The Statesman. — London, England, 1818-09-26 00:00:00

TI4E _STATrsmAH - NORWICH UNION FIRE dr LIFE SOCIETY. t Of the Auditors, the Committee could only say, that with their conduct the Committee hail reasou•to be Yesterday a General Meeting of the Insurers et t satisfied; they were most strict in the elimination the Norwich Union Fire and Life Office was held at ' . and passing of the accounts. the City of London TeverW, Ilishopsgate-street, for The Local Committees appear to be most respect. t h e purpose of receiving the Report of the Comp.it. able. , I tea a ppointed on the 27th of Jets last to investigate The Agents shall he noticed below. the charges made against that Office. The Meeting i 3d. Oa the subject of the Fire Department. the Committee Report, that since the ezebbloh. was summoned for 12 o'clock, at which hour there ment of the Institution is the year 1791, the to. a ppeared a very numerous and a very respectable at. tat sum of Premiums received has bete ./4:46 04, 999 677 15 16 6 teedatice of Members. About half . p a st 12 the Com. And the Ex peaces mittee of Enquiry entered the room. Mr. Alderman Perm:son (of Norwich) proposed Esq. to the Chair. This was unatti. Thin. Bentley, sweaty agreed to, and Mr. Bsest.cy having taken the Chair, observed, that the motion was made against his will ; he should, however, nett himself to di.cherge the duties which it imposed upon him. Ile felt satisfied that under their protection he * tumid be able to preserve order end a proper attention to every Gentleman who might deliver his sentiments. This was what he con fidently expected from so respectable a Meeting as that whirl , he sae , around. him. It was then weed that the Report of the Commit. tee s hould he read. w hide being carried in the affir. moire, F. A. earke, Esq. *IV requested to read it It isc ,; ( 1 be 'impo,sibte t• insert the whole, but the f„ti...4 4, 4 ',o l lie will give our readers a tolerable idea of its Sabo:lnce of the Report by the Committee, ap. vo l ute d At hiss GMIPTAI Meeting of Insurers with the Norwich Fire .'nd Life Association, held a t the York Hotel, 13iidge•street, Blseltf , iars, London, el the 27th day of July. 1818, burl laid bef.co another Meeting of the said Liaurerie, held in the City of London Tavetn. Dishopsgate.street, • en 0 I 25th day of September, 1818, Ttioetas BEN :.LEY, Esq. in the Chair. The Iterw t set out with stating, that the enqui ries refer:id to the Committee, were here classed by them untie' four heati.:—The its, including the Claims made upon t' .o Society—The 2d. a view of its Constitution bar' Management—The 3tl, an Ac count of the Fire D. ptrtment—The 4th, of the Life Department—And the h, a Statement of the Funds; to which some general obsetvat , on were added, along with an Appendix of Documents referred to. Ist. The Committee invited all claimants to make known their demands to them, and at the same time Addressed a letter to Mr. Wet man Thorp, desiring to have a communication of such particulars known to his Committee, ea they, deemed of importance ; his answer stated that that their Committee were at the time prosecuting the necessary enquiries. Before stating the particulars of these claims, the Report contained an account of the formation} of the Committee, and particularly a statement, that upon intimating their appointment to the Directors st Nor. wich, they teceised a ratification of their powers from that body, and an intimation of its reediness to communicate any information that might be ',setal. The claims made were classed by the Com mittee antler three heads :-Ist, Such as had not been made public ; 2d, Such as had beets reported upon by the other Committee as unsatisfactory; and 3d, Sects as had been stated to he litigated. It is needless to state the particulars of the Report on these heads, as it would sisell this summary he patid the limits which it were necessary to keep in view ; but the general result WIN that while the Committee had recommended the settlement of some of these claims, which had accordingly taken place, they either had not received sufficient information re garding the others to enable theta to report, or had seen grounds for the resistance which had been made to their settlement. 2d. On the second he'd, the Constitution of the Society, the Report cc/Wain/el an opinion, that sari -001 improvements were necessary to meet the great extension of a system so useful as that of the Nor. wich Association had proved to he; the effective ma. usgentent appeared to rest with the Board of Di rectors at Norwich, of whom sit are a quorum ; the Gentlemen at present in office are of the utmost respectability ; and the sons of the Secretary, and the Actuary, Mr. Morgan, appear to have been most Correct in all their conduct. The Treasurers are Day and Sots, Bankers, in Norwich, for the Fire Deps ft:nent ; and Bignold, Sons, and Co. for the Life; both a llow th ree p er cent ; but the Com.oittee disapproved of ag) sys tem, according to which such large sums of money as in general were floating should be placed in the hand of any Company ; a new ar,angement in this respect therefore appeared to be iittlispetisably necessary. The Secretaries were