Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-04 00:00:00

THE DERBY MINISTRY.

The adoption of Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S resolution,
as an amendment to the motion for the second reading
of the Government Bill, as a matter of course, has
obliged Ministers to consider if they are not reduced
thereby to a position in which they cannot hope to
carry on with any advantage to the country, and
therefore with honour to themselves, its public affairs.
Lord DERBY, no doubt, with a due sense of the
responsibility under which he had been placed by the
adverse vote of the Commons, after consulting with
his Cabinet, sought an audience of her Majesty. But
it is not known with any certainty what took place.
If the Premier tendered his resignation, however,
it was not, on the instant at any rate, accepted. His
to the lloueo of Tawas, on
Friday night, was,--" My lords, I have not the sanc-
tion of her Majesty to flake any communication to
your lordships in regard to what took place, and' I
think the state of affairs is so critical, and
the consequences of the vote of last night
may be so important, that, considering the
House of Commons has adjourned till Monday, I
think I shall best consult your lordships' conveni-
ence and the convenience and interest of the publics
and I shall best show my sense of the gravity of this
occasion, by postponing till Monday any statement
I may.have to offer. to your lordships ; but I shall
be prepared on that day to lay fully before your
lordships the advice which I and my colleagues have
thought it our duty to tender to her Majesty, and
the course which, with her Majesty's sanction, we
propose to adopt." Until the meeting of the House
on this evening, therefore, nothing positive will
probably be made known. All sorts of rumours are
afloat. There is an opinion very prevalent that
Lord DERBY'S Government will not immediately
be broken up.

TITLES TO AND REGISTRIES OF LANDED

ESTATES.

THE Liverpool Law Society have issued a pam-
phlet on this . subject, containing Remarks on the
two Bills now before Parliament for dealing with
it—the one, by effecting an improvement of the
titles to landed estates, and the other by effecting
a better registry of such titles. The first Bill, as it
is shown, "seeks to put a stop to repeated investi-
gations of the same title, by substituting one judicial
investigation, and by affixing to the estate that has
successfully undergone that ordeal the stamp of a
Parliamentary title; the second aims at perpetuating
the guaranteed character of the title by a registry of
subsequent dealings with it." Now, it is not denied
that these are very important objects. The Law
Society sets out, in its dissertation, by acknowledg-
ing, "that in dealing with real property, the expense
of repeated investigations of the title to the same
property by successive purchasers and mortgagees,—
each going over the same ground that has been
gone over by his predecessor,—is an evil that
urgently requires removal, if only such object can
be effected without producing as great evils as those
which are sought to be cured." This latter remark,
then, involves the main question at issue, as respects
these two Bills under discussion, and regarding
which they say, as though summing up in a single
sentence their verdict upon them, that " the utility
of them will be of a much more limited character
than public anticipation has been led to anticipate,"
—a judgment which we think is somewhat incon-
sistent with what has gone before. For if what these
Bills seek to remedy be "an evil that urgently
requires removal," their utility cannot be trifling if
they contribute, as they appear calculated to do, to
so important and practical an end.

In another respect the Liverpool Law Society
answer their own objections. " Because," they say,
"the Bills cannot accomplish all the good that the
publie may have been led to expect from them, or
because they cannot in every case remove the
evils of the present Bystem, it does not follow that
they should be at once condemned." Certainly not.
Neither do we think that they ought to be disparaged.
For, as they further suggest, " If their result should
be to clear away an accumulated mass of legal
documents from the title to any considerable num-
ber of estqles, and still more, if itio clear title so
obtained can be advantageously perpetuated by
registration, tho good that can be ,so done is

not to be rejected because it -is not greater."
Again we say, certainly not. .But. neither, again,
ought such measures to be treated- as though they
were so faulty as to be of very limited utility.
Most of the objections that are started to these
Bills, are just such as might be made to any Bills
with similar objects. For instance,— exposures.
" Should this Bill pass into a, law," it is observed,
" landowners will hesitate before selling portions of
their estates; seeing that the purchaser will have it
in his power to bring the title before the Court,
and to expose to public gaze the whole history
of his vendor's family property." But then the
same thing would occur in any Act of Parliament on
thesubject which established a legal machinery for the
purpose of dealing with titles. It is further objected,
that a landowner, by selling a small portion of his
estate, might risk the exposure of his whole title.
But then, no reasonable man, as it is, after all,
admitted, would make an experiment that exposed
him to Such a risk ; and therefore, at any rate, the
intending purchasers would be protected. We
must do the, Liverpool Law Society, how-
ever, the justice to say, that the objections they
have paraded are, in the main, not of their own
starting, but have originated with other, though kin-
dred parties, while they do not hesitate to declare,
"that it cannot be doubted that the benefit of the
Bill in saving expense as to the titles of properties
of considerable value proposed to be sold in lots, or
otherwise likely to be frequently dealt with, promises
to be very material,"—as well as admitting, that
"the eagerness with which the titles conferred by
the Encumbered Estates Court in Ireland are sought
after by• purchasers, is a proof of the value of simi-
lar titles to English vendors,"—admissions which
amount to most important commendations of the
Bill.

