The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-01 00:00:00

plainly set before the public to induce them to take it up ;
and, in the third place, they must offer the greatest secu-
rity for the payment of the policy insured whenever it
became a claim. To his (the chairman's) mind nothing
more dreadful could be conceived than that when the time

came there should not be the means of meeting that claim,
which might perhaps be the only provision which had been
made by the insurer for his widow and bereaved children.
(Hear.) In his own history he had employed a journey-
man who, to provide for his wants in old ogerhad con-
nected himself with three different societies, but he had

outlived the wrecks of those societies; and now that he
was too old to join any other, the union-house was his only
asylum. Therefore, they must offer unquestionable secu-
rity for the discharge of the policy when it became a claim.
The British Empire Association had connected with it all
the features to which he had referred in a high and emi-
nent degree. It offered business upon the most advanta-
gems terms. Its premiums were as low as was conslstent
mith safety. The policy and the stamp were paid for by
the company, and the medical fee of 10s. Gd. for policies
under 5001., and of one guinea. ahove that sim, was also
paid by the company ; and from the premiums paid, loans
of money were granted to members, which to th 3 middle
class of tradespeople, was often of the greatest service;
and they made large prints from the interest of their
funds, the whole of which profits were returned
to those by whom the proniimas we- e pail. Tii,t was
life asinranco at cost price—eh :311),r that that no man
could obtain it. (hoan) Tdo itish Enpiro Association
offered groat facilities to a luau diip,sed to avail himself
of life assurance, and its security was undeniable. It had
been said that the difficulty under which a mutual assur-

anco association waAfornajd was, th•it than) was no oapi-

d stock. with which .to meet claims for deaths which

oc,eirred in the first year of its eAsblishnient.' In a sea-
sou of•epi.lemic, policies might become cilium almost as
soon as the premium was paid. Supposing they had a
policy for 3,000/. at the first meting of the company, and
at the next meeting it was a claim, from what fund was it
to be paid, inasmuch as the premiums collected dining the
'year might not amount to that sum. It was then that the
directors stood personally as the security for the payment
of the claim. It was, therefore, important that those who
joined to form a mutual assurance company should be men
of property; for what would have been ths position of
the British E.upire Association if in the first month of its
establishment they had a claim for 1,0001. or 2,0001. ? It
must have boon from the pockets of the directors. But
that d w I,s Lug gone by with regard to this institution.
They had now arrived at the eighth anniversary of their
existence, and they had now to speak of the honour or the
property of the directors as standing security for the pay-
ment of the claims that came upon them ; but they had
now to speak of money ready to meet every kind of claim
that could come upon them. They had a reserve fund of
upwards of 6,0001.; in addition to this, they had an accu-
mulated fund of about 70,0001.; and they had an annual
income, up to the 31st of December last, of 36,5681. It
would not do for proprietary companies in the present day
to talk about the dangers attending mutual assurance
associations, for in this society they had upwards
of 100,0001. to meet claims from deaths. They had,
therefore, before them a great duty —to care for
the good of their fellow-den, by directing their at-
tention to some available means to provide for the
wants of their families after they were departed; and
this institution had just those features which were
adapted for, and made it attractive to, the people who
needed it. In their capacity of members of the institu-
tion, it was their duty to bring before those with whom
they were brought into contact, the advantages which life
assurance was calculated to confer. They ought to do it
on the ground of benevolence, in order that people might
take out policies ; for, in so doing, they would assuage the
sorrows that were always attendant upon death. They
prevented the miseries of poverty after the head and stay
of the family was departed, and he would ask them what
satisfaction was equal to that which a man felt within his
own breast upon the reflection that he had been instru-
mental in wiping the tear from the widow's eye, and that
through associations of this kind the family was furnished
with means to provide things honest in the sight of all men
for the support of those who might otherwise be destitute?
Mr. F. Cr. P. NELSON (the actuary) said he was much
pleased to have the opportunity of meeting so large an as-
semblage joined in an assurance institution. It was, he
believed, the largest meeting he had ever attended con-
nected with assurance objects, and the presence of so many
members testified to the interest which they took in the
British Empire Association, and he had great pleasure
in expressing his conviction that this society did offer all
the advantages which the chairman had so well pointed
out to them. He had made a most searching investiga-
tion into the whole affairs of the company, and he must
say it had not been his fortune to meet with many com-
panies in the eighth year of their progress offering so many
symptoms of health, vigour, and promise for the future ;
and, to whomsoever the credit might be due, certainly
great credit was due for the skill and judgment exer-
cised in bringing so large an amount of very profitable
assurance business. (Hear, hear and cheers.) It was
to be remarked that, in the early career of this so-
ciety, it was next to impossible that any mishap could
have occurred from the falling in of deaths. The
great misfortune in associations of this nature, generally,
was the disparity of the policies issued. In this institution
that kind of irregularity hail not been permitted to exist,
and it was rather remarkable that, in the absence of any
considerable amount of large assurances, their income
should have reached its present amount, which, for an
eight years' existence, was a very considerable one. Even
the old established companies of long and excellent repu-
tation had not succeeded, iu the same space of time, in ob-
taining so large an amount of new business as had been ac-
complished by this society—(hear, hear)and with the re-
port which they had before them that day, they ought to
consider their prospects for the fature most encouraging,
and that there was every probability of their doing a much
larger business in the next eight years. He considered that
they were now in such a position as to be placed beyond
all risk for the future, and those friends who might have
been disposed to aid them could no longer hesitate to do
so. He might mention that there was in this association
one feature which was particularly worthy of remark, and
that was with regard to the calculation as to the present
value of the premiums. If they were measured at the full
value of what they would probably realise, they would be
worth a much larger sum than had been set down to them
in the balance-sheet. The amount set down in the balance-
sheet was 442,0001.: but if the gross premiums had been
valued, that sum would have been put at 50,0001. or
69,0001. more. But the best authorities on the subject had
laid it down that that element of value should not bo an-
ticipated, and where it had been anticipated, it had been
subjected to the most severe criticism. This association
was quite free from that element, and he would add, that
every other element used in determining the value of their
assets had been subjected to the severest scrutiny ; and the
society might rely upon the statement brought forward as
being in no way exaggerated, but was one which placed
the present and future members in that position in which
the members of a mutual association ought to be placed.
(Hear, hear, and cheers.)
The secretary, Mr. JAs. INoms, read the report, which
stated that the_proposals received by this company during
the year have considerably exceeded the expectations of
the directors, the number being :-1,034 for 243,9681. ; of
which, 876 policies have been issued, assuring 195,7591.,
the annual premiums thereon 6,9181, 6s, 9cl. ; 158 in
pro.