Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-16 00:00:00

TEE NORTHERN TIIVIES.-A.LIVERPOOLI WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1857.

leaders to the limes, is also an editorial caterer to
Mr. Levy's penny diurnal---The Daily Telegraph ?
Respecting the murder and suicidein London,
discovered on Monday, there is but little new corn-,
to light. The supposition is, that the pa:,'Cies re-
ferred to came direct from France to the coffee
house, and that they were not intimately known in
the metropolis, as no letters were received by either
of them. Mach mystery appeared to be conneeCed
with the circumstance of their taking up their
abode at Harper's, and it is the opinion of some
persons that as the woman seemed entirely under
the control of the man, from whose presence she
was never allowed to be, and by whom, while she
spoke in his presence, she was ofVn checked in
her remarks, that she was a consenting party to
her death. This is surmised, as net the slightest
struggle was heard between them on any one oc-
casion throughout the day; nor was a shriek nor
scream heard uttered by her. Had there been one
uttered, it would have bean sure to have alarmed
either Mr. or Mrs. Harper, who were in the house
at the time.

A rumour has been, set "on foot, on what authority
we will rot take upon ourselves to say, that a
conference will shortly 'beheld in London, between
the representatives of France and England, to
settle what is and what is not Slave traffic. The
new plan of the French Government engaging
negroes on the west coast of Africa as free labourers
for its West Indian colonies, might obviously lead
to a conflict between the English cruisers and the
French ships. .The proposal to come to a distinct
understanding emanates from France, the Govern-
ment of which is still of opinion that the engage-
ment of free labourers is a better mode of stopping
the traffic in staves than any preventive measures.
Our Continental news is of an interesting
chTracter. Another ministerial crisis has taken
place in Spain. Me Cabinet demanded the disc
missal of a general officer, who, in his order of the
day, violently attacked the Vicalvariet generals;
with whom the present ministers had effected a
reconciliation: Their demand was refused by the
Queen, and they tendered their resignation. The
latest news by letter says that the Queen accepted
it, and that M. Noccelal had again a chance, but, as
there is no later telegraph, `it is probable that the
rupture has; been patched up.
The Commercial Crisis -in the North of Europe
continues, and hitherto not the slightest abate-
.
r ent seems to have taken place. Stockholm was
panic siruck for twenty-four hours, and there was a
run on all the private banks. The declaration of
the State Bank„ however, that it would cash the
notes of the private hanks, put a stop to the run.
Money, after a short period of improvement at
Vienna, has 'become again scarce, and a popular
demand is made for the suspension of the usury
laws. Companies for lending money on merchan-
dise have just been formed and chartered at Bre-
men and -at Antwerp.
The agitation in France against the free impor-
tation of Foreign Spirits continues, and the
general opinion•is, that such agitation will prevail,
and that a duty will soon be "put upon such.

THE sizelving of the bullion panic of 1857 and
its consequences,will not be a gain to any political
party. Parliament and the country, are at
issue on other, and very different subject's. The
people find that repreSentation has lost all Con-
stitutional ,control over taxation, Going to the
House of Commons for supplies, whether for
unintelligible wars, civil lists, or secret services,
are matters of course. Divisions on Budgets,

• have become of late years, mere farces. Tax-
ation has long since ceased to be an element of
political contention within the walls of the Legis-
' lature. With the late JosEru HUME, the faint
echoes of the voice of Financial Reform and
retrenchment, departed from•the political Forum•
Will the Whigs or Tories revive it, by making
the hearing which excessive taxation
hao on tlio
industry and commerce of England, a branch of
the proposed inquiry into the causes of our
present commercial and industrial distress ? The
abstraction .of 80,000,0001. of gold, from the
legitimate pursuits of a people, must have some
eflect on their monetary resources. Such items do
not come under the head of chaff, although they
may disappear like husks of corn before the wind.
The nation has to find that huge amount at a
fixed price. or its representative—paper—payable
in gold on demand, at ten per cent. Will Lord
PALMERSTO.N, or Sir C. Lewis, pledge his veracity
that this has nothing whatever to do with the
money embarassments of to-day ?If it has not,
let it be proved. There never was an age more
open to conviction, or when men discuss
grievances with greater good temper. It would
be useless to attempt to decide, what the avail-
able means of trade are without taking into
account, all the liabilities heaped upon the float-
ing capital of the country.
When the proposed committee have ascertained
the exact amount of accommodation, Banks ought
to afford--the amount of gold these institutions
ought to hold, to render payment to their deposi-
tors and note holders " on demand," a reality,
and net a political fiction—the number of ounces
of bullion imported and exported in the year—
and have given us a correct definition of what is
really meant by overtrading, overproduction,
and overtpeculation," the public will assuredly
expect them to show, after making the deductions
they may think just and proper, from the total
amount available for industry and trade, what
remains to pay taxes. If they can prove
that there is a surplus of gold, on legal tender
notes, in the hands of the community to supply
the demands of the State, then bullion taxation
would be a blessing, as its operation woull check
the system of hoarding, so much dreaded in

