The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-24 00:00:00

A Benevolent" Balance-sheet'

mintrY
While the magnificent institutions of this c,,." up, of
devoted to the rich, the poor, and the
every elass, are a source of just pride to Or j.eth the
countrymen, and contrast very favourablY
official charity of the " Bureaux de Bien
nations
to which the wretched of the Continental none
-
turn perforce in their misery, there i 54 of
feature to which the warmest adrnirer"chicli
our system cannot point without regret' cilstoae
on a memorable occasion furnished gr. 6,l3philir
with the materials for one of his most or- idiag"
pies, and which called forth in a succession
11 01." the
ing letters, the caustic satire of "S. G. 1.,0r0
Times. We allude to the cost at which these
his
cot
of benevolence are too often carried on. rrafter
may be, and often is, unavoidable, but it is,
tribe
all, poor consolation to those who sub, per
their annual guinea to be told that fllti
cent. of it is needed in order to secure the effic eis
and honest distribution of the remainder. Theiroot
no reason why the officials of a charity shoniuto
be as well remunerated as the workers in all c°
institution. 'Work that is ill paid is too frecluly
ill done, but the regret remains that so free- "ift
machinery should be required to bring the .e;t.
of the donor to the aid of the necessitous reeiPi;fi eet
It is therefore with sincere pleasure that sve of
attention to a report in our columns of toli its
the Provident Clerks' Benevolent Fund• v
objects none can speak without symPathY 101°
are few, if any, in this great and
are not in some way indebted to the ability but 00
honesty of the class from it takes its name
arattention
feature to which we would call Particul TV
is the fact that the whole expenses of
conoaercial centr
the ehari;cog
such in its noblest sense it really is), ill° ;bero9
the cost of an annual election by 4,000 subscr;d,
and every other disbursement made by the
n dittO
amounts but to £385175. Bd. (!), by which etPeonie °f
the Fund is entirely managed, and an 1"c repo r'
nearly £3,400 is obtained. Thus, as the .00°
says, " Very nearly 90 PER CENT. of the grossl
of the
is devoted strictly to the benevolent purPeses„,
" Fund." We are aware that the Institution P; vier°
very great advantages, which would rendercair•
per tentage comparison with similar ones oocel
the "houseroom" afforded by a wealtlaY liftse; paa
whose directors and secretary render to lit"
their their gratuitous services, in the facility betio°
afforded for collecting the very small Olin
' vitl°s
of the members—all of whom, be it observe I,ook
have been in some shape contributors to itS vgs
before they can claim its aid—and in other `oot se'
s greatly benefited ; but even this w°uld tbe
count for an accumulation which renders 'oirecy-
sions granted by the fund as secure as a 1.5 00-
ment annuity, had not the economY °Af abiiit of
nagement been combined with energy
We have spoken on many previous °cc" recow;
the strong claims of the Fund, and we agai: is °ile
mend them to our readers ; but tiler; of "0
circumstance adverted to in the rep spec
past year which merits a few words ,00tici'4,ce
notice—viz., the donation of five hunclreci josctjis
the fund by the Hon. Ruston:lie° ti itfel'
Jejeebhoy, of Bombay. We are aware t'f° 0
'
ra'
to the discriminating kindness of li\-11 coo, t
M.P., that the apportionment of th'„ tot
directly owing ; but there can be no dotw" to De "1,1
gentleman was guided by what he kilevinot
true intentions of the munificent donor, f 30.401
he have selected a more deserving reeiPiefhe col deb
on commercial enterprise a portion of vDest°;oo
fortune made by the giver was well operated
in aid of a class without whose aid the firall rjr
of commerce would be limited indeed' ftioat.a st
justly spoke the long-tried friend of the he sal r
John Abel Smith, on Wednesday, whell,-cilliletA
no period have such profits been reel's d it m-lieir
chants as during the past few years ; cods ,00
but be that while such a fund as this °oils rv'er
aid, the world-wide charity of the gal e% °
will find some imitators among the C'lll- 17°
chants of England. Are
Twelve more pensions, we learn, cler)-- rer
given during the current year to age OA% the
widows ; and the fact that the assistalle-itistioeivif
dered is of a permaneut character, fullY ofliiieS
policy of the management in reserving:he liahv
annual income a good portion to meet
thus incurred. A
Duo 041% ,01A
WILLIAM WEAVER CHARGED WITT' 11'
a,Cher'
Tuesday evening the popular Pre- Wes- 12°
t 101
000.41
Weaver, was arrested at St. George's" he
wich, on a charge of bigamy. It appears 600 Peso,l°,rj.
announced to lecture, and between 400 obi, e 5113310,1,/,
both male and female, attended to hear Lester' g 10:1
Just as he had concluded Police-sergeants, cbAre,dea
and Smith stepped upon the platform, deio,".ce-fre::
with bigamy, arrested him on the spot. P" 01'0,05°0
what authority ho was taken into custodY, local
geant Lester read the warrant, sigtrgre t tliarrcl°
trate, to the assembled people. Arc"--„,, o:ft°,:at ",flioco
was removed to the vestry, where be w``'..„,born $0"-„,
a woman said to be his wife and a " f ve"
the y 0 oe,
disowned. He was then removed to
li°
e crow ir
through the bye streets, followed by a buf 0.1,g that
pie, some expressing their conviction ?_ utterl 4
while others were no less vociferous 0.0 loc
otote
opinion of his guilt. Weaver, who liesh
eitol 05g
West Bromich, will be brought before t
to-morrow.