as in other European countries, to the old guild institutions of the Middle Ages. One of the objects of these institutions was the rendering of assistance to their members in case of sickness, and by the guild regulations of 1669 such duties were even made obligatory upon the guilds. In 1846 the guilds were abolished, and all obligations of the above nature were repealed by the law of June 18, 1864, regarding freedom of trade and occupation. By article 1 of that law every Swedish citizen was free to ply any trade without going through the formalities required under the guild system. By article 13 the formation of unions or societies of tradesmen was left entirely to the option of the latter, and article 15 granted, with certain restrictions, freedom of contract between employers and employees. Provision for relief in case of sickness was thereby left entirely to voluntary efforts and private initiative, but the function was soon taken up by the trade unions and other mutual aid societies formed after the abolition of the guilds. The history of the movement is in general a counterpart of what has taken place in other countries similarly situated. The concentration of the population and the various social and religious movements that have sprung up during the past half century gave rise to a number of "general funds" for sick and burial relief, "closed funds"-i. e. with limited membership-"hundred-men societies," etc., many of these being organized after the pattern of the guilds. Other funds, "trade funds," were established within the trade unions, while the modern concentration of industry in large factories made possible the so-called "factory funds," established by the employers for particular factories. In the latter funds membership is generally obligatory on all persons employed in the respective factories.

The workmen's insurance committee of 1884 took up the subject. of sick funds in detail, and prepared an elaborate report, with statistics of the then existing funds. The funds investigated were distributed as follows:

NUMBER AND MEMBERSHIP OF SICK FUNDS IN SWEDEN IN 1884, BY CLASSES OF FUNDS.

Of these funds 870, with 114,270 members, granted both sick and burial relief; 86, with 6,666 members, provided relief for sickness only, while 93, with 17,790 members, gave only burial help.

The committee in its report expressed the opinion that a reform in this system of sick relief by some form of intervention on the part of the State was highly desirable, if not imperative, as the conditions were far from satisfactory. It found that only 4.3 per cent of the male and 1 per cent of the female population of the country enjoyed any claims upon sick relief, and the security of those who did left much to be improved upon. Many of the funds were very small; 291 had less than 50 and 664 had less than 100 members, a fact which would expose them to insolvency in case of unfavorable conditions, while the average age and sick risk in small societies was likely to increase. Moreover, the regulations regarding dues were generally not on scientific bases, the dues being often too small and not equitably apportioned among the members.

The committee did not, however, recommend state insurance against sickness, but submitted to the Government a project of law regarding voluntary registration of existing sick funds. In its original form the bill made a distinction between registered and recognized sick funds. For the latter class a number of additional restrictions were proposed, to which those merely registered were not to be subject, the principal of which were the following: That the dues were to be calculated on the scientific bases of insurance technique, and if they were fixed, a premium reserve had to be formed; that an extra reserve should be set aside from the surplus; that the minimum number of members should be 150; that certain conditions for membership and for the expulsion of members should be adopted; that the maximum burial help should be 200 crowns ($53.60), and the minimum sick relief 0.50 crown (13.4 cents) per day; finally the recognized funds were to receive contributions from the State toward expenses of management of 150 crowns ($40.20) per annum and an additional 1.50 crowns (40.2 cents) yearly for each member, provided the maximum sick relief were limited to 2.50 crowns (67 cents) per day.

The bill was submitted to various high authorities for examination, and these found so many objections against the provisions regarding the recognized funds that the ministry was obliged to recast the bill, eliminating the distinction between registered and recognized funds. Thus amended the bill was presented to the Parliament on January 31, 1891, and, with a few minor modifications, it was passed as "The law regarding sick funds" on October 30, 1891.

The following are the principal provisions of the law:

PROVISIONS OF THE LAW REGARDING SICK FUNDS OF OCTOBER 30, 1891.

Any society for mutual] help in case of sickness (sick fund) which consists of at least 25 members, and which adopts by-laws and organizes its administration in accordance with this law, may become registered in the manner described below.

Application for registration shall be made to the royal authorities in rural districts, to the governor in Stockholm, and to the mayor in other cities, and shall be accompanied by two certified copies of the by-laws and of the minutes of the meeting at which the latter were adopted and the directors elected.

If the registration authorities find that the by-laws do not conflict with the requirements of the law, the fund shall be registered.

The by-laws of a registered fund shall indicate its name, the objects of its activity, the conditions for entrance of members, the dues payable, the conditions for the expulsion of members, the nature and amount of the relief granted, the length of time and the conditions of its payment, how the business of the fund is to be conducted, the responsibilities of its management and the manner of its election, how the funds not used for current expenditures are to be invested, how the securities are to be kept, how amendments of the by-laws are to be made, how and under what circumstances the society may be dissolved, and how the assets which at such time may exist after all liabilities have been liquidated are to be disposed of.

