regarded and acted upon as satisfactory and convincing to a moral certainty, are now declared irrelevant or doubtful. The wandering moon no longer unquestioned controls the ebb and flow of the tides, her apparently sole function. This power is denied her and the great fact of the tides is explained, to the satisfaction of some scientific men, in a way to leave her out of the problem. Principles of mathematics are now denied practical application to concrete facts. It is only the college professor with the plane triangle represented before him on the blackboard, who can confidently affirm that the sum of the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles. The land surveyor cannot positively declare that the sum of the three angles of any triangular field is just equal to two right angles, no more and no less. Human frailties and defects enter into the solution of every question. In the midst of all our modern conveniences and comforts there never were so many people uncomfortable and dissatisfied. Principles of government, regarded as axiomatic and fundamental from the foundation of our present national constitution, are assailed by those, who have more confidence in their hopes and in their fellowmen, than in the wisdom and sagacity of the fathers. We have acquired a vast accumulation of knowledge, which it is proposed, by joint resolution, to transmute into wisdom, as if knowledge was equivalent to wisdom. "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers,' was never truer than at present. Knowledge is more widely diffused, but it may be doubted whether there are more wise men than in former times. The fundamental principle of every true fraternal beneficiary association is equality of benefit with equality of burden, a society in which every member is alike and equal in all things. It has been stated by those who have searched the old books and examined the history of the middle ages, that fraternal insurance, as now understood, owes its origin to the aids and helps which the societies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries distributed among their members. In fact this form of protection to the needy and unfortunate members of the old societies, gave the first suggestion of mutual life insurance. Instead of the old line life insurance companies being the pioneers in a new field of business, it may be affirmed, with a good degree of confidence, that they owe their existence to the suggestions derived from these old societies. Contributions were made, and aids and benefits were distributed, among the members of these societies, according to their own by-laws, which were at all times subject to change, and these changes, when made, were applied to all members, present as well as future. These laws, even when changed, were always the full measure of all the rights of their members. These friendly societies originally sprang up among artisans and members of the old guilds, after they were despoiled and dispersed by royal decree. They owed their existence to the conditions which forced these common people to joint action to protect their loved ones from distress, suffering, sickness and death, at a time, when imprisonment for debt was common, and the same penalty was inflicted on him who killed a deer upon a royal preserve, as on him who killed a human being. With no statute or royal decree to guide or control them, these societies worked out a system which served greatly to mollify the hardships and sufferings of these common people, who relied upon themselves and did not look to courts or parliament for relief. At this time the courts and parliament of England were concerned chiefly with property and property rights. Unless one could convince an English chancellor that property in some form was the subject of the controversy between members of a mere voluntary association, he would not assume jurisdiction to adjust the controversy between them. For this reason, courts of equity, from the earliest time, refused to interfere with voluntary societies in their domestic affairs, and left them to settle their own internal disputes, within themselves and by their own methods. Under these conditions, these societies grew and prospered and reached a high state of development and usefulness. Thy served a great purpose, when the lot of an English wage earner was a hard one and when the right of suffrage was greatly restricted. These societies claimed, and, without restraint of courts, exercised the right to change and alter the contributions and the amount of benefits distributed among their members. These changes applied to all without regard to when they joined the society. Wars with all their disturbing influence in work and wages, were frequent. The laborer was often out of employment. Famine, pestilence and war made wages and employment uncertain. There could be no equality of benefit and burden, as times and wages changed, unless the amount of contribution and the amount of benefits were changed to meet the new, unexpected and unprovided for, conditions. Equality is equity. Unless there was equality of burden there could be no equality of benefits. These pioneers in the art of protection for their wives and children and dependents clearly saw and acted upon the principle, that lies at the very foundation of these societies; that the members must, at all times, have it within their power, to change and alter their laws, and thus affect the rate of contribution and amount of aid and benefit given upon the event, which the society was formed to provide against; whether it be sickness, to provide a portion for the daughter upon her marriage, or, in case of death, to the widow and helpless children. When there were but few books and before the art of printing, when the soil was tilled in a primitive fashion and the modern plow and farm implements were unknown, Chaucer, the father of English poetry, exclaimed: "For out of the old fields, as men saithe, Amid all the changes in his physical condition, that tend to improve and elevate him and his surroundings, man has remained throughout substantially the same. He is governed by the same desires, hopes and fears. The things that really control him are spiritual and not physical. These friendly societies arose among the common people. For many years the British parliament made no attempt to accomplish their general control. They were left to work out their objects in their own fashion. Consideration was given to their well-known suspicion and aversion of governmental interference. With officers having no particular fitness or qualification for their tasks, these societies became numerous and accomplished much good. They entered into many branches of insurance, such as sickness, accident, death, birth and death of children, funeral expenses, expenses of members while in search of employment or in distressed circumstances in case of shipwreck, loss or damage to tents, boats or tools. There is evidence that protection was extended to live stock of their mem bers. Bad management soon developed inherent defects and weaknesses in their plans of business, which caused great disappointment and widespread suffering and misery and subjected these societies to just criticism. All men are not wise or honest or qualified to transact so complicated a business as insurance, yet these common men first attempted it, at a time when no one knew the actual cost of life insurance or what was a sufficient rate of contribution to meet any particular benefit. There were no approved tables of rates or of mortality or life expectancy. The competent actuary, if he existed, was not known. His calling was yet to be developed out of this new field of effect. The continued existence of the society was dependent upon the ability of its members to meet the calls made upon them. The calls and contributions were increased in amount or number, or the benefit was reduced, as the exigencies of the society might determine. This was accomplished by a change of the by-laws, a right which, it seems, all possessed. Many societies failed. There were so many instances of dishonesty, of inefficient management, so many well-founded stories of diversion of funds, wretchedness, want and unhappiness of their disappointed members, that the attention of parliament was at last called to the condition of the societies. An examination by a royal commission was made in 1872-3-4. This report is contained in about ten printed volumes. Over 29,000 questions were asked by the members of the commission. From the first the British parliament has interfered as little as possible with these societies. The first act of parliament dealing with them went into effect in 1793, when the world had been aroused by the agitation of the rights of men which preceded the French revolution. Liberty, equality and fraternity was the cry of the people, heard from every quarter. By registering under the provisions of the act these societies could obtain certain advantages, which, while valuable, where not sufficient inducements to secure its general acceptance. Most of these societies remained independent of its provisions and were not subject to governmental or other proper control. The view generally entertained of these societies is shown by the preamble of the act, which recites the advantages and happiness that the members will derive from funds raised for their mutual relief and maintenance in sickness, old age and infirmity, and refers to a reduced poor rate as the benefit the public would receive from its passage. The number of societies existing when this act was passed is not known, but it has been estimated there were thousands. In 1803 the number was reported by the register at 9,672, with a membership of 925,429. In 1849 the register reported that 14,000 societies had registered since 1828, and of these |