£44,587,718. In Scotland there were 15,386 members of building
societies; the receipts were £413,609, the liabilities to holders of
shares amounted to £679,990, to depositors and other creditors £268,511;
the assets consisted of balance due on mortgage securities £987,987, and
amount invested in other securities and cash £67,618. In Ireland there
were 9,714 members of building societies; the receipts were £778,889,
liabilities to the holders of shares £684,396, to depositors and others
£432,356; the assets included balance due on mortgage securities
£1,051,423, and amount invested in other securities £79,812. There were
150 of the English societies whose accounts showed deficiencies
amounting to £27,850; two Scotch societies minus £862, but no Irish
short. It is a pity to have to record that there have been failures in
Birmingham, foremost among them being that of the Victoria Land and
Building Society, which came to grief in 1870, with liabilities
amounting to £31,550. The assets, including £5,627 given by the
directors and trustees, and £886 contributed by other persons, realised
£27,972. Creditors paid in full took £9,271, the rest receiving 8s. 9d.
in the pound, and £4,897 being swallowed up in costs. The break-up of
the Midland Land and Investment Corporation (Limited) is the latest.
This Company was established in 1864, and by no means confined itself to
procuring sites for workmen's dwellings, or troubled about getting them
votes. According to its last advertisement, the authorised capital was
£500,000, of which £248,900 had been subscribed, but only £62,225 called
up, though the reserve fund was stated to be £80,000. What the dividend
will be is a matter for the future, and may not even be guessed at at
present. The chief local societies, and their present status, areas
follows:--

_The Birmingham Freehold Land Society_ was started in 1848, and the
aggregate receipts up to the end of 1882 amounted to £680,132 12s. 7d.