The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-18 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18, 1854.

vent him laying by something for a future day, and it
would certainly be some consolation to him to know that
in the event of his dying unmarried, he would leave be-
hind enough to take him to the grave respectably, and
perhaps discharge the few debts which he had incurred,
without recourse being had to his friends. (Hear, hear.)
He therefore hoped that the report of this meeting
would go forth to the public in order that it might be
known that the association was in a state of firmness
and stability, and that all who assured might be satisfied
that every claim made upon it would be fully met. The
worthy chairman concluded by moving•the adoption and
reception of the report. (Cheers.)
Mr. PIKE admitted the satisfactory nature of the re-
port, but thought there was room for increased economy
and greater efficiency. In regard to the first point—
economy—he suggested that a considerable saving► might
be effected by purchasing instead of renting premises.
The CHAIRMAN observed that the board, after con-
siderable anxiety and trouble, had within the last two
days concluded a preliminary arrangement for the pur-
chase of premises which they believed extremely de-
sirable for the institution. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. PIKE proceeded amidst evident marks of impati-
ence to make some further remarks, in the course of
which, he stated that although an advocate of economy,
he considered the society did not sufficiently remunerate
its medical officers.

The motion was then put, and carried unanimously.
The next business was the re-election of the managers,
who went out by rotation, Mr. R. H. Jones, the chair-
man of the board, Mr. W. I. Jordan, Mr. S. Notley,
and Mr. W. S. Sawtell ; also, the re-election of the
auditors, Messrs. Lloyd, Toole, and Woolley, the latter
being awarded fifteen guineas for their services.

A vote of thanks was then passed to the honorary
solicitors, the acting solicitor, the consulting and acting
actuaries, and the medical officeos, for their efficient ser-
vices during the past year.
Mr. CRAMP moved that a similar vote of thanks be
given to the board of management, and that 500 i. be
awarded to them for their services. As the credit of
raising the institution to its present eminent position
was, in a great measure, if not entirely, due to them, he
anticipated that his proposition would receive a cordial
approval. (Hear, hear.) If every individual member
did but his duty with the same zeal as the board, in a
very short time they might double their numbers and
business, and make the Provident Clerks' one of the
largest and wealthiest of the assurance offices in the
metropolis. (Cheers.)
The motion was carried, nem. con.

The vote was briefly acknowledged by Mr. WILOH.

THE BENEVOLENT DEPARTMENT.

The business of the benevolent department came
next, and Mr. Welch vacated the chair in favour of J.
A. Smith, Esq., M.P., who was warmly welcomed by
and Mr. J. P.
opmortasedßaMrirn.gS, rnMiiPli"in the chair, in
them urmr
oeuetgihn,g M
M.P.,
.p
sTuhp
addition to the managers.
The SECRETARY read the following report
The board of management have the pleasure to pre-
sent their thirteenth annual report to the donors, sub-
scribers, and members of this department, and refer them,
with satisfaction, to the following details, which show a
continuance of its prosperous condition :-
381 old subscribers £499 5 6
31 new do
1 life do ... lO 10 0

£543 18 0

Subscriptions from insurers-
1,795 at 5s £44B 15 0
2at 10s. 6d 1 1 0
37 at 10s lB 10 0
7at 20s.
----- £475 6 0 £1,019 4 0
8 donations ............... 49 19 9

£1,069 3 9
"Gratuities amounting to 170 i. 15s. have been given to
members, and to the widows and orphan children of
members.
" Loans to the extent of 1,8871. have been granted to
86 members, making a total of 15,0771. since the commence-

went.

