50 per cent of the premiums due the Munich, as a special deposit, bearing 4 per cent interest. This sum, amounting to $12,867.77, is included among the liabilities. Bills and Accounts Due and Accrued Actual payments of accrued bills, unpaid on December 31, 1909, were used in making up this item, as against the amount appearing in the Company's statement. For unpaid taxes, actual payments have been used wherever possible. Salaries of Officers The following schedule shows the names of the officers of the company and their compensation: Leon S. Senior and John L. Train, being duly sworn, depose and say that they have read the foregoing report, subscribed by them, and that the same is true to the best of their knowledge, information and belief. LEON S. SENIOR Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, 1910. FRANK L. GARDNER JOHN L. TRAIN Notary Public STATE OF NEW YORK INSURANCE DEPARTMENT NEW YORK OFFICE, 165 BROADWAY NEW YORK, April 13, 1910. Hon. WILLIAM H. HOTCHKISS, Superintendent of Insurance, Albany, N. Y. SIR.-Acting under your appointment No. 2312, dated January 6, 1910, hereto annexed, we have examined into the affairs of the District Grand Lodge No. 1, Independent Order of Benai Berith of New York. History of the. Order The Independent Order of Benai Berith (Sons of the Covenant) was founded in New York on November 12, 1843, and is essentially a Jewish organization. It is at present composed of a supreme body known as the "Constitution Grand Lodge," ten districts governed by "District Grand Lodges" and approximately 400 subordinate lodges with a total membership of about 32,000. The order is active in many directions, mainly philanthropic. District Grand Lodge No. 1 The District Grand Lodge No. 1 was instituted in 1851, comprising the States of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and the Dominion of Canada, and in the course of years branched out into various activities. In 1878 the present corporate body known as District No. 1— Independent Order of Benai Berith was chartered by special act of the Legislature (chapter 188, Laws of 1878). The objects of the corporation are set forth in section 2 of that act, and as amended by the Legislature in 1885 and 1896 reads as follows: "The objects of said organization are hereby declared to be for the cultivation and promotion of charity and benevolence, and moral, mental and social culture among its members, their mutual benefit in case of sickness or distress, and provision for their widows and orphans by means of endowments, and to provide a proper edifice or edifices in which members of the Independent Order of Benai Berith or any of their families, who, through pro tracted illness, old age, or extraordinary occurrences, have become unable to work and gain a livelihood, and their orphan children may find a home and an asylum, and for the maintenance of a public library circulating its books in the city and county of New York. The corporation may also, by suitable by-laws and rules, provide for and authorize the payment of endowments to such beneficiaries as may be duly designated in accordance with such by-laws and rules to receive the same, by members of the corporation who may die without leaving them surviving a widow or children." Merger The "District No. 1 I. O. B. B." was incorporated as the result of a merger of the "District Grand Lodge No. 1I. O. B. B." and the "Benai Berith Benevolent Society," both of which were in existence as incorporated bodies in the State of New York, but their corporate existence ceased when the merger agreement became effective, August 27, 1878. The property of the "District Grand Lodge No. 1-I. O. B. B." and of the "Benai Berith Benevolent Society was transferred to the new corporation and in accordance with the merger agreement, the funds of the merged bodies, together with their accumulations. and accretions were to be used only for the purposes for which they were founded. The merger agreement is recorded in the register's office, city and county of New York. District Grand Lodge The District Grand Lodge is the governing body of the district and is composed of representatives of lodges, such representatives being elected annually by the lodge members. Past-presidents of lodges as well as ex-presidents of the District Grand Lodge are members of the Grand Lodge, but they have not the right to vote. The lodges are entitled to the following representation: Less than 50 members, 1 representative; 50 members or more, 2 representatives; 100 members, 3 representatives; and for every additional 100 members or majority fraction thereof, one additional representative. The District Grand Lodge meets annually and elects the officers and General Committee for the ensuing year. The General Com mittee governs the district when the Grand Lodge is not in session. This committee consists of the president, first vice-president, second vice-president, treasurer, chairmen of the standing committees, the president of the board of governors of the "Home," and the counsel of the district. There are forty-four lodges in District No. 1 with a total membership of 3,485; 1,651 participate in the endowment fund, 1,834 being non-participating members. Membership No person is eligible for membership who has not attained the age of 21 years, and no member over 45 years of age can be admitted to participate in the endowment fund. Admission to participate in the endowment fund is further restricted by requiring the applicants to submit written applications to the General Committee, and receive the approval of three-fourths of the entire membership of that committee. Each lodge has its own by-laws subject to the organic law of the order. The dues collected by the lodges vary according to the lodge by-laws, some of the lodges paying sick benefits, funeral expenses and furnishing burying grounds. The lodges pay the Grand Lodge assessments out of the dues collected from members, the lodges being assessed according to their membership. The per capita tax for the ensuing year as fixed by the Grand Lodge is as follows: For District Grand Lodge, $1 per member; for general fund (Home for Aged and Infirm), $3.40 per member; miscellaneous, 12 cents per member; constitution Grand Lodge, $1 per member. There is also a mileage tax of 15 cents per member to pay traveling expenses of the representatives and the Grand Lodge officers. The assessment for the constitution Grand Lodge includes an assessment of 40 cents for the support of a hospital for consumptives maintained by the entire order at Denver, Colorado. The above assessments are paid alike by endowment members and non-participating members. The order issues no certificates to its members. In 1852 the " Constitution Grand Lodge" established in New York city a circulating library and reading room which became known as the "Maimonides Library." This library was ceded to the jurisdiction of the District Grand Lodge No. 1, supported by its members and used exclusively for the benefit of its members. Later the city and State contributed toward its support and it was turned into a free public library containing over 100,000 volumes. The city authorities, establishing branch libraries throughout the city, considered that no substantial reason existed for the continued contribution of public moneys to this library, and accordingly withdrew its support. The burden of supporting the library unaided proving too great, the library was closed, the books sold in 1906, and the net proceeds turned into the District Grand Lodge fund. Home for Aged and Infirm In 1857 the District Grand Lodge No. 1 created a general fund by taxing each member of the district $1 per annum. The purpose of the fund as stated in the charter of the Benai Berith Benevolent Society (incorporated December 28, 1859) is as follows: * That the business and objects of said society will be to establish an institution for the support, care and maintenance of persons, who, by reason of old age, sickness or other infirmities, are unable to provide for themselves, * * * " In 1875 the Benai Berith Benevolent Society purchased 94 acres of land in the city of Yonkers, and in 1881, District No. 1 commenced the erection of a building thereon. In June, 1882, the "Home" received its first inmates. The total cost of building, land and improvements was $128,000. The cost of maintaining the "Home" from June, 1882, to December, 1909, including repairs, etc., was $459,000, and number of persons admitted in that period, 350. The average annual number of inmates was 67, and the average annual cost was $16,500. On December 31, 1909, there were 76 inmates in the "Home," and the cost of maintenance in 1909 was $17,895. The per capita tax for |