M. Leopold Mabilleau gave the first lecture of his series in the Fogg Lecture Room last night on "Le Tableau des Institutions de Prevoyance Sociale en France en 1900."
After speaking of the "bureaux de blenfaleance," M. Mabilleau went on to discuss the only true "institutions de prevoyance" in France, that is, the savings banks; and the labor organizations.
As in an organism, each cellule has to help every other, so co-operation has been found necessary in labor organizations, complete individuality proving a failure. This co-operation began gradually, then societies were formed, and finally secret societies such as the Masons, and "societes de prevoyance" arose.
These societies taken together form a social trilogy. First, professional societies, such as Waldeck Rousseau fostered. In each town, every separate trade formed a protective association against capitalists. In the country agricultural syndicates are formed so that machines may be bought which would be far beyond the means of a single peasant. The second group of the trilogy was those who combined themselves with the common interest of money. The last group consists of the societies for mutual help. These number 15,500 societies and claim 2,600,000 adherents.