720 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 343

vested interest in the said benefit until the same has become
due and payable upon the death of the said member; provided,
that any association may, by its laws, limit the scope of bene-
ficiaries within the above classes.

244-L-1. Nothing in sections 229 to 244-N, both inclusive,
shall be taken or construed as applying to corporations, socie-
ties or voluntary associations the business of which is conducted
strictly upon the mortuary assessment plan, and of which the
death benefit certificates are issued for no fixed amount, and
are limited to a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars
($500. 00) in the case of any one person.

Section 244F1. (Annual Reports. ) Every association
transacting business in this State shall annually, on or before
the first day of March, file with the Insurance Commissioner,
in such form as he may require, a statement under oath of its
president and secretary or corresponding officers, of its condi-
tion and standing on tie thirty-first day of December next pre-
ceding, and of its transactions for the year ending on that date,
and also shall furnish such other information as the Commis-
sioner may deem necessary to a proper exhibit of its business
and plan of working. The Commissioner may at other times
require any further statement he may deem necessary to be
made relating to such association.

In addition to the annual report herein required, each asso-
ciation shall annually report to the Commissioner a valuation
of its certificates in force on December 31st, last preceding,
excluding those issued within the year for which the report is
filed in cases where the contributions for the first year in
whole or in part are used for current mortality and expenses,
provided the first report of valuation shall be made as of De-
cember 31st, 1916. Such report of valuation shall show, as
contingent liabilities, the present mid-year value of the prom-
ised benefits provided in the constitution and laws of such asso
ciation under certificates then subject to valuation; and, as
contingent assets, the present mid-year value of the future net
contributions provided in the constitution and laws as the same
are in practice actually collected. At the option of any asso-
ciation, in lieu of the above, the valuation may show the net
value of the certificates subject to valuation hereinbefore pro-
vided, and said net value, when computed in case of monthly
contributions, may be the mean of the terminal values for the
end of the preceding and of the current insurance years.