These types of insurance were made the subject of special study by the Illinois Health Insurance Commission of 1919. The judgment of the Health Commission as to the value of these organizations is, that the fraternal societies, although they are democratic, co-operative, and nonprofit-seeking organizations, thus being particularly attractive to wage earners, are often not on an actuarially sound basis.[23] The benefit societies of the foreign born present an even more precarious means of providing for future needs.[24] Sooner or later they find that the dues must be increased, their membership declines, and the period of decay sets in. Industrial insurance provides a safer method than either of these, but it presents a number of other disadvantages.[25] The policies are usually small, sufficient only for burial expenses, and the rates are relatively high because of the bad risk among the wage earners, and especially because of the expense of weekly collections. Here, as everywhere, the poor who must buy in small quantities get relatively less for what they pay. It is often urged against industrial insurance that it makes no real provision for dependents, and merely pays for a somewhat elaborate funeral. It must be borne in mind that the funeral, however modest, is an expense that often places the family in debt, and that even the thriftless will try to make some provision for it. The following expense account of the funeral of a Polish man is typical of the accounts received during this inquiry, and exhibits no unusual expenditure when compared with American customs: Embalming $ 11.00 Casket 65.00 Crape and gloves 2.50 Candles 3.00 Hearse 11.00 Carriage 9.00 Grave 12.00 Outside box 6.00 Total $119.50 It is a matter of common knowledge that unscrupulous undertakers often obtain possession of the insurance policy and make the charge for the funeral equal to the whole amount. This may, in part, explain the criticism that the funerals in foreign-born families are often unnecessarily expensive. An Italian woman interviewed, the president of one benefit society and a member of four others, speaks of going to buy a casket at the time of the death of a friend during the influenza epidemic. The cheap, wooden casket cost $150. The next day, when she went with another friend to the same undertaker, the casket which had been $150 cost $175. She could not understand how such prices could be allowed, and exclaimed, "The government regulates prices of flour and sugar, and why not such things as the cost of coffins in times like these!"