it, in accordance with a resoln-

On the 18th of May last, .tu
tion of the last annual general meeting, one clerk was
elected to an annuity of 301.; one to an annuity of 251.;
three widows were elected to annuities of 201. each, and
two to annuities of 151. each ; making together a further
annual charge of 1451. The total number of annuitants is
now 7 clerks, and 27 widows of clerks, at an annual charge
of 6001.
" The board of management, looking to the present pros-
perous state of the funds of this department, have much
pleasure in recommending that, on the 17th of May next,
or upon such other day as they may appoint., a further
sum, not exceeding 160 L, be granted in annuities to two
clerks and the widows of five clerks, according to the ap-
plications whizh may be received.
" A resolution to carry this recommendation into effect
will be submitted to the meeting.
" At the second division of profits of the insurance de-
partment, to the 31st December, 1852, a sum of 7121.,
being one-tenth of the said profits, has been paid over to
this department, in accordance with the rules.
" The board have unqualified satisfaction in referring to
the past, as regards the peculiar benefits of this depart-
ment, as they have been enabled to comply with all the
claims for assistance which have been made upon them up
to the present time ; but they nevertheless call upon the
clerks, whose interests aro so involved in supporting the
association, to assist them in their exertions to increase its
means, and thus continue to render certain that assistance
they have hitherto conferred."
The balance-sheet was then read ; and from its state-
ment there appeared a balance of 14,5621. 17s. 3d. in
favour of this department, being the amount by which
the receipts exceed the expenditure to the present date.
A MEMBER suggested that the pensions should be dis-
tributed upon the principle of seniority of membership
instead of by election--a plan which was recommended
by a great number of clerks, as well as others, in the
City. It was well known that great uncertainty attended
the result of an election, and that the most deserving
candidate might be unsuccessful. This was the objection
made to the benevolent department by those of his friends
whom he had urged to join the association ; they might
be members ten, twenty, or thirty years, they said, and
yet have no certainty as to whether themselves or their
widows would obtain a pension, in the event of being
overtaken by misfortune. Now, as there were 2,200
policy-holders, the period would arrive, and it might not
be far distant, when there would be a great struggle to
get these i
epensions, and unless seniority of membership
gave alv e priorityd that o
iff hisclaim,
proposition great
was
injustice
adoptedmight
the be done.funds
He he
would materially increase, as the public would know that
the individual who had been longest a member, and paid
the largest sum, would have the greatest right to enjoy
the benefits of the association. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. REYNOLDS thought the hon. member misunder-
stood the title and object of the society. The fund at
their disposal was entirely a "benevolent fund ;" in that
sense the public viewed it, and if a certainty of claim
upon it was allowed, the society would change its charac-
ter, and would be no longer a benevolent but a friendly
society. (Hear, hear,) When the hon member spoke
about the uncertainty of the ballot, he answered that if
the hundreds of clerks in the receipt of large salaries who
now hung back would come forward and subscribe,
the necessity for the ballot would cease, because there
would be ample funds to meet every reasonable applica-
tion for annuities. (Hear, hear.) It was the higher
class of clerks who ought to be the main support 'of the
institution.
Mr. LLOYD said the hon. member who first spoke was
guinea, even for a long life,
could lead any individual to
inee
suppose
i
er t
would supposingp urpurchase
h athatae a yearly subscription of a
the
guarantee of an annuity
for his widow. (Hear, hear.) Such an expectation was
preposterous. As well might they imagine that a sub-
scription, of a guinea a year to an orphan society wouldentitle the giver to nominate a child with the certainty
of its becoming an inmate of the establishment. (trear.)
All that subscribers to the benevolent fund could hope
for was the chance with others, if their case was very
bad, of
wh of membership was extremely objectionable, because a
e
comfortableTcircumstancesprinciple
f, a
case of
senioritywe as
e obtaining
had
a d
been
a annuity,
member
e his
30 years might leEiv
rweigdaorwdai in
five.
eeryaebalry
years' member
, there might be
the most urgent distress that it was possible to conceive.
(Hear, hear.) Mr. Lloyd then expressed his dissatisfac-
tion at so small a sum as 1701. 15s, being distribUted in
gratuities during the year, considering the annual sub-
scriptions amounted to 5331. Bs. and suggested that the
whole annual subscriptions and donations should be given
applied in some other
way away in r
them, and that the re-
mainder of their, income, viz., the share of profits from
the assurance department, and the life subscriptions,
tghreat purposeuit ie s
of clerks,
relievizg
happlicable to annuities. He
was ou
glad
e o find invested
were only two' thirds
more than the interest the society received on its funded
stock, and as this stock was going on increasing,
he hoped
should
at and
the madeex p
euses
in a very few years to see the department entirely paid
for by means of the interest. (Hear, hear.) I
different candidate, and uncertainty, but en
Mr. PIKE observed that the selection' otannuitants by
by
tailed
election
a lwasarg
e n ot
outlayo nl y ten
both circumstances operated prejudicially to the interests
of this society. He believed he could submit a plan to
the board whereby, without any increase in the expendi-
ture, they might secure an annuity to every deserving
applicant.
Mr. WELCH stated that all the applications far annui-
ties had been responded to. (Hear.) With regard to
the
eed
the small amount of gratuities, he might mention that
every claim made in cases of distress had been met and
treated in a most liberal manner by the board.
Mr. ToOLE considered that if two equally deServing
cases }'or annuities were brought under the notice of the
members, that should have priority in which the period
of membership was greatest, but, at the same time, he
was not insensible to the difficulties which beset the
question. He thought
it very desirable that the advan-
tages of the institution should be made more known, and
with that view he recommended that large meetings
should be held at the West End, and in other parts of
the metropolis, believing, if that was done, they would
obtain a great accession of members. In order to show
the usefulness of the society, and the way in which it
was appreciated, he would read a letter which he had
received from a widow who was now an aunuitant on
their funds. At the death of her husband she.had eight
children under the age of 15, and his life was only as-
sured for 1001. This sum was sufficient to place her in