Mr. Thos. Bignold„, sett. in the Life Department, with the power tatno minatirig either of his sons as his saceessoaand Messrs. Thomas and Samuel Bignold, jointly,' in the Fire Devariment ; of the former of these Gentle men the Committee had several observations to make presently ; of the latter, it was stated that the' seri siments of respect for his conduct and character, which the Committee entertain, are very 'bill's . in deer'. The Solicitor is Mr. Thos. Bignald, jon:; . end a more intelligent and !roundtable character could not have been chosen for this situation; the Committee, therefore, acquit him of any share of that mistaken policy, which has led to the recent complaints egeinst the Office. .There is st present no permanent Surveyor. In the Life Department the duties of Actuary are done by Mr. Morgan, under whose superintend ence the prosperity of the Institution has evinced 'his calculations to he correct, and his management jutli. cious. These Gentlemen have given full information on the various points stated to them. One of the serious charges preferred against the Institution respected the Trustees, in The list of whom the names of various Noblemen appeared who had not been invested with trust funds ; the Committee having diligently enqeired, feel convinced that no imposition was intended or practised, though they think it a mistake tied if named Trustees, they should not have been requested to take the funds into their custody. The list of Trustees contained many Gentlemen of the highest respectability, independent of the Noble eer sons joined with them, and these had held a sub stantial trust; the others appeared to have given their consent to the use of their names, and petups the term Patrons would have been more appropriate for them. --: - - Leaving a balance of ' 117.677 18 4 To which there must be added for Interest 2N589 0 0 And Repayments .1,T32 0 0 ------ 1e159.458 18 4 The Returns made amnuaterl to 450,599 7 7 And the Balance r► as the Funds at March, 1817X106,9;16 11 9 which the Committee report to have been iuiested iu the manner particularly stated by them. Upon the wbote this statement insist be regarded as ♦ery satisfactory, since, though it does net show a profit to the extent of 50 per cent. yet shows a very large profit. nod the Insurers are aware, that during a part of this perird even that profit has been divided. Taking the three periods of seven years, daring which the Soo-logy loots exited, the profit on the first appeals .o have beeu ....... Wit per Cent. During the second • And the third • Being egoist to as- average ,edt far she whole period of The Committee feel assured that. this stateuteot will be received as a convincing proof of the superiority of the plan of mutual assurance over that pursued by the other Companies, and of the security of this Com. pany. They observe that the losses have been unusually great during the year 1817. and ou et.quiring, there is reason to believe that the proportion of incendiary fires has considerably increased ; four convictions obtained during that year (three cases of i item:Wearies and one of fraudul• ot fire) area proof of this. They recommend that a further proportion cf the pretniums(ll per cent.) should he appropriated in aid i of the present aurplu , ., which would protect the in. surers frvin all possiblity of being called upon to pay the losses of others ; and being laid out at interest would not in the end diminish, - though in the meat. time it 'right defer their prod's. 4th. The Life Department.—By this part of the Report, it appe.tred that there 'hail Io•eu received tor Bromism, Endow tues.no, Annuities. &c. up to the year lbiB,l4e I soon of . 1 Oat of which there had been. paid • .C 194.142 11 4 .7 .17. - `. in the management, and particularly of-Mr. Bignola, senior ; bet, after the most deliberate consideration and enquiry, the Committee are of opinion, that his immetliateletirement from the °Mee of Secretary is indispensably necessary for. its future welters and prosperitY. Under e well-regulated maisagOusent of its affairs, and a judicious controol, the Committe" thick' that this Institution hes a fair ptospect not only of affording ample remeneration, and even of yielding profits to its Members, but of rising in the estimation .of z the-Pebtle,""tilrit ile with the first Establishments of the kind io . the kingdom. There was an Appeodit to the Report,.whicis the Chairman conceived it unnecessary - tabs read, as it consisted of numerous letters which were very long, and which wool() be printed along with the Report. Their contents were highly honourable to. the So ciely, and to the conduct of the - Ditetteia. Mr. PATTISON then moved, that the very able Report now read, be received and adopted by this Meeting. Mr. Alderman Thou. seconded the -motion, and observed, he had great satisfaction in bearing teitih mony to the great pains and labour with which it must have been produced, since it was a Report of such great ability and impartial investigation. lie was happy thus to explaio,because he was charged with acting hostilely to the'present Committee. lib was., however, not less happy that he had acted with . the approbation of his colleagues of the George slid Vulture, and since the Report now read, had ad mitted that faults existed in the management of the ..... ..._..