The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-23 00:00:00

G.RSSHA3I LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY.

ANNUAL MEETING—(THIS DAY.)
The ordinary annual meeting of this society was held
this afternoon at the Head Office, 37, Old Jewry.
W. Tabor, Esq., chairman of;the board of directors, pre-
sided.

The following is a copy of the annual report submitted
to the meeting :—.

"The following statement comprises the chief elements
of the society's transactions during the financial year end-
ing July 31st, 1862, and constitutes the report of the direc-
tors, for such year, to the general meeting.
" The proposals offered have been exceedingly numerous,
being 2,678 in number, for asurances amounting to
£1,207,101, making an amount of no less than twenty
thousand proposals, for ten millions of insurance since the
commencement of the society. The number for which the
directors have accepted and issued policies is 2,135, for as-
surances of £1,076,040; in respect of which £30,373 2s.
10d. has been added as new premiums for the year.
i " The general premium ncome, after bonus reductions,
has been £123,409 Gs. 10d., exclusive of interest upon in-
vestments and annuities.

"'The deaths, with the bonuses attached to the policies
constituting claims, have amounted to £47,409 16s. 11d.,
thus completing a total of more than a quarter of a million
distributed by the society among the families of deceased
members.
"At the close of the year, after allowance for tie various
items of expenditure, and atter exclusion of the share capi-
tal and deposits, the remaining funds actually accumulated
and invested at interest, amounted to £290,847 Bs. ld.
" The accounts for the year, with the various details, have
been monthly investigated by the auditors ; and being cer-
tified by them to be correct, have already been circulated,
and are now submitted for approval and adoption.
" During the past year, the directors have had various
methods for the extension of business under their notice,
but, as on former occasions, have not extended their
agencies beyond the limits of Europe, so as not to
include any case or class of cases that cannot be rigidly
investigated from week to week, personally by the
board. The usual exaction, by the assured, of so
many days of grace, for the option of paying or not
paying their premiums, will always prevent the premium
account from being purely in a cash state, but as every ap-
proach to a clear apprehension of the real financial result is
to be desired, the efforts of the directors will be ever exerted
in such direction. The system now adopted consists in not
taking credit as a manner of account for all the new busi-
ness, transacted in the gross, but in writing off the main
charges and carrying forward, as new premiums, such re.
maining portion only as may be fairly representative of the
moneyed result.
" During the year the Joint Stock Companies' Act of
1862 has come into operation, rendering it necessary that
a new registration of companies should take /Acme with the
distinction of unlimited companies, limited companies, or
companies limited by a guarantee. After taking all the
circumstances into consideration, and the particular nature
of the society's transactions, the directors determined that
the Gresham Life Assurance Society should be registered
without any limit, otherwise than by its own contracts, and
have so registered it accordingly,
" The directors re+iring on the present oeeasion are John
Beadoell, George Lowe, F.R.S , and Joseph Williams,
Esqs., who, being re-eligible, offer themselves, and are
recommended by the board as the list for election.
" Messrs. G. H. Ladbury, Wm. Webb Venn, and Wm.
Whitelock, are the three auditors who retire, and again offer
themselves for election.

" In conclusion, the directors conceive there is ample
reason to be satisfied with the manifestprogress the Gresham
Life Assurance Society has made, and will never cease, by
every means in their power, to uphold the high character it
has already obtained, and to extend it usefulness upon
every occasion that may legitimately present itself."
The CHAIRMAN explained the object of the meeting,
drawing attention to the very great amount of business
transacted, and moved the adoption of the report with
some confidence, as being the best he had to offer them since
his accession to the chair, now 14 years ago.
Mr. SMEE, in seconding the report, said he had particu-
lar pleasure in doing so, feeling as he did the very great
results that had been achieved—results not only exceeding
the most sanguine expectations of the founders of the
society, but results which would bear advantageous com-
parison with any that had been achieved by other soeieties.
The secret of the success of the Gresham was in its own
organisation. While other societies, in seeking to extend
their business, had recourse to amalgamation, and
other evidences of labour already excited by others,
the Gresham avoided this sort of mixture, and
exacted that every case should come singly, be
dealt with singly, and go upon the books as an
independent unit. It was the combination of such destine-
live elements that constituted the real value of statistical
operations—totals built up one by one, and not by the ag-
gregation of mass to mass, defying anything like a real per-
ception of the inherent qualities. On a former occasion he
had promised greater results than had then as 3et been
achieved; and, knowing the resources of the institution,
he still predicted the same. He most heartily seconded the
adoption of the report.

The motion for the adoption of the report was then put
to the meeting, and carried unanimously.

The retiring directors and auditors having been re •elected,
A cordial vote of thanks to the chairman and actuary (E.
J. Farren, Esq.) terminated the proceedings.

17AL1AN AFFAIRS.

TURIN, DEO. 19.
People heard yesterday with pleasure, bat without sur-
prise, of the acquittal of the naval commanders Giraud and
Avogadro, of the frigates Duca di Genova and Vittorio
Emanuele, charged with allowing Garibaldi, in August
last, to leave Catania and land in Calabria. After the re-
velations made by Gen. Cugia in the Chamber during the
discussion which overthrew Rattazzi, and the publication
of numerous ministerial orders and despatches, the public
was prepared to hear that the two commanders would be
acquitted. It was impossible, in fact, to pretend that they
could have divined the wishes of the Ministers; the utmost
they could have divined was that the Cabinet wished to
throw upon them a responsibility it did not not like to
assume itself. The acquittal is thus a posthumous censure
of the Rattazzi Ministry. It must not be supposed, how-
ever, that the sentence was dictated by sympathy for
Garibaldi and his expedition. No such sympathy in-
fluenced the naval council of war. It was the evident
confusion of the orders given and the ambiguous tone
of the despatches, together with the significance of
previous occurrences, which produced the sentence, It was
not very difficult for the defendant's counsel to show how
indefinite and ridiculous were such instructions given
to the commanders when they asked how they were to act
" Act solely in the interests of the King and the constitu-
tion."

The Chamber of Deputies is closed, and the next session
is to open at the 'commencement of February. The new
ministry, it is obvious, has a large majority, and accord-
ingly it will not be necessary to dissolve the house and ap-
peal to the country, as was reported. The Senate, too, is
finishing its work, so that a sort of drowsy calm is succeed-
ing the storm of the last few weeks. The Sardinian Rail-
way Bill was carried by 68 to 30. At the head of its oppo-
nents was the engineer and ex-minister, Sig. Paleocapa.
There is no doubt the state is going to a great expense in
order to save the island from our "magnanimous ally."
No clue has yet been obtained to the robbery of 25,000 f.
belonging to the Rothschilds on board the Naples steamer.
It is thought that the captain and chief mate will be ar-
rested, for it does not seem that the money was taken by
any of the passengers.