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Article A FEW WORDS ON BENEFIT SOCIETIES. ← Page 7 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Few Words On Benefit Societies.
" watered with , thc juice of the grape ; " but there is in this country a taste for sumptuousness which is strangely at variance either ivith personal comfort or with the quieter hospitality of our neighbours on the Continent . It will be remembered , however , that the members of the more expensive lodges are generally men of considerable substance ; that a good dinner would
probably aivait them at home , without the trouble of going to lodge ; and that in England , nothing is clone well without a little eating and drinking . But there is a serious eidl attendant on the loiver class of
Benefit Societies , —we mean the number of public-house meetings ivith Avhich their proceedings are mixed up , and the consequent drain ( in more senses than one ) upon the funds of the society , to say nothing of the moral injury sustained . Mr . Albert Smith gives a brisk sketch of some such a meeting in a country toivn : — " Hitherto , Club Day' had been the great festival . On that
anniversary the men wore blue boAvs on their hats , and marched all about the village , with a band , and a banner inscribed , ' Let brotherly love prevail , ' Avhich it always did until after dinner , ivhen the fighting commenced for the evening , and the brothers laboured under notions that they ivere all right , and not going to be put upon by nobod . Their Avives then haunted the ' Red
y Lion' in great distress ; and the doctor was constantly called up all night long to broken heads . " * This is severe , but it is too often strictly the truth . It were to be wished that the actual business of such societies could be
separated from public-houses , and that the Toivn Hall or Vestry Room , or in those villages where both those buildings are wanting , the house of some respectable private person , could be made the centre of these benevolent transactions . Where ive are certain of the integrity of the principle , it becomes the more painful to find that tlie practice not only falls short of the
intention , but it is glaringly inconsistent Avith its realization . We knoAV the charms—dangerous charms—of the village alehouse , and we would rather see half a dozen " brethren , " of ivhatever order , club , or society you ivill , meet quietly at each other ' s houses , than provoke contempt by a " demonstration " ending in riot and inebriety .
Of late years , the number of Benefit Societies has increased to an extent which would seem incredible , did we not at the same time knoiv the corresponding increase of Life Assurances , Guarantee ancl Loan Associations . Not a profession , trade , or grade , is Avithout some medium by which its members may com-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Few Words On Benefit Societies.
" watered with , thc juice of the grape ; " but there is in this country a taste for sumptuousness which is strangely at variance either ivith personal comfort or with the quieter hospitality of our neighbours on the Continent . It will be remembered , however , that the members of the more expensive lodges are generally men of considerable substance ; that a good dinner would
probably aivait them at home , without the trouble of going to lodge ; and that in England , nothing is clone well without a little eating and drinking . But there is a serious eidl attendant on the loiver class of
Benefit Societies , —we mean the number of public-house meetings ivith Avhich their proceedings are mixed up , and the consequent drain ( in more senses than one ) upon the funds of the society , to say nothing of the moral injury sustained . Mr . Albert Smith gives a brisk sketch of some such a meeting in a country toivn : — " Hitherto , Club Day' had been the great festival . On that
anniversary the men wore blue boAvs on their hats , and marched all about the village , with a band , and a banner inscribed , ' Let brotherly love prevail , ' Avhich it always did until after dinner , ivhen the fighting commenced for the evening , and the brothers laboured under notions that they ivere all right , and not going to be put upon by nobod . Their Avives then haunted the ' Red
y Lion' in great distress ; and the doctor was constantly called up all night long to broken heads . " * This is severe , but it is too often strictly the truth . It were to be wished that the actual business of such societies could be
separated from public-houses , and that the Toivn Hall or Vestry Room , or in those villages where both those buildings are wanting , the house of some respectable private person , could be made the centre of these benevolent transactions . Where ive are certain of the integrity of the principle , it becomes the more painful to find that tlie practice not only falls short of the
intention , but it is glaringly inconsistent Avith its realization . We knoAV the charms—dangerous charms—of the village alehouse , and we would rather see half a dozen " brethren , " of ivhatever order , club , or society you ivill , meet quietly at each other ' s houses , than provoke contempt by a " demonstration " ending in riot and inebriety .
Of late years , the number of Benefit Societies has increased to an extent which would seem incredible , did we not at the same time knoiv the corresponding increase of Life Assurances , Guarantee ancl Loan Associations . Not a profession , trade , or grade , is Avithout some medium by which its members may com-