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restriction whatever. The production of their clearance and payment of arrears, if any, shall entitle members to participate at any branch in all the benefits granted by the society on the same terms as before. Natives of India, China, Japan, Malaysia, or Polynesia shall not be eligible for membership. 21. The rates of contribution shall be as follows :—*Scale A: 6il. per week; payable monthly in advance, insuring sick-pay, funeral allowance, maintenance in hospital. Scale B : Not less than 2d. per week; payable monthly in advance, insuring medical attendance and medicines to subscribing members; legistration-fee of Is. to be paid by each member subscribing under this scale. Scale C: Not less than 4d. per week; payable monthly in advance, insuring medical attendance and medicines to the families of members; registration-fee of Is. for each adult and 6d. for each child to be paid for each person to be entitled to benefit under this rule. Scale I): Is. per quarter; payable in advance, insuring funeral allowance on the death of the wives or widowed mothers or children of members ; registration-fee of Is. for each adult and 61. for each child to be paid for each person to be entitled to benefit under this rule, if not already registered under Scale C. Only members subscribing under Scale A can avail themselves of the advantages of the other scales. 22. In the event of there being undue expense or difficulty in obtaining a doctor's certificate as to the illness of any member, and in all cases of evident incapacity for duty, the local manager of the company's works may, on the report of two members of the district committee, himself issue such certificate. No certificates of sickness shall be antedated. 23. Sick-pay shall commence from the date of the certificate of sickness, and shall be at the rate of £1 per week for the first twenty-six weeks of illness, 12s. 6d. per week for the next twenty-six weeks of illness, and 7s. 6d. per week thereafter, at the discretion of the district committee. No sick-pay shall be granted for illness of less than three days' duration, or to members whose wages are paid either wholly or in part by the company during sickness, or whose incapacity is the result of drunkenness, immorality, or any disease or bodily infirmity which may have been present on the member joining the society. When practicable, sick members shall, once weekly, make personal application to the district secretary for the amount due, but in no case shall payments for sick-pay be made otherwise than by a member of the district committee to the sick person entitled to receive such. Members other than those employed for the season at the mills shall not be entitled to receive more than £4 on account of sick-pay during the first quarter of membership, unless their illness be the result of accident sustained whilst engaged at the company's work, under which circumstances the certificate of the manager of the company's works shall be deemed sufficient but in ordinary cases of sickness during the first quarter of membership no relief whatever shall be granted without production of a certificate of sickness from a medical man, as hereafter provided. Any member employed for the season only at one of the mills, who is in receipt of sick-pay when his fellow-workers are paid off, shall only be entitled to relief for four weeks thereafter ; provided, however, that he shall then have received at least £1 for every shilling subscribed by him to the society during the past crushing season. Should any member in receipt of sick-pay recover, but again become ill within six calendar months, he shall be placed in the same position as regards sick-pay as if his illness bad been continuous from the first. Before granting sick-pay the district committee shall be entitled to call for a certificate of sickness, to be provided by a medical man appointed by them, and at any time thereafter during the continution of relief, the granting of which shall always be subject to their being satisfied as to the continued ill-health of the applicant. Members of other benefit societies may claim relief without further doctor's certificate on production of evidence of their claim for sick-pay having been recognised by any other benefit society. The fees for the examination of applicants for sick-pay who may be required to provide medical certificates shall be paid by the applicant if he be not already subscribing for medical attendance. During the continuation of sick-pay to a member the subscriptions due shall be deducted from the amount of such sick-pay. In the event of the health of any member being so much affected as to render his return to the service improbable the district committee may, with the consent of the sick member, submit to the trustees their recommendation for the payment of a single sum, based on a sick person's record of membership and previous benefit received, in satisfaction of all claims of the society on his account; but the amount so to be granted shall be left entirely to tbe discretion of the trustees. 24. Any member being incapacitated by sickness or accident, and being desirous of participation in the benefits of the society, shall give notice to the district committee within forty-eight hours from the date of his certificate of sickness, and on recovery at once acquaint the district secretary of his resumption of work, when his sickpay shall cease. No member in receipt of sick-pay may absent himself from his home between sunset and sunrise without the written consent of the district committee. 25. Any member working or otherwise imposing on the funds of the society whilst in receipt of sick-pay, or doing anything to retard his recovery, shall, at the discretion of the district committee, be suspended from all benefits, subject to appeal to the arbitration committee. The performance of any work having a monetary value shall be deemed an imposture under these rules. In all cases of supposed imposition on the funds the district committee shall report the circumstances of the case to the trustees. 26. The district committee may pay the sum of 10s. weekly to any hospital towards the support of a sick member, an inmate thereof, whose admission has been recommended by them. This sum shall be in addition to the amount of sick-pay for which the member may be otherwise eligible. 27. The following amounts shall be paid to the next legal representatives of those in respect of whose deaths claims are payable by the society : On the death of a member, £15 ; on the death of a member's wife or the widowed mother of an unmarried member, residing with him, £10 ; on the death of a member's child over three and under fourteen years, or unmarried member's brother or sister, between three and fourteen years of age, residing with him, £2. Payments only to be made on production of a duly attested certificate of death. Any amount due under these rules which is not claimed within thirty days from the date of death shall be forfeited to the society. 28. The district committee shall be at liberty to give one month's notice of their intention to bring up the case of any member who, through his own habitual misconduct or neglect, may probably become a charge on the funds; and thereafter at their next meeting, on the decision of a two-thirds majority of the votes of the members then present, they may refund such member the amount of his own contributions, provided that he has received no sick-pay from the society during his term of membership ; or the amount of his own contributions since last in receipt of sick-pay ; and such member shall have no further claim on the society. 29. At the request of at least ten of the local members each district committee may appoint one or more medical officers for the purposes of the society. The rate of contribution payable by those desiring such benefit shall be not less than 2d. per week for subscribing members and not less than 4d. per week for the families of members, but the entire cost at each branch shall be borne wholly by the local members subscribing under Scales B and C. No medical officer shall be appointed unless he be duly qualified and enrolled as such by a recognised medical board, and he shall, within seven days of appointment, sign an agreement as per Form No. IX. Each district committee shall make their own arrangements with doctors as to length of engagement and payment of fees. A return shall be furnished to the medical officer by the district secretary quarterly, specifying what members are entitled to his services during the ensuing quarter. The duties of the medical officer of each branch shall be to provide (if required) medicines other than patent medicines and to give his best professional attendance to the sick, and visit at their residence any that may not be able to attend at his house, or whose going out might endanger or retard their recovery, and to provide surgical and medical aid and medicine (if required) to members, their wives and families up to seventeen years of age. He shall have stated times when he may be consulted at his own residence, but in cases of emergency he shall attend when required, if possible, or provide a duly qualified substitute. He shall attend, when required, the widowed mothers and family up to seventeen years of age of unmarried members. He shall visit all sick members registered

* Under an agreement made between the committee of management of tlie employes benefit society and the Colonial Sugarretining Company (Limited), the latter undertake to pay, on behalf of members in their service, one-half of the subscriptions levied under Scale A, thus reducing the members' payments under that scale to 3d. per week, which sum insures sick-pay, funeral allowance, and hospital subsidy, in accordance with the rules.