The Registry of Landed Estates Bill is criticised
with still less practical effect. The Law Society
admit, in limine, that "no objection . can be
taken to the principle of Registry of Titles, as it
must be conceded at once, that if the benefit
attempted to be obtained by the Title of Landed
Estates Bill, of clearing of a title, all documents
prior to the certificate of indefeasible title, can, as
to the property so relieved, be made perpetual by
registration of all subsequent dealings, such result
would be highly beneficial to the public." And
the objections, therefore, if any, must be in the
details of its working. It does not appear that there
really are any such objections in the Bill in question.
Bufkif there be any, they reduce them all to
the condition of mere nullities by the confession,
that they are in a great measure disposed of by the
permissive character of the Bill. Besides, following
their enumeration of objections, technical and con-
structional, they, after all, admit that the success of
such a measure will greatly depend on the spirit in
which it is worked.

With all due respect, therefore, for the Liverpool
Law Society,'we do not think they have been parti-
cularly successful in their criticisms on this occasion.
Some of their practical hints,. as to certain
details of the Bills which they have criticised, may
perhaps be useful in' adjusting their clause in
committee. But that is all. The fact is—and the
present case is no exception to the remark—that the
science of legal legislation is such, that it is far easier
to point out what will do harm than what will do
good.

DANGF',RS AND DIFFICULTIES OF LIP
INSUItANcE.

THERE is not a more provident; and there are few
more praiseworthy things, that married men can do
who have incomes depending on their own exertions,
and which must terminate with their lives, than
effecting a life insurance for the benefit of those whom
they may otherwise leave, in a great measure, if not
wholly, unprovided for. It may often require some
present sacrifice to do this—some greater economy
and retrenchment than would otherwise be had
recourse to. But then there is the satisfaction of
knowing that it is made to secure a provision for the
future,—a provision for those who would perhaps be
otherwise left destitute, when he, whose industry
and care it is that makes it, shall be taken away as
the prop and mainstay of the house which it will
then contribute to support, and but for which
would probably fall into desolation. It is both a
domestic and a social duty to thus prudently and
providently act ; and everything should be done,
that is possible, to encourage it among us. Life
Insurance has made great progress, during the last
few years, as a desirable means of securing a
provision for families in that way. The fact of there
being now nearly two hundred Life Insurance Com-
panies, of one description or another, in this country,
is a striking proof of the hold which such an ex-
pedient has taken of the public mind. No doubt
there have now and then been failures of such insti-
tutions, which have, for the moment, somewhat
shaken public confidence in the system. But this
has soon passed away, because it arose from what
was only a very occasional exception to a generally
good rule. There is another cause of the mistrust,
however, which arises now and then, that is much
more alarming, because much more formidable—the
practice which certain offices appear so eager to
pursue of disputing the validity of the Policy when,
after death, payment of the sum insured is
demanded, upon some plea or other of alleged infor-
mality or misrepresentation.
A case of this kind came to trial at our Assizes last
week ; and one of a character which is calculated,
we cannot but think, to have a very discouraging
effect upon the interests of Life Insurance. A
person, described as " a robust, healthy man,"
holding a situation of some £320 a-year under the
Corporation of Manchester, had effected an insurance
on his life with an Office in London, called the
" Medical Invalid and General Life Insurance
Society," for £l,OOO. The usual inquiries were of
course made by the Company before the proposal
was accepted ; and an affirmative reply had been
given to the question as to his being of uniformly
sober and temperate habits. All being satisfactory
to the Office, the policy is granted. This was about
four years ago. Some time in the following year,
the insured met with an accident in getting out of
an omnibus which seriously affeeted his health, and
ultimately led to the loss of his situation, and his
being placed, still under the Manchester Corporation,
in one with a much smaller salary. These misfor-
•tunes preyed upon his spirits, and deteriorated his
health, and in no long time he died. During the
last year or so of his life, suffering under depression
and illness, he appears to have occasionally had
recourse to the use of ardent spirits. But he did not'
die from their effect. The medical practitioner who
attended him in his last illness declared on his
examination, on oath, before the Court, that his
death was the result of water on the chest ; and, in
his cross-examination, .although he admitted that
persons of intemperate habits were liable to such a
fiisPase, yet, ho there yens nothing whatever in