__.._ _ _ Institution, he was particularly happy that this Re port had provided • remedy for them. It was not denied by the present Report, Wit certain claloss ti.id been utivatisfied.—he *Auld. not be answeraiile tor the ousoher of them, It eat far from the otject of the George and Vulture Committee to throe, any slur upon the Inititution.. Those claims had oow been itivettioted by another Committee, whose ex ertions fully tlyarrired the approbati in of alt liberal mind,. lie slid not mean so Mato il.4t Vie concern was not solvent ; he only wished to brit' in ques tion the reasons for evading this enqu;r► ; and Ise was happy to have (lone so, because those reasons were most satisfactory to the credit of the Institution. — The necessity for enquiry, sod the importance of it, was borne out by the present Report. lie was happy thus far to hue co• operated with those Gete• tlemen, whose object was the good of the Society. Mr. BIIGPIOLD, spit, stepped forward, but being opposed. Mr. ROBUST BARRY* a Barrister, stood• up. lie was &plied if he was sit Insurer, and answered in the 'orffirmatiee. lie observed, he would not be so inde corous. to stand up to address a group of hottoureble men like the present assembly, if he was not duly qualified as an Insurer. and if he had not a right to do so as a Member of the Society. Ile had heard with patience the veryliberal and elaborate Report now read. lie hoped those who had produced it would meet every reward duet,, the great talent, study, and integrity which was due to them. Upon the merits of the Report itself be should be sorry to offer any objection. He only wished to move en amendment with regard to one highly meritorious and respectahle , individual, whose character had been most u n justly aspersed and injured by it, and with regard to the character of an Englishman, the feelings of English. men would bear him oat in saying, he hoped they would not let prejudice or malevolence enter into their)contempla tion,so as to justify any intemperance; for, as regarded the protection of personal charac ter, these Would not be suffered to take piece of fair argument. Ile had a difficult task to per form in addressing a public assembly, confessedly under great prejudice with respect to the individual in whose behalf he spoke ; bet, for the sake of jus tice, he demenderl. hearing. Men, in general, were not without faults ; it was more than was con. siatent with human nature to expect perfection. which did toot belong to it, and such might by true with regard to Mr. Bignold, under the great diffi culties in which he was placed ; but to condemn that Gentleman unheard, the father and founder of this great and flourishing Institution, as, by the Report now read, it unquestionably was, would be an act of marked injustice. There was but one ground stated upon which Mr. Big-told ought to retire. namely, that it would benefit the Society. Here was a paint opon which he most humbly and anxiously supplicat ed justice. Had they ever called upon Mr. Bignold to justify his conduct--had they once called hits ►efore them—had they heard witnesses in his behalf? If they had first heard and then condemned, he should have beets silent 1A his defence, and should not have opened his mouth on the *object, for, in that ease, be did not know how he could defend him.— Ile believed those Gentlemen, whet► they prejudged Mr. Bignold, with ■'l their zeal and talent did not >now they were doing wrong, but it was a principle of the Constitutional law of this country, which would not suffer any man, from the Prince upon the Throne downwards, to be condemned unheard, with: out witnesses, and onconfronted by his accuser' being placed before hirn.—(Cries of "hear, hear !" "Mr. Bignold is in the room," with continued inter ruption.) —He was here, it was true, but what thi Learned Counsel complaioed of was, he had not beets heard upon the subject before condemnation.— (I/car, hear! and continued interruption.) Mr. BROOK, a Member of the Committee, spoke hr vindication of their conduct. The Committee had most deliberately come to the opinion, that it was for the interest of the Society that Mr. Bigaeld should retire. They had signified to Mr. Bigeold, the propriety of retiring before the Report should, ba given in , m u d he had hoped that, in consequence, they could this day apply the old_obserestion to him, —de mortals nil nifi borsion,—( Laughter.)--They imputed no misconduct to him—they snitched no dis grace to his character. Ilia honesty etid his zeal were not only enimpeached, but highly meritorious. His zeal was not i however, tempered with 'prudence.— (Applause.)