these provident times. But if they come forward
with only one-half of their lesson, and persist in
telling the world that 80,000,000/, of taxation,
payable in gold "on demand," has nothing to
do with the monetary affairs of the country, they
r must expect to be laughed 'at by all Christendom.
There is, therefore, no political safety in the eva-
sion of the great disturbing cause which bring na-
tions to the brink of ruin. The Financial Reformers
have discovered, at last, that defective and dis-
graceful as the system of keeping our national
accounts, and unwarrantable as the lavish expen-
diture of the State, really are, that there is still
something more important to be considered.

They begin to see the smallness of the source

from whence the great streams of revenue flow.
They find that domestic taxation is demanded
in a foreign product, which must be supplied at
a fixed price. They have discovered that the

national debtor is not allowed to sell his produce

in an open market ; for notwithstanding the
wea:;er may sell his cloth, and the farmer his
wheat, to the highest bidder, that which he
receives in exchange`has a fixed value, set upon it

by the State, and they are therefore as much
bondsmen as though their cloth and corn went to
pay taxes at fixed prices. They have even• dis-
covered something more, namely, that, if it had not
been for the discovery of cheap gold in California
and Australia, there would have been no bullion
laws in Europe or America for the last eight
years, and that if those countries had produced
double the quantity of gold, we should still be
unable to pay 80,000,0001. of taxation in
that metal. The reason is obvious. The
law will not allow merchants to em-
ploy gold in our foreign trade, because
in the natural order of things, this metal would
become scarce at home, the price of bullion would
rise, and the State would receive fewer ounces of
gold in payment of taxes. This advantage

would be too great for the mercantile and general
public, and consequently they are made to pay
taxes in gold at a low fixed price ; and that that
social bondage may be preserved intact, banking
and monetary laws are enacted, under the pre-
text of keeping gold at home, to give stability
to the credit issue of the Bank of England and to
commerce

These laws, however, are opposed to all the
principles of civilised existence, and their repeated
failures betray the besotted stupidity of their
original concoctors, and the childish impotency
of their more modern advocates. And we would
warn the present House of Commons, while just
entering into political life, of the danger and
folly of sanctioning the continuance of a system
which must render taxation of the most economi-
cal character, both unjust and intolerable in the
sight of the most loyal and patriotic classes of
society. Let it be remembered that the Bank
Charter Act dates from 1844; that two years
after its enactment it failed ; that if it had been
re-enacted last year, as it ought to have been if
Parliament think it a safe law; that if it had
been renewed in 1856, it would not have pre-
vented the national catastrophe of 1857, and that
if it be replaced on the statute-book in 1858, it
will assuredly break down under the pressure of
our expanded commerce, population, and trade—
to say nothing of the Indian war, and the com-
mercial weakness of continental Europe—before
two years goes over our heads.

The Indian revolt will carry off many millions
of gold, whether the Government or the Cora_
pany supply it, and foreign Europe must have
metallic money for trade, let it come from where
it may. To enter, therefore, on stringent and
bottomless bullion and banking laws at this par.
titular period, would be perfectly preposterous ;
and we feel for all those who think,by shelving
such questions, and evading inquiry into the
great disturbing causes which set unnatural laws
at defiance, to find a political haven in which the
drowsy politician can roll himself up in the
mainsail of the State, and sleep out his watch in
smooth water. Finance, currency, commerce,
and banking, are all too closely allied to each
other to think of escaping the whirlwind of one
without falling into the whirlpools of the rest;
and if we carry ourselves through the ten per
cent. panic without another crisis, the breathing
time allowed will be only like the three days'
grace on a bill of exclfange. The great State
bill will become due in the ordinary course, and
how, and in what, is it to be paid ? This is the
practical question for the Financial Reformer to
consider, and in good time. Let him first look
to the Eastern, and then to the Western hemis-
phere. The social revolutions going on in the
latter are only equalled by the magnitude of the
military operations in the former. Let our rulers
look at these things with becoming sobriety and
moral sadness, and ask themselves if this is a
season for trifling with the welfare of the people,
and to pervert all the natural laws of trade by
countenancing the renewal of Acts which they
were compelled to demolish in order to save the
Empire from bankruptcy. The relaxation of the
rate of discount can only lead to a renewal of
" over-trading, over-speculations, and over-pro-
ductions," if there be any truth in the Govern-
ment's assertions ; but 80,000,0001,, of taxation
cannot be abstracted from trade within the next
twelve months, without leaving us open to all the
foul and absurd charges brought against the
mercantile men of England, and producing
another season of usury, and its committant—
bankruptcy.