a small business, which, together with the annuity, had
enabled her to keep her family in comparative comfort.
The letter was as follows :

" Jan. 4th, 1854.
"Dear Sir,—" I have long thought I should bewanting
in my duty if I failed to make known the gratitude I feel
for the comfort my annuity affords me, left as I was at my
husband's decease, with eight young children, and with no
other resource whatever than the 1001., for which he had

fortunately assured in the Association, and the happy pros-
pect of being elected an annuitant on the Benevolent
Fund. Believe me, I want words to express the gratitude
and reverence with which I regard the memory of him
(who showed by his wish to screen me and mine from the
state of destitution in which his decease must inevitably
have placed us), that his was no selfish love, to terminate
with his life. I assure you I have often, when harrassed and
borne down with cares and anxieties (such as must of ne-
cessity attend a woman placed in my situation), been saved
from a feeling of despair by the recollection that my
annuity would at least save me from the association of a
workhouse, and, under God's blessing, has been the means
of renewing my spirits to persevere in my arduous path of
duty. I really think, if some of us who are deriving the
benefit, could but make publicly known how much
of our happiness, or at least content, is to be attri-
buted to the feeling of independence which our an-
nuity affords us, surely there could not be found in the
United Kingdom a clerk who would not joyfully procure
for those near and dear to him a like blessing in the event
of his being unfortunately removed from them."

After some further discussion, a ME4BEIt expressed a
hope, that as the institution was so prosPerous, the
working staff would not be forgotten, especially now

when provisions were so extremely dear.

This was a

kind of model society, and it ought to give the best
remuneration.

The CHAIRMAN said with regard to the important
point of the management of the annuity part of the bene-
volent fund, all the various suggestions or objections might

be classed under two heads, Gt, those whO" thought that
the claims to annuities ought to be a matter of certainty ;
and second, those who believed that the annuities granted
were not adequate to the amount of income at the

disposal of the benevolent department. With regard to
these two objections, he believed he was speaking the
feeling of every one connected with the institution when

he said, that their board of management had always
been, and would continue to be, most desirous to give
every attention to any plan or suggestion of improvement
that might be laid before them ; but for his own part, he
must decline altogether the responsibility of giving his
individual opinion on points so important at a meeting
like the present. He would, however, say thus much,
that if the annuities were made a matter of certainty,

its _ character as a benevolent fund was changed,

and their association became neither more nor less
than a mere benefit club. (Hear, hear.) He

