The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-08 00:00:00

T.EIE TIMES LIFE ASSURANCE

COMPANY.

The annual meeting of this company was held yester•
day afternoon at the offices, Ludgate-hill--Mr. Alex.
Webber, chairman of the board, presiding.
Mr. SHERIDAN, the manager, read the report of the
directors, which was as follows :
" The directors have much pleasure in meeting the
shareholders of the company at this the Fifth Annual Ge-
neral Meeting.
"The directors lay before the meeting a general balance-
sheet of the company's affairs, made up to the 30th day of
April last, the period at which the financial year of the
company terminates.
" The following directors retire this year, b ut are eligible
for re-election :—E. G. L. Perrott, Esq. ; James Reid,
Esq. ; Rev. T. E. Thoresby ; Alex. Webber, Esq.
" The following auditors retire this year, and offer them-
selves for re-election :—Daniel Pratt, Esq. ; W. D. Owen,

Esq.
" The directors lay before the shareholders a return of
the whole business transactions of the year, contained in
the following table, viz.:—

Aggregate Income.
Number' Amount.
Number of Propo-
sals made to this
Company from the 2,664 467,608 10,724 19 3
sth June, 1853, to
June 2, 1854.
Policies completed } 2,102 328,458 7,504 0 1
and issued
Proposals declined..... 370 92,965 2,168 13 10
Proposals accepted, 125 31,500 752 17 10
not paid
Proposals under 67 14,685 299 7 6
consideration

r 2,664 l £467,608 £10,724 19 3

" By the above statement it will appear that 2,102 poli-
cies have been completed ; that is, paid upon and issued
since the last meeting, and that the annual income there-
from amounts to 7,504/. ld.
" The total number of policies completed and issued
during the four preceding years, and the annual income
therefrom, is as follows, viz. :

Pols. issued. Ann. income.
Policies issued up to June, 1853... 3,199 £15,582 111
From June, 1853, to June, 1854... 2,102 7,5C1 0 1

Total annual income... £23,086 2 0
"The directors congratulate the shareholders upon these
very satisfactory results.
" By reference to the foregoing figures it will be seen
that in five years the company has issued 5,301 policies,
yielding an annual income of 23,086/. 2s.
" During the past year the directors have declined an
unusually large amount of business, viz. :
No. of Policies. Aggregate amount. Ann. income.
370 £92,965 £2,168 13s. 10d.
This amount is more than double the amount declined by
the directors during the previous year.

" LOSSES.
" The total amount paid upon claims during the year is
shown by the following figures, viz. :
Life 21,250 0 0
Guarantee

£2,514 0 9
" The directors abstain rom offering any remarks upon
the small amount paid for claims, not only in the current
year, but from the commencement of the company, for the
reason that the valuation of the company's business has
been commenced, and the report which will be made upon
the completion of this labour, will contain all the remarks
and information which are necessary for each shareholder
to form an exact idea of the value of his investment in this
undertaking.
" The directors recommend that interest at the rate of
Si. per cant. per annum be paid upon the paid-dp capital
of the company.
" The register of directors' attendances is laid upon the
table."
- - •

The CLIAIRMIN said that, in the absence of their chair
man and deputy-chairman, he had great pleasure in
moving the adoption of the report. He was happy to
see the document in the hands of almost every gentle-
man present, and he hoped they wonld consider it of a
nature to warrant him saying that it gave good proof of
the success of the company, not only in the past year,
but in every previous year of its existence; and it was
an earnest, moreover, of what they might expect in future
years. It would be most gratifying to the directors to
have an opportunity of meeting the shareholders with
the same smiling faces which they now saw, and to be
able to present them in every successive year with a
statement as satisfactory as the one they had just heard
read. On looking over the report, it would be observed
that the number tot proposals made to the company
amounted every week to very nearly the number of
weeks in the year, and though this, of course, did not
show the amount of premiums received, yet, at the same
time, when they came to consider that each of the poli-
cies which were issued from the office, and scattered
throughout the length and breadth of the land, was an
advertisement of the best and most telling kind, they
might confidently look forward to an augmented num-
ber of policies year after year, and to their operations
being attended by very considerable profit. (Hear.)
Mr. A. PAULL had very much pleasure in seconding
the motion. The report, which was a most lucid one,
and touched on all the points with reference to which
the shareholders looked for information, gave him pecu-
liar satisfaction, as he had at former meetings pre-
dicted the ultimate success of the company, and while
congratulating the meeting on the fulfilment of his pro-
phecy, he could not omit to say that their present fortu-
nate position was mainly owing to the exertions of their
indefatigable manager. (Cheers.)
The resolution having been carried,
Mr. BROWN, in proposing thei re-election of the retir-
ing directors, said he had made t his business, as a share-
holder, to enquire as to the relative merits of these gen-
tlemen, and it was exceedingly gratifying to him, as he
was sure it would be to his brother shareholders, to find
that all of them were men who would do honour to this
important company, not only by their character but by
the zeal and industry which they brought to the ma-
nagement of its affairs. He was inclined to think that
four more efficient directors could not possibly be elected.
The election of directors in companies was too much
looked upon as a matter of course, and the consequence
was that many were ill directed, while, if they had been
properly managed, they would have been crowned with
success. It required no great gift of mind to foretell
that if a man undertook a business for which he was
unfit, that business would most assuredly fail. This
was often seen in private as well as in public life, but
the same rule was not generally applied to each case.
No one would ever think of advancing 2,0001. or 3,0001.
to an individual who was engaged in a business for
which he was incompetent, but in public companys
men were not so cautious, and misdirection and failure,
in place of good management and success, was the ine-
vitable result. It was, therefore, with no slight plea-
sure that he submitted to the meeting the names of the
retiring directors. At the formation of the company they
worked most arduously notwithstanding the presence of
the cholera, which not only presented serious ob-
stacles to the establishment of young societies, but
actually endangered their ova liro, ler ho (Mr.