Mr. Wilkspresented a Petition from the Temperate Friendly Societies of Sandbach in Cheshire, and Hall-street, Birmingham, complaining of the expense attendant on the system of Enrolment required by the new Act for regulating Benefit Societies. He was one of those who applauded, as it deserved, the intentions of the hon. Members who framed and supported the Act in question; but when it was recollected that there were in England upwards of 8,000 Benefit Societies, containing more than two millions of members' names on their books, and that a vast proportion of the whole had been excluded from the advantages-of enrolment by the expense required under the Act of Parliament, it was, he thought, a good reason for some re-examination of its provisions, with a view to the removal of such an impediment. Great numbers of Societies had, he was assured, abstained from complying with the provisions of the Act in consequence of the expense.
§ On the petition being brought up,
§ Mr. Portmanexpressed a hope, that the hon. member for Boston (Mr. Wilks) would inquire a little more into the subject before he made up his mind that the bill required alteration. There might be 243 for anything he knew, more than 10,000 Societies in England; but he would tell the hon. Member a curious fact — that there had been, up to that time, more than 800 Societies enrolled, and 100 more had been approved of by the Barrister appointed for that purpose, while a considerable number had copied the regulations without incurring any expense whatever. A more curious fact still, was, that under the Acts prior to that of the 10th George 4th, there were never so many as 800 Societies enrolled, and as there were now a considerable number beyond that amount, it must be admitted that the Benefit Societies were at least in as good a situation under the bill as they had been before it was passed.
Mr. Wilksadmitted, that the present law was an improvement on the old law, but it was not to be supposed that it was perfect, and the petitioners only prayed for a further, and, as they thought, easily made improvement.
§ Petition to be printed.