THE NORTHERN TIMES MONDAI APRIL 4, 1859

this case to indicate that the deceased had been a
man of such habits, as was pretended, so far back as
the time of his effecting the .insurance on his life,—
while other witnesses deposed- that he had been a
man of extremely temperate habits. The statement
of the plaintiff's counsel, in short, was substantially
corroborated by the evidence adduced on the trial,—
that "up to very nearly the time of his death, he
had always been a very healthy, strong, and robust
man. His occupation (that of manager of the
distribution of gas) involved a, great deal of open air
exercise, and he had, from a comparatively early
hour every morning up to five or six o'clock in the.
evening, to traverse a great portion of the streets of
Manchester. With a very trifling exception, some
two or three days, the deceased had never been
prevented from attending to his duties by ill-health,
and had given entire satisfaction to the Committee' of
the Town Council, to whom the business of the gas
distribution - Was delegated." Such was the
character and condition of the -insured at
the time •of effecting his Life Policy, and
for some time afterwards,—than • which, one
would have thought, nothing could have been
more satisfactory to. 'the Insurance Company. Yet
upon,his widow making application, in due course,
for the payment of the sum insured, her demand ,is
refused on the ground of deception,—the statement
on which the Policy was granted being untrue—that
he had not been uniformly a man of temperate
habits. Both Judge and Jury, however, appeared
satisfied that there was nothing whatever to sustain
such a plea as this ; and, as a matter of course, there-
fore, the plaintiff, the widow of the deceased,
obtained a verdict for the amount claimed.
Now such a transaction as this can never be either
to the 'credit or the interest of a respectable Life
Insurance Company,—nor does it deserve to be. It
-manifests a disposition to be illiberal, and to take
advantage, which cannot possibly be consistent with
a desire to .be, we will not say generous, but just.
How can the public,—how can that portion of the
public, more especially, that' liave to make great
sacrifices, often, to enable them to keep up Life
Insurance Policies,—be expected to have much con-
fidence in the system, when they see a wealthy body,
that make a handsome profit out of it, act in this
way ? Here is a Company boasting of their pos-
sessing " a capital of half a million; fully subscribed,
in addition to a large increase and accumulated
assets,"—and some idea may be formed of their
profits from the fact of, their income being set forth
as amounting to £120,000 a year, arising from the
premiums of between five and six thousand policies,
—here, we say, is a Company of all' this wealth,
enabling its Directors to be clothed in purple and
fine linen and fare sumptuously every day, yet not
only begrudging to pay a poor widow her due,
according to their engagement, but actually refusing
so to do, on a plausible but indefensible pretext of
their having been deceived as to the health of the
insured, and driving her into a Court of Law to
enforce her just claim! We dare say it is never a
pleasant thing for certain of such Offices to have to
pay : they are always very eager to receive,—their
premiums are such as- to return them enormous
profits ; yet, though they are periodically paid for
the express purpose of securing the sums insured for
at death, the Companies, or their Directors, as in
this case, would rather not pay tbem, if they could
escape the obligation to do so, by taking advantage
of anything which might be tortured into a reason
for the invalidation of, the Policy ! But we cannot
think so ill of the great body of such Companies,'
as to suppose that they would pursue so dis-
honourable, and at the same time so
politic a course as this " Medical, Invalid, and
General," in this instance, has done ; and which is
,worthy of reprobation not only on its own demerits,
but also because it is calculated to bring into disre-
pute an institution which, when fairly and liberally
administered, is designed to confer such great advan-
tages upon the middle classes of society. Let this
case, however, be a warning to those Offices that
would rather dispute than pay. British Juries will
not, let it be borne in mind, lend themselves to the
support of such illiberality and cupidity. Insurance
Companies are quite right, no doubt, to protect them-
selves from frauds. But to do this, they must be
careful and vigilant when the proposals for insurance
are made ; and not, after coolly pocketing the
premiums, it may be for years, when death at length
ensues, and they are called upon to fulfil their
engagement, to turn round and refuse, on the plea,
for the first time raised, that they had all the while
been deceived !

THE TOXTETII BOARD OF GUARDIANS. —The further
gross display of unfitness for so responsible an office as that
of Guardian of the Poor, which was made at the meeting of
the Board on Saturday week, as reported at length in our
columns of Friday, only furnishes an additional reason why
the ratepayers, for their own credit, as well as for the interests
of the parish, should now seriously take up the matter, and
interpose to wipe off what at present is so foul a reproach
to all concerned. The time of electing a new Board
is at hand. Let us hope that the opportunity will not
be neglected by the electors of doing justice alike to
themselves and their parochial concerns.

