The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-06 00:00:00

ASSURANCE BALANCE SHEETS.

As regularly as the session of Parliament opens,
and generally on the same day, we are called on to
chronicle the first "Life Assurance Meeting" of the
year, that of our old friends the " Provident Clerks."
Long before any other office has published anything
in the shape of a resume of the past year's trans-
actions, the simple and straightforward balance-
sheets of this energetic association are distributed
throughout the land, and the members have been
called together to examine and criticise for them-
selves the policy of the directors and the position of
their society. _ _

It is gratifying to find from the detailed report
which appears in our columns, that the proceed-
ings were of the most satisfactory nature.
Every item in the balance-sheet was closely
scanned, the progress of the association minutely
detailed, and the fullest information given on every
point, and, when this was done, the hearty and
unanimous verdict of the members was that their
interests had been well and faithfully guarded, and
that the energies both of the directors and officers
had been actively and successfully exerted on behalf
of the association. And it must be borne in mind
that this was no mere complimentary verdict. It
was the deliberate expression of men who were well
able to judge of these labours by their fruits, and
who had too much at stake to allow mere consi-
derations of courtesy to weigh against the solid
interests of 7,0110 families—for to that large number
does the roll of members extend.

Those who remember the unostentatious way in
which this association, 21 years ago, was launched
into cAiotellee, will perhaps learn. with some sur-
prise that its income now amounts to upwards
of £45,000, and its reserved funds to £170,000 ;
that it has at risk more than a million and a quarter
divided over nearly 7,000 different lives, and that it
has paid very nearly £lOO,OOO in claims.
Such success, in the midst of keen competition,
and despite the discredit caused by the bubble
schemes of the past 10 years, must have some solid
foundation. We believe it to be due to the fact
that, in addition to the energy of the management,
the association has, from the first, transacted the
whole business in the broad light of day; that a
clear balance-sheet, showing the actual state of the
association, its gains, its losses, its mode of invest-
ment, &c., has been freely given, not only to
the members, but to all corners. Where there is
nothing to fear there is nothing to hide, and the
candour with which the directors of the Provident
Clerks' office have published its affairs has won
for them an appreciation not only in the as-
surance world, but among the general public, of
which they are now reaping the reward.

We are no advocates of Government interference
in the management of private undertakings, but
when we reflect on the magnitude of the inte-
rests involved in the life assurance offices of this
country, we are half inclined to regret that the
publication of a balance-sheet, as clear and intel-
ligible as that now lying before us, is not ren-
dered in some degree compulsory. That the public
at large appreciate the practice is evident from the
fact that nearly 1,000 policy holders are now being
yearly added to the ranks of this flourishing asso-
ciation.