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ford, Ontario, 1884; Stratford, Ontario, 1886; Toronto, Ontario, 1888; Montreal, Quebec, 1890; Hamilton, Ontario, 1892; St. John, iNew Brunswick, 1894; Ottawa, On- tario, 1896; Quebec, Province of Quebec, 1898; (at Quebec it was decided that in fu- ture conventions be held every three years), and the last two conventions were held at Ni- agara Falls,’ Ontario, and Toronto, Ontario, in 1901 and 1904, respectively.

In each province in which the association transacts business it appoints an agent under power of attomey, bearing the seal of the as— sociation and signed by the president and sec- retary, to receive service of process in all suits and proceedings against the associa— tion in the province in which said agent re- sides. The following are the names and addresses of said agents of the Grand Coun- cil of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Associa- tion of Canada in each province: Ontario, J. J. Behan, Kingston; Quebec, Timothy J. Finn, Montreal; New Brunswick, W'illiam E. Scully, St. John; Nova Scotia, Thomas J. Egan, Halifax; Prince Edward Island, Rev. Dr. Burke, Alberton; Manitoba, John K. Barrett, Winnipeg; North \Vest Territories, L. P. 0. Noel, Battleford.

The association in Canada is a purely Canadian fraternal organization, doing busi- ness in Canada alone; incorporated and op- erating under Canadian laws, and all its in- vestments are Canadian. Its reserve fund is invested in the chartered banks of Canada. Not one dollar is invested in mortgages, bonds or stocks. Its 20,000 members carry insurance aggregating $25,000,000. Up to the present it has paid $3,000,000 to bene- ficiaries. These facts show that it has made very rapid and satisfactory progress and ex- tra efforts are being made to increase its membership, 3 bonus of $3 being given to

PAST AND PRESENT OF

each member who is instrumental in bringing in a new member. Its members in every branch are interested by being required to take an active part in the workings of the as- sociation; they are joint shareholders in a great organization, and are taught that upon the care, watchfulness and united effort of each individual the future of the association rests. So successful have been the efforts of the members that today the Grand Council of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association of Canada leads all Catholic fraternal so- cieties.

Branches are composed of the members of the association and are the channels of admission. Their oflicers transact all busi- ness, such as collection of beneficiary and other money and attend to all the routine work of their respective branches. All offi- cers receiving and disbursing moneys are under guarantee bonds for the proper per— formance of their duties.

The funds of the association are termed beneficiary fund, reserve fund and general fund. The beneficiary fund is derived from monthly assessments regulated by the consti- tution for the purpose of paying beneficiaries of deceased members. It cannot be used for any other purpose. The sums thus ob- tained from members are transferred directly from the branch treasury to the Grand Coun- cil, and thence to the beneficiaries of deceased members within the time fixed, by the consti‘ tution and the act of incorporation. The re- serve fund is accumulated by setting apart five per cent of each assessment collected. Neither principal nor interest can be drawn upon until it would be necessary to levy more than twenty-four assessments on the mem— bership 0f the association in any one year; or until said fund shall have reached the sum of $250,000, which is the limit un-