THE NEAPOLITAN EXILES.—The meeting of our mer-
chants and others in the Town-hall, which we so fully re-
ported in our issue of Friday, for the purpose of expressing
sympathy with the sufferings of the Neapolitan exiles, now
in this country, and of organizing a subscription in their
behalf, was highly creditable to this important town, and
will contribute, we doubt not, materially to forward
the, we trust we may call it, national subscription in their
behalf, —a subscription which so eminently deserves to be
regarded in the two-fold character of an expression of
British sympathy, and a fund for their relief ; combining,
at" Vie same time, to testify the country's indignation at the
atrocious treatment they have met with at the hands of their
despotic and perfidious sovereign. This, in fact, was embodied,
it would be observed, in one of the resolutions adopted by
the meeting, which spoke of the subscription " not only as
an expression of our sympathy with the oppressed, but as
our protest against that tyranny by which they have been
driven into unmerited exile." It must be remembered, that
the case of these exiles is, as respects their cruel treatment
at home, that of thousands of other Neapolitans, who have
been doomed to imprisonment, under circumstances of great
inhumanity, from time to time, for their aspirations of
constitutional liberty. As it was stated at the meeting,
when Mr. Gladstone interested himself so charitably
in the cause of the suffering patriots, on the
spot, he found there were no less than 20,000 political
prisoners in the kingdom of Naples
.alone —that these were
principally belonging to the middle class, who number much
smaller proportionately than in this country—that among
them was a large number of the Chamber of Deputies
which had been elected in 1848, under the constitution to
which the King had solernly sworn fidelity —but the ma-
jority of which, after suppressing the Chamber itself, he had
thus imprisoned or driven into exile. These facts, as was well
observed, " afflicting as they are to our common humanity,
were detailed by one whose whole previous life places him
above the most distant suspicion, and his sympathies were
elicited on behalf of men who had held any other principles
than those conig§tclit With constitutional government and

rational freedom." So that it is no ease, we may depend
upon it, this of these exiles, or of their cause in any case,
which can be said to involve anything whatever that could
be dangerous to legitimate government, but rather every-
thing that is calculated to promote and maintain it, upon
principles of justice, benificence, and order. We heartily
trust, therefore, that the subscription, on this occasion, will
be a handsome one.

THE COURT.
Her Royal. Highness the Duchess of Kent, visited
her Majesty the Queen, on-Friday, at Buckingham Palace.
~ The Earl of Derby had an audience of the Queen. .
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort rode on horse-
back, attended by Captain Du Plat.
The Queen, accompanied by the Princesses Alice and
Helena, and attended by the Hon. Flora Macdonald; took a
drive-in an open carriage and four in the afternoon.
Colonel' the Hon. A. N. Hood and Captain Du Plat
attended on horseback.
The Prince Consort, attended by Colonel the Hon.
Sir Charles Phipps, visited the South Kensington
Museum.
Her Majesty and the Prince Consort honoured the
performance at the Haymarket Theatre with their presence
in the evening. In attendance were—Lady Macdonald, the
Hon. Caroline Cavendish, the Hon. Flora Macdonald,
Viscount Strathallan, Colonel the Hon. A. N. Hood, and
Captain Du Plat.
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, attended by
Colonel the Hon. A. Hardinge, honoured Mr. Thomas,
architect, with a visit on Thursday in the Alpha-road,
Regent's Park, and inspected his works.
Colonel the Hon.. A. N. Hood and Captain Du Plat have
relieved Major-General the Hon. C. Grey and Colonel the
Hon. A. Hardinge in their duties as the Equerries in Wait.
ing to the QUeen and Prince Consort. . .
ARRIVAL OF PRINCE GROLAM MAIIOIIIED. —We under-
stand that his Highness Prince Gholam Mahomed, son of
the Sultan Tippoo Sahib, has arrived at the Oriental Hotel,
Vere-street, from Calcutta, with the view of renewing his
protestations of loyalty after the proclamation of her Ma-
jesty to the native princes of India.
OUR SAmous.—The secretary to the Sailors' Home,
Dublin, thus alludes to the gratitude often expressed by
sailors after the preservation' of their lives from shipwreck.
" I have been an observer of our sailors afloat and ashore
for the past twenty years, and the conclusion I have-arrived
at, from my experience is, that a more deserving class of
men does not exist, and I thank God that a change for the
better is now seen by every one who takes an interest in
their welfare. Having had some of them inmates who
served in wrecked vessels on our Irish iron bound coast. I may
truly say that no society brought before them was wire
generally appreciated than the National Life Boat Institu-
tion. I have heard them allude to its reports in terms
that would be gratifying to its supporters, and to every
lover of mankind."