--- = That lie acted according to the best of hisjadgment they would admit, but hisjodgment of the peeper mode of acting was such as to reader his retire meat indispensable to the prosperity of the Society. —(Great applause.) Mr. BtueOLD addressed the Meeting at consider. able length, lie wield not enders to - have his came bandied from one part of the kingdoth to the other as a person who had been guilty of crimioal offence, without any specific charge ! against him. All he , wanted was a fair enquiry iuto his coodect. Was he Leavings Balance of • 257,190 19 9 After the most Mature Consideretion. of 1014 de partment, the Commitee expressed the 'highest heti , 0 at its results. The Committee have the high satisfaction to state, that the funds, of which the disposition is consider. ed beluse, woul,l be sufficient to reinsure the whole risk now I ring upon the Members, at the Equitablis. Mice Hates (which are higher than those of the Norwich), supposing the lives not to have been de teriorated otherwise than by the Increase of mg.. The Committee here expressed their high satisfse. lion at the zeal shown by the Agents of the Institu tion, whose watchfulness appears in general to have protected the Office from losses, and thus to baste contributed, in an important manner, to its present prosperit). The unusual number of attestations, and other precautions required also has been very useful. It does not appear that a single claim on the Life Insti , utiott is unsettled, though it now issues a greater needier of policies than any other in the kingdom. The Committee would have abstained in their Re.; pert from all notice of the other Institutions had they pursued a similar course ; but their conduct to. wards this Office has forced comparison ; the Com. mittee fully believe, that whatever may have been the intentions of the other Companies, this Society will have cause to rejoice in the present investigation its place of its enemies. Here the Report enters into some particulars re garding the history of the Equitable Society, from which it is inferred, that the charge of improvidence and rashness brought against this Society, is quite without foundation ; and with regard to the eager. nest for extending their business, which has been im puted to the Directors, the Committee think it enough in answer to say, that 900 applications for Life Insurinces have been rejected since the first establishment. ef the Oifi . ce, in 1808, while during the first five years no single risk beyond 30001. was Lakets• A peculiar advantage attending this Institution is, that it makes no charge for entrance money, by which more than .20001.'wei made by the Equitable during last year ;. the plan also of proportioning bonuses to the. gdflif paid is better than the Equitable plan of proportioning theta to the sum insured. An other argument also in 'airport of this Institution may be derived from the fact, that the Rate of Mor tality essumod its its Tables, is greater than the ac tual rate, so much in, .that the Actuary of the other Instito.ion has shoWn,, (mai sap . experience of 30 years, the Awarleitibt.On4r. have came upon the Office, when by.thg:4lcalation literate was three. - sth. Funds appear to the Committee, from IV sethenticated statements, to show -islet, to; 'lto amount of 366,0871. Os. 6d. From all the evidence that the Committee have - seen, they have the gratification to believe, that a more respectable, assiduous, and responsible body of Agents does not exist, than -the great majority of thosein the service of this lostitotion, in which way not more than 15001. has been lest by insolvencies, while no less a sum thin • 700,0001: bas passed through their hands. Of the mortgages at present taken in the names of Mr. Thomas and Mr. Samuel Hignold, the Commit tee have recommended that, a transfer should be made to certain of the Trustees; a proposition which was at once acceded it) on the part of Mr. Sa muel Higeold, though the answer of the other Gen tipmau bee riot . been eqoally satisfactory. On the sabot.; the Committee express an no - qua lified approbation of the general principles of this Institution; hut are of opinion that great defects exist in the Deeds of Settlement, which call for in. vt•stigatien ; and that some improprieties in the ma nagement have occurred, which, if not corrected, may provedetritnental to the Society. It would hive been gratifying to the Committee to have been able to speak favourably of all the perste, ~,,,_ ..14/ * VP.: - • • • .... . .9. li.Ni, ..**.r -_ •,, . • . `.." ..."--'"4l. • ..01...'1f -.' ". - . . , . . - - • ~ 9 .. .49 ' "C'`.? ......" • '' ....."1- , . •• ' . . • .. • - . _ - -• •~ e ~;a 'I it 1 to be blamed fgt. having convinced it hie duty to ena quills into the circutbstances of ever)* ease claiel set op sophist the Society # Whit if the► 'should find that if he had heglegised any one part of that con. duct which gage offence, be had *On far nettlected his duty 3 Others hid acted temer with hies, in whom no blame was 'attached: • T he hostility again•t him had arisen from the jealoesy and r;valre of, other offices. When he attempted to establish title Society in London he had been told he might as well attempt to wash a blackaraoor white. Hy his ewtserience lit Insurances, and by *his steel and persev , tance, he hart,' • however, succeeded, aid thet wee the cause at the attempt now made to get him dismoised. The enemies of the Society wished VS deprive . . it of his eeperience, zeal, and, he would add. ability.— (A &sq. h.)—Re - had indeed supposed theCnasmiitee were his friends. After be had devoted his whole life to the service of the Society, it would be most on. grateful in them to dismiss him. In a few yeses he should perhaps of himself retire.