Jr is emphatically declared in the pages of the
sacred writings, that he ‘` is worse than an infidel
who neglects to provide for those of his own
household." Yet how many there are, in all
parts of this world, who neglect the injunction
and despise the judgment which the passage
just quoted contains. The Apostle, in making
the remark, wished t 3 impress upon those to
whom he was writing the duties as well as the
uncertainly of life. Happy would it be for
society at large if his admonition was attended
to in our own days. Our workhouses and our
gaols, yea even the inmates of our asylums, would
be few in number, and crime and poverty less
frequent in the land. The cost of each and all
these national establishments would be curtailed,
and an independent and industrious people would
take the place of criminals, paupers, and lunatics.
The inculcation and encouragement of provident
habits among every class, sect, and degree of
the population, is therefore a duty to which the
patriot and the moralist should lend their hearty
and uisreserved support, Of all the forms of

providing for the
of a family, we deem Life Assurance the fore-
most. We do not underrate the advantages
which well-regulated Sick and Burial Clubs
confer upon their members. But we give a pre-
ference to Life Assurance Societies because they
are capable of imparting greater and more
substantial benefits upon all who have the fore-
thought and prudence to " complete a policy"
and " keep it up." Let us glance for a moment
at the nature .and objects of Life Assurance, and
cursory though that glance may be, enough will
appear to convince the most sceptical that the
system merits the preference we give it. We
pass by the imperative duty of every one making
some provision for the support of those dependent
upon them in the event of death. It is, unfor-
tunately, a matter of too frequent occurrence,
that the death of the head of a family leaves
those dependent upon them in penury and want.
The exercise of a little consideration and fore-
sight would have prevented the deplorable evil
just noticed, as well as the breaking up of an
attached household. We well know that the
death of a father is in many instances the loss of
daily bread. The bereaved mother deplores with
feelings of the deepest anguish, the loss of the
partner of her life ; but to all this she has to
encounter the cries of a helpless family for bread,
which it is not in her power to give, or, at least,
which she must deal out with a pitiful and
stinted hand. This has been the case with
thousands of families, who, at one time, were
comfortable and free from want. The vicissitudes
of life, aggravated by a total disregard to the
exercise of provident habits, brought upon them
the evils we have just sketched. As we have
previously said, several means have been adopted
for the purpose of remedying such injurious
results. But of this we are satisfied, that the
ordinary modes of investment are ineffectual for

securing a certain provision in the event of
death. The resource of saving, no matter how
careful and economising we may be, is insufficient.
The accumulations arising :from deposits in
Savings Banks, or Building Societies, are not only
tedious in amounting to anything like an adequate
sum, but to reach that point implies a certainty
of life for a given number of years. This is not
so; for the very infidel—he who denies the exist-
ence of a supreme and superintending power—
knows and admits that " in the midst of life we
are in death."

It was the recognition of principles akin to the
foregoing—the uncertainty of human life, that
weal and fragile thread, which the most trivial
accident might nip in two—that first invented the
principle of Life Assurance. Financers and sta-
ticians felt that, although they could not reduce
the numerous foes which assail
Land destroy
human life, it was within their power to dry up
thn fPara, and acQua.ga the pangs of fvtloru
widows and dependent orphans, by the adoption
of principles and provisions, devised expressly
to meet such possibilities. Facts and science
came to their aid, and although they could not
tell the exact age at which any one individual
would die, they artived at conclusions, based

upon mathematical accuracy, which showed that
human life, like every thing else, is regulated
by fixed laws, and that they could determine
with unimpeachable correctness, the average
duration of life of a certain number of indi-
viduals of a specified age. And here it was
felt, as in all original Tontine Societies of France,
that to adopt and cart' out the principles of Life
Assurance with success, numbers of individuals
were necessary, thus proving the truth of that
trite but wholesome maxim, " Union is strength."
When three hundred or a thousand people, agree
together, to provide for a certain payment, in
case of any of their deaths. it is the accumu-
lation of all their investments, which insures
them the amount stipulated, for at the time their
"claim" becomes due, the unpaid portion of these
contributions is kept in hand, or invested in
profitable securities to meet future probabili-
ties and contingencies. Thus, then, we regard
the system as at once designed to be a mutual
help; for the living members contribute to
the formation of a fund for the relief and
benefit of the survivors of the deceased
members thereby mitigating the grief and suf-
fering of the bereaved family. It would be easy
to illustrate still further the great advantage of
this principle—combination—and show that Life
Assurance is the most economic method of mak.
ing a provision for a family; but this we deem
unnecessary, as our previous remark render
that perfectly apparent. We might also make a
contrast betty, en Life Assurance and Saving ;
and, by doing so, clearly demonstrate the
superiority of the former, as well as the

source of domestic comfort which the

possession of a life policy confers upon
the head of a family. He or she has the
satisfaction of knowing that they have performed
the first of duties—providing for those dependent

upon them ; and when the King of Terrors
approaches to escort them through the dark val-
ley of the Shadow of Death, their peace of mind
is not disturbed with the world's cares respecting
an unpTovided offspring or indigent relations.

