Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/576

514 or simply as &quot; Mutual Associations,&quot; or &quot; Societies of Equality.&quot; The building societies in Scotland are mostly called &quot; Property Investment Companies,&quot; or by some similar name. Although the term &quot; Benefit Building Society&quot; occurs in the title to the Act of 1836, it was not till 1849 that it became in England the sole distinctive name of these societies ; and it cannot be said to be a happy description of them, for as ordinarily constituted they undertake no building operations whatever, and merely ad vance money to their members to enable them to build or to buy dwelling-houses or land. The name &quot; Building Society,&quot; too, leaves wholly out of sight the important functions these societies fulfil as means of investment of small savings. The Act of 1836 defined them as societies to enable every member to receive the amount or value of a share or shares to erect or purchase a dwelling-house, &c., but a member who did not desire to erect or purchase a dwelling-house might still receive out of the funds of the society the amount or value of his shares, improved by the payments of interest made by those to whom shares had been advanced.

About 1846 an important modification of the system of these societies was introduced, by the invention of the &quot; permanent &quot; plan, which was adopted by a great number of the societies established after that date. It was seen that these societies really consist of two classes of members; that those who do not care to have, or have not yet re ceived, an advance upon mortgage security are mere inves tors ; and that it matters little when they commence invest ing, or to what amount, while those to whom advances have been made are really debtors to the society, and arrangements for enabling them to pay off their debt in various terms of years, according to their convenience, would be of advantage both to themselves and the society. By permitting members to enter at any time without back- payment, and by granting advances for any term of years agreed upon, a continuous inflow of funds, and a continu ous means of profitable investment of them, would be secured. The interest of each memoer in the society would terminate when his share was realized, or his advance paid off, but the society would continue with the accruing sub scriptions of other members employed in making other advances.

Under this system Building Societies have largely in creased and developed. In the county of Middlesex alone, 1600 societies were certified between 1836 and 1874 ; in that of Lancaster, 1300; and the total number of societies established in England and Wales cannot be less than between 5000 and 6000.

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1em 1em 1em 1em  BUITENZORG, the capital of an assistant-residency in the island of Java, is situated in 6 37 S. lat. and 106 52 E. long., and is 66 miles S. of Batavia, with which it has been connected by rail since 1872. Lying 830 feet above the level of the sea, and possessing a salubrious climate, it is becoming a favourite place of residence for the Dutch of the greater city. Its principal buildings com prise the new church, which serves both for Protestant and .Roman Catholic worship, a mosque, the regent s mansion, excellent barracks for the garrison, a prison, built in 1848, a bathing establishment, and the country palace of the governor-general. This splendid edifice occupies the site of the old castle, which was founded in 1744 by Baron van Imhof, enlarged by Daendels in 1809, restored by Van dor Capellen in 1819, and destroyed by an earthquake in 1834. The botanical gardens, laid out in 18 1 7 by Van cler Capellen, are among the finest and most extensive in the world. In 