If amendments are made to the by-laws, notification thereof must at once be made to the registration authorities, and such amendments shall not be valid until the latter have approved them.

As long as a registered sick fund remains in activity its assets must not be used for any other purpose than sick relief, funeral help (if the by-laws provide for the latter), administration expenses, and the constitution of the necessary reserves.

The accounts of a registered sick fund and the conduct of its management shall annually be examined by at least two auditors. chosen at the general meeting of the members.

The directors must, once a year and at such time as the registration authorities may direct, send in to the latter a statement in accordance with a prescribed form concerning the activity of the society during the preceding year, as well as a copy of the latest report of audit and a list of the names and addresses of its directors. The authorities may also, if they deem it necessary, make an investigation at the society's office of the conduct of its management.

If the provisions of the law are not complied with by a registered fund, the registration authorities must declare that the condition of registration of the fund has ceased.

The law went into force on July 1, 1892. On the same day that the law was passed, that is, on October 30, 1891, a supplementary law was passed regarding state contributions toward the expenses of management of sick funds. The conditions for such contribution were that the fund be registered by the proper authority, according to the law regarding sick funds, that during the preceding year the fund had an income amounting to at least three times the amount of

state contribution asked for, and that such state contribution shall be in proportion to the number of members who paid dues during the preceding year. The rate of the state contribution was fixed at 1 crown (26.8 cents) for each member up to and including 50, 0.50 crown (13.4 cents) for each member above 50, up to and including 250, and 0.25 crown (6.7 cents) for each additional member, with a maximum contribution of 300 crowns ($80.40). This law regarding state contribution was superseded on May 27, 1898, by another law with more liberal provisions. According to this law the society's own income during the preceding year need only have been at least equal to the amount of contribution asked for, instead of three times as great. The rate of the contribution was also increased to 1.50 crowns (40.2 cents) for each member up to 100, 1 crown (26.8 cents) for each additional member up to 300, and 0.50 crown (13.4 cents) for each additional member, with a maximum of 1,500 crowns. ($402). This was again amended by fixing the upper limit for 0.50 crown (13.4 cents) per member at 2,600 members, and granting 0.25 crown (6.7 cents) for each member in excess of that number.

At first the existing sick funds took but little interest in the registration law, partly because of the rather small amount of the state assistance granted by the law of 1891, partly also because of a general dislike of the principle of public supervision implied by the law. Later, however, the advantage of the registration was recognized by the public in the additional security it offered, and when the state assistance was materially increased in 1898, registration became more general. The law has worked fairly well, and has undoubtedly accomplished its main object of strengthening the financial position of the sick funds. The law has therefore remained in force to the present time as originally passed, and but few propositions have been made for its amendment. Such a proposition was on March 8, 1907, submitted by the Ministry of the Interior to the supreme court for its opinion, but the opinion was unfavorable, and the proposed amendment was not presented to the Parliament. The Government, however, appointed a commission on November 29 of the same year to prepare a new bill.

STATISTICS OF REGISTERED SICK FUNDS.

The duty of collecting and publishing statistics of the registered sick funds was at first performed by the Swedish civil department, but was later transferred to the Royal Bureau of Commerce (Kommerskollegium). From the reports issued by the Bureau of Commerce has been compiled the following table showing the number of registered sick funds and the number of members at the end of each year since the law went into force:

NUMBER AND MEMBERSHIP OF REGISTERED SICK FUNDS, 1892 TO 1907. [Source: Registrerade Sjukkassor Verksamhet, 1907. Utgifven afdelning Kommerskollegii afdelning for Arbetsstatistik.]

Part of the increase is due to the founding of new funds, the majority being, in fact, of recent date. Of the 2,318 funds registered at the end of 1907 only 18 were founded before 1851, and 1,016, or less than one-half, were in existence before 1891. The report shows, however, that during the last five years the number of funds founded annually has not increased, but rather the reverse, so that the increase in the number of registered funds shown above is to a large extent due to the fact that many funds which had previously existed unregistered have in recent years decided to avail themselves of the privilege.

The distribution of the funds in the cities and rural districts during the last seven years for which reports have been published was as follows:

NUMBER OF FUNDS AND OF MEMBERS, AND PER CENT OF TOTAL POPULATION OF SWEDEN IN REGISTERED SICK FUNDS IN CITIES AND IN RURAL DISTRICTS, 1901 · TO 1907.

[Source: Registrerade Sjukkassor Verksamhet, 1901-1907. Utgifven afdelning Kommerskollegii afdelning för Arbetsstatistik.]

a Including 2 funds having members both in cities and in rural districts.

b Including membership of 2 funds having members both in cities and in rural districts not separately reported.

e Not reported.