Numerous, indeed, are the cases which we could
cite to prove the pleasing results of a Life
Policy. We could also show how it has gained
a position in society for orphan families ; whilst,

on the other hand, the facts in our possession

would be not only more numerous, but much

more striking, to show the evils of procrastina-
tion and the dangers of delay. Hardly a day
passes which does not adduce instances of a very

forcible character on either one or other of these

points.

It is impossible, in a single article, to notice
in detail the numerous modes in which the prin-
ciples of Life Assurance can be applied, and the
various plans in which it can be adopted to pro-
mote the happiness and domestic comfort of a
family. Suffice it, therefore, to say that it affords
an opportunity for providing educational and
marriage endowments for children. By it, too,
parents are enabled to lay aside the means of
commanding apprentice fees for their offspring
at a certain age. The head of a family has it
also in his power to obtain a yearly annuity from
a given period of life, in addition to a certain sum
to his representatives at death. Creditors can
secure bad or doubtful debts. The emigrant and
the mariner, who venture forth on the stormy and
mighty waters of the trackless deep, can provide
for any casualty, and even death, whilst in the
prosecution of their voyage. These are unly a
few of the modes of applying the principles and
practice of Assurance to the general purposes of
Life. They are, however, sufficient to point out
the great advantages of such institutions, and to
cause the reflecting man, to regard them as a
public benefit, seeing that they foster provident
habits, diminish crime and pauperism, and carry
home to every fireside contentment, peace, and
, joy.

We cannot conclude our remarks upon this

subject without noticing one or two objections
which have been urged against Life Assurance
Societies. In doing so, we are glad to know that
it is not so much to the principles as the prac-
tices of such Companies exception is taken. In
the first place, it is urged, that in most of the
modern offices policy-holders have no security
for the payment of their claims when they
become due. Nothing can be further from the
fact, In all our experience of Life Offices,
we never knew a claim to be refused from a
positive disability to pay. It is true that all
companies who make a start are not successful,
but that does not effect the policy holder ; for
in such a case an " amalgamation" is effected
with a stronger society, and the policy holder
has the satisfaction of receiving an intimation
that he is transferred to a prosperous and wealthy
office, and that the terms of his original proposal
stand unaltered. The fallacious objection just
noticed should not be countenanced by any
reasonable person, nor should it deter him from
joining an office whose existence is only that of
a few weeks. Of course much of the stability of
an Assurance Company depends upon the
business-like character and judicious adminis-
tration of the directors. When a society is
managed by a court of directors who are not men
of skim, but known for their position and stand-
ing in society—we may safely calculate upon the
progress and prosperity of the concern. But it
is said that there are already too many companies
in the field. This we deny. Nor would there
be, were there twenty times as many ; inasmuch
as the number of individuals assured is one of
the smallest fractions of the entire population.
When the principles of Life Assurance have been
thoroughly popularised, and understood—when
prejudice begins to blush before a commanding
sense of public duty, and the head of every
well -regulated family takes refuge under the
branches of this mighty tree of domestic and
social happiness, twenty times the number of
Life Assurance Offices could not be too many
for the United Kingdom. Besides, in this
business, as in every other competion, begets
improvements, and serves to secure advantages
which the old and independent societies would
never have accorded to their customers. This
remark brings us to the consideration of another
objection which is often put forward against Life
Offices. The agent canvasses for a proposal,
and is met with a remark like the following :—" I
should like to assure, but the comp my may
dispute my claim; and in case of my inability to
pay the premium, my policy will be forfeited,
and I shall lose all my payments.' This is
certainly the tactics of the older offices, but the
increase of Life Companies, has led to the com-
petition alluded to. And we now find, that in
some of the best regulated modern offices, no
such ground of objection can be urged. These
remarks have been prompted by the delivery of a
lecture on " Life Assurance" last night, at
Stanley. W. P. Clirehugh, Esq., Secretary to
the Queen's Life Assurance and Annuity Com-
pany—a company recently promoted by some of
our leading citizens—and which promises to
become one of the most popular and best
managed offices of the day.