—(Cries of • Qacs. lion; question !') • Mr. Atm,. after observing that it was the pecae lie, right of an Englishman not to be condemned wt., heard, said, that neither the Committee nor that Meeting had any power over the executive part of the Society .—(o,f, off! from all parts of the room.) .—The Gentleman continued upon the table strug gling to be heard, but in vain ; he was at length. "obliged to yield, and to resume his seat. Mi. House addressed the Chem "from a remote corner of the mem, and after getting forward to she table, be exhibited a copy of the trust deed, and proceeded so far as to mention the Oahe of Sumer. set as one of the 14 , 4)43 Trustees. when a general burst of disapprobation assailed him. He was re ninded by the Chairman, that the aair cp“.stitni now before tho Meeting was the motion and amendment respecting the Report ; but he still persevered in his attempts I add. ess the Meeting, and p- , %elainted himself an Feiglisaman. While he thus stood upon the table, The CHAIRMAN pat the amendment, which was nigat.trod by a great majority, and the original mo• Lion was ititanimvusey carried. Mr. 110t.314. was now resuming, when he was again toll! that tt.is Was a Meeting for the special purpose of receiving the Report He prot.-Pded—" I have a :notion to submit to the .flleetine, that 1 - • Inks be given to the Cl.aircian " At this moment be en= countered on all h•uds sorb manifest and marked disapprobation, that his liesohition failed, and he skink down. Mr. PATTLSON 'now proposed four sevprel lietole• lions s-1. Toot the Institution was entitled to p r aise, but required correction.-2. That she Committee be requested .to continue their labours.-3. That the Tnauki of the Meeting be •givms to the Committee for their Report : and 4. that the Chairman be thanked for 11,3 able and impartial conduct Its the Chair. • Mr. BROOK AuggPMed a slight amendment of the second Resolution, which, however, he ultimately withdrew. Mr. KEMBLE said, that they the Committee, had beets called Mr. Btennld's puppets. It could stow tie perceived whether they were inanimate poppets, or Mr. agnold's puppets. He load buried all said mositi*s in oblivion ; hut he would slightly advert to the receptl,.. , he • had met with at the George anti Vulture. Mr. An:. ••n in Thorp, the Chair mail, was disposed to accede to his proposal, it: they should de •iy coming to any Resolution for a few weeks; but there was a power behind the Chair, and greater than the Chair, which resisted the proposal.—(A laugh.) —lie believed Mr. Alderman Thorp would new admit that it had been better if they had ac• ceded to the proposal of delay. A piper had been handed to him which suggested that Mr. Alderman Thorp and his Committee be added to the present Committee. Ile was slaloms that Mr. Alderman Thorp should be added to their number ; but if the Committee should he added, they could not act with cordiality. After several further observations net Alterman Thorp's Committee, he concluded by moving that Aldermen Thorp be added to the Com. mittee. The motion was seconded, and carried ottani. aiously. Mr. Alderman TIIORP said, he wield not enter into a particular reply to the observations of the last speaker; it was sufficient to state, that of 16 cases represented by them, nine were pail since their en. quiry was begun.—(Aoplatsce.)—lie should wil• tingly give all the assistance in his power to the Committee, which had facilities of information and enquiry, from which he and those who had acted with him had been eacludell. The four Resolutions were then put, and amide mously carried. The Thanks of the Meeting were nnenimtiosir voted to F. A. Clarke, Esq. Setretary to the Corn. mittee. A Member of the Committee moved, that the Com• mittee should be instructed to consider what salary should be given to Mr. Bignold. The motion was rejected es premature. Mr. BIGNOLD said, if he deserved dividend' he could deserve no salary ; if he dill sot, the dismissal sod the question of salary were equally improper. The Thanks of the Meeting were unanimoosly voted to the Directors of the Society in Norwich, sod the CHAIRMAN then put the question of adjourn. mint, which was carried unanimously, and tbe Meet• ing broke up at half-past four. - - Sam U.—For the thtee lest weeks the number of passengers arriving from France has been, 'on an average, WO per day ; the departeres for the Cnntinent _being Inferior in number by about ones third part. 1111 w an P ED V I TRIANS.—Spring, Berns, Martin the baker, and an Amateur, are to run a given di..s orrice against each other on Monday next, in Park, for a rump end a dozen. The two losers to pay the whole of the *salience'. Spring and Martin are the favourites. The Kentish youth Is also matched against Blom sell the painter, to rein the distance of 10 miles for 100 guineas a side, to be decided on Friday neat at Canterbury. From the extraordinary fleetness sensed by both the above pedestrians, the judges (es they are termed) ere somewhat puzzled how to bet their money. It is Mulled to be an oucommonly good Mi. ...O' r -.412 .i". i "V . s • 47;•:: 'I .._: