DETAILED ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS SCHEMES. 51 24548 D 2 The special objects of the Employees’ Society are declared by its rules* to be to deal in the shares and debentures of Foster, Sons & Company, Limited. Subject to the provisions stated below as to the Common Fund, all sums received by the Society under arrangements of that Company for sharing profits with its employees are to be treated as capital and invested in the manner stated below and credited in the books of the Society as follows: — (1.) Each member of the Society is to be credited with the amount declared by the Company to be paid as bonus on his wages or salary, and whenever there is a sufficient sum standing to his credit, enough shall be transferred to bis share account to create a fully paid- up share in the Society. (2.) The bonus on wages of non-members of the Society is to be credited collectively to a non-members’ Provident Fund, to be administered as a trust for the benefit of those employees of the Company who are not members of the Society, or their wives, children, or widows, or persons dependent on them. (3.) The sums declared by the Company to be paid for the credit of the Common Fund are to be applied for educational, social, provident, propagandist and other purposes for the benefits of the members of the Society or their wives, children, widows, or persons dependent on them. The capital of the Society is to be invested in fully paid-up shares in the Company, so long as such shares can be acquired, by allotment, at par. Thereafter the committee of the Society are, if authorised by a general meeting, to invest any further capital in purchase at the market price of additional shares or debentures in the Company. If any balance-sheet of the Society would otherwise show a deficit in capital account, the amount of such deficit shall be written off the Reserve Fund and failing that off the Common Fund. Tlie profit and loss of the Society is to be calculated annually and at the same time its investments are to be valued by the committee. Any deficiency in the value so set upon these invest ments as compared with their nominal value is to be treated as a loss by the Society for that year, and any surplus above such nominal value is to be put to Reserve Fund until such fund equals one-fourtli of the nominal value of the Society’s investments for the time being; and any further surplus is to be treated as profit for the year. Out of the profits of the Society share capital shall in the first place receive interest at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, when ever the profits suffice to pay such dividend, after extinguishing any adverse balance and providing for reduction of preliminary * The Rules of the Employees’ Society consist of “ General Rules for an Industrial and Provident Productive Society,” published by the Labour Co-partnership Association, 6, Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C., modified in » e " Special Rules” of this Society. These Special Rules are printed in Appendix K., pp. 138-140.