Life and health assurance for the working classes : an answer to the question how the government may provide a comprehensive plan of life assurance for the working people of Great Britain / by William Hardwicke.

  • William Hardwicke
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Life and health assurance for the working classes : an answer to the question how the government may provide a comprehensive plan of life assurance for the working people of Great Britain / by William Hardwicke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    contributions; or, should the old members keep up their payments, younger members are deterred from enrolling themselves in a society which has an undue proportion of old members, who appear likely to become a permanent burden upon its funds. Few societies could meet their engagements if every member continued in it all his life, as he ought to do in a normal state of things. For a more equitable plan see page 18. GOVERNMENT SUPERVISION. The great need for supervision of societies under the Friendly Societies Acts, relates principally to the investment of the funds, to the nature of the calculations on which the contributions are founded, and to the audit of accounts. Most other matters may be safely left to the management of the members, whose capacity for administering their own affairs has materially increased dui^ing late years. The causes of the ultimate failure of many societies are found in the fact that the uneducated portions of the community attempt to divert the funds from their legitimate purpose, by indulging in various kinds of extravagant expenditure. The most enlightened and philanthropic members unfrequently form the minority, and they have not always sufficient determination to contend against the ignorant views of the less educated portion of the members. The investments of the funds ought to be strictly guarded by parliamentary enactments, and not only should a legal authority be consulted, but the consent of trustees and a majority of the members be obtained. An annual audit of accounts should be made by a
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