78 III.—CO-OPEKATIVE SOCIETIES. months’ continuous service. The objects of the fund are “ to make provision for the retirement of its members through old age, or incapacity caused by infirmity of body or mind, the encouragement of thrift, and the creation of a bond of interest between the Society and employees which shall be mutually advantageous.” Contribution to the fund by employees is, with certain exceptions, on a basis of 3| per cent, on fixed wages of over 40s. and 2£ per cent, on wages under 40s. The Society contributes to the fund on the basis of 2J per cent, on the wages of those members whd earn 30s. per week and under, and 1J per cent, on the wages of those earning over 30s. per week. The accounts of contributions are kept under separate heads and owned separately by the Society and the employees respectively, until such time as the benefits become withdrawable at the age of 60 years, or earlier under certain contingencies, or on termination of service. The management of the fund is in the hands of a committee of eleven, six directors of the Society and five elected employee members, who become trustees for the investment of the fund with the Society. At the end of 1910 the amount invested with the Society was £88,398. The Scottish Wholesale Society, which carries on similar under takings to the English Society, and which employed 1,859 persons in its distributive and 5,752 persons in its productive departments at the end of 1910, adopted Profit-sharing in 1870. The scheme then adopted provided that its employees (all of whom were at that time employed in distribution) should receive a bonus on their wages at double the rate of dividend paid to members on purchases. In 1883 the Society commenced production, and in 1884 the old arrangement as to bonus was replaced by a new scheme which established a differential rate between workers in the distributive and in the productive departments. Under this, the distributive employees received a bonus at the same rate as the rate of dividend on members’ purchases; while the rate of bonus to productive workers was determined by the net aggregate profit made in the manufacturing departments only. This arrangement was again revised in 1892, when the Society decided to pay to all its employees, whether employed in its distributive or its productive departments, a bonus on wages at the same rate as the dividend on purchases paid to members : it was required, however, that one-half of each worker’s bonus should be retained and placed to his credit in a special fund called the Bonus Loan Fund, which receives interest at the rate of 3 per cent, per annum. Except with the consent of the Committee, deposits in this Fund are only withdrawable after the expiration of three months from the date of the employee leaving the service of the Society. Since the establishment of Profit-sharing with the employees, and up to the end of 19.10, a total sum of £197,071 had been allotted to the employees, of which £57,892 remained in the Bonus Loan Fund.