The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-10-02 00:00:00

the (tontlitibitc 01)5crbcr.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1680.

COLLAPSED LIFE ASSURANCE

SOCIETIES.

The Mere nf tho \ Uri Lib, 4 Witlrfille(A St,.

eiety. so scion foilos ell by that of the European,
AUCTIONEER, APPRAISER, AND GENERAL has created in the public mind a feeling of dig.
AGENT, trust of life asmrance (Ares generally ; but
11101-I.BTREET, BRIERLEY DILL. there is no reason to believe there is any groand
All Business pthetusliv attended to. Chsrges strictly for fear. It is a remarlinhle thing that both
the institutions have failed in the same any,
Itr,lierate. Showy alll,lllClA upon every description of
Household Furniture Stock, kc., tor absolute sale. nail from mneh the vune 14111,(B. We (led"
to enter in detail Imo» all the eircumstrinces
connected with these failures ; hut there ore cer-
tain patent facts wide]] aro on reemal without
dispute. The Albert, durincy its lone: eareer,
LONG LOOK ED FOR, COME AT LAST. .
incorporated and arnalmunitted twenty-two other

IMPORTANT NOTICE 1 ! !

but the Europeen went beyond this. In
the samo way it absorbed thirty-three other
oilleee Many of the institntinne in either ease
S. Salts Lecture on the Evils of Intemperance
were unsraeceseful offices, which conld not stand
Unmasked, and a Peep into a Oin-shup, among
alone. I hey were week, and sought support by
the Drunkerds.
' being absorbed in larger companies, and the
amalgamations thrill effected were iiui4snhtedly
profitable fiffaire for several interested individn-
Ale ; hut they seem to Imo brought no strength
to the abaeridne Institution... On the contrary.
there Is every reason to sasneet that thews am•
algannitinne were the leading vestiges of the
gigantic reileree which the nubile now have cause
to deplore. When, therefore, the attention of
Parliament Is called to the laws relmtive to life
asseranee. is it will probably be next session, it
will become truitter for consideration whether
such amalgamatinna. taking Orme under the eir.
cumatrineee in whieh these timaignmetinne have
been effected, shall he allowed. They are not In
aecordence with the ordinary principla of nom.
merelal Inisineee. A makes his bargain with B.
and a few yenta afterwards it Is transferred to C
without hia consent, end even without hie know-
ledge till the borgsin bee been completed,
however, has no heln fer it ; he line n Lid come
years' preminno, and he flutist either lose thee°
.ind nay for the rest of Ida lire a higher premi-
um for the same benefit than he agreed to pay,
or he must continue the original pretnium to a
company with whom lie hail made no contract
Either course is an evil, and be lee; to consider
which is the lesser of the two, though neither
ought to have existed.
Another metter to which Perlinmebt should
direct its attention is the pnbliention of the vie-
donuts of life emir:veer ennoninive. They need
not be issued to the pnlli,, hut they ought to be
enmpnlsorily transmitted every six months, or
at !rest every rear, to each pnliey-hnliler and
shareholder. We are quite aware that the isane
of accounts is not always is genrantee against
fraud or failure : but this is chiefly owing to the
accounts whiell hitherto be we been publiehell
being such meagre skeletnns,andi is partly owing
to the ignerriece of accounts which elle...televises
the general public, and the apathy which is ton
common among shareholders and policy-holders.
'tut we now have had enough tares, not alone
among the life assnrenee offices, hot amongst
nublie commercial companieq. to pink° the pub-
lic mare generally alive to the importance of
paying attention to these areennte : and if an
Act of Parliament compelled env...panics to pub-
lish their accounts in 'luta], flee -nil too sche-
dule, those who ore interested in these compa-
IliC4 would have faeilities for ascertaining how
they were progressing or retrograding, and this
fact alone would enforce greater pridence. to use
no other word. on the part of directors and man-
agers. If the eellapse of these two great FlFSllr-
ftne, companies lead to only thesr; tWO Rtlfoall.ll4lS
against failure from the same reuses which have
now brought shout so much disquiet and dis-
trust, to say notbity. of positive loss, the col-
lapse, however painful in Itself, will produce
permanent good.

Jit or i d‘e 41.

Twenty Popo of Close P,inted Letterpress
royal octavo size, Price fill,
klio an account of the late Dieeraeefal Outrage at
Cradley. Yitee
To be had at all Booksellers, and at S: SALT,
Town•erier and 111111nAter, Bagley Street,
Halesowen,