did not say whether it would better the society,
or make it worse, but merely that its character
would be entirely altered. Further, any plan which
should fix the certainty of annuities, must have the effect
of lessening the amount of relief and increasing the
amount of payments required from members, and even
then he thought it would be extremely difficult to lay
down any general plan by which, with a rule of senio-
rity, they would be able to carry out their original prin-
ciple—that of affording relief in all necessitous cases.
(Hear, hear.) As to the second objection which he had
mentioned, the meeting must leave the question of
amount to the consideration of their board of manage-
ment. In all such cases it was of the utmost importance
the directors should think of the state of their funds, and
think more about the certainty of being able to continue
their payments than of being able to make them in the
first instance. (Hear, hear.) The greatest possible injury
and wrong would be done by their giving an annuity
which they might not be able to-keep up, and they were
bound to exercise the most rigid caution in marking the
limit to which they might go. (Hear.) He must say
that he did not consider any duty of the directors to be
stronger than that of not going beyond the means placed
at their disposal. Now that he had mentioned those two
objections, he moved the adoption of the report, and he
could not submit it to them without expressing, as he had
often done in that room before, his high satisfaction at the
steady honourable progress which they had made. One
item of that report gave a loss of 1301. on loans, but the
meeting could better appreciate the gratifying nature of
that item, when he told them that it was the only loss
which they had sustained in their almost innumerable
loans to members—loans amounting in the aggregate to
more than 15,0001.—(Hear, hear)—and he was bound to
state that such a trifling oss on such a large sum was
in the highest degree honourable to the borrowers.
(Hear, hear.) Another point was equally gratifying,
and that was, that although it had been found necessary,
to reduce the rate of profit to which the benevolent de-
partment was entitled from one-third to one-tenth, still
at the last division it had received as nearly as possible
the same sum which it would have got had there been
no such alteration. (Hear, hear.) This was another
proof not only of the steady progress of the institu-
tion, but of the wisdom and justice of those who had
suggested the change. (Hear, hear.) As to the re-
muneration of the officers he entirely agreed with the
hon. member who had spoken, that they were entitled
to the highest rate of remuneration which.such services
as theirs required ; but this was a matter that might be
judiciously and safely left to the board of management,
which for business habits was second to none in the king-
dom. (Hear, hear.) With these few remarks, and con-
' gratulating them again, as he did most cordially, upon
the steady and satisfactory progress of the institution,
which gave good promise of its soon realising the most
sanguine expectations of its founders, he would conclude
by asking the meeting to receive and adopt the report,
with the direction that it be printed and circulated at the
discretion of the board. (Cheers.)
The motion was carried unanimously.
Mr. JEPPS then proposed the following resolution :
" That on the 17th May next, or such other day as the
board may approve, seven additional annuitants be
elected. Two of such annuities to be for clerks, and five
for widows of Clerks. The number of annuitants of each
class to be varied by the managers according to the appli-
cations which may be made ; such annuities not to ex-
ceed in the aggregate the sum of 1601:' He believed
that this would amply provide for all who would become
candidates for annuities, thus, in fact, offering almost
the certainty of an annuity for ss. a year, which it
was not likely any other society could do. (Hear,
hear.) The amount given away during the past
year was nearly double that granted in the preceding 12
months. Every application had been most liberally
met, the parties themselves admitting that tile assist-
ance rendered was equal to the necessities of se case.
Provided the resolution was passed, and they granted
annuities in May next to the sum therein mentioned,
the annual permanent charge on the funds would be
7501. Now their whole property only amounted to
14,0001., and if they wished to purchase an aniity of
7501. it would nearly swallow up the whole of that sum ;
therefore in making the present proposition, they were
going to the full extent which prudence allowed. (Hear,
hear.) Before he sat down he thought it right to men-
, tion that for the second time a gratuity had been re-
turned to the society, the party having fortunately
been placed in more prosperous circumstances, and
having deemed it honourable to repay the money ad-
vanced during his necessities. (Cheers.)
The motion was seconded by Mr. DAwsoN, and
carried by acclamation.
A vote of thanks was then cordially awarded to T.
Baring, Esq. M.P., Thomson Hankey, jun. Esq. M.P.,
William George Prescott, Esq., Baron Lionel de
Rothschild, M.P., trustees of the association ; and to
John Abel Smith, Esq., treasurer of the Benevolent
Fund.

Mr. Mos. BARING, M.P., in acknowledging the vote,
said the duties of the trustees were not so onerous as to
make them wish they should not be increased. They
had nothing more to do than to enter their names when
money was invested for the society, and they cordially
hoped their labours in this respect might increase every
year, for he could only repeat what had been so well
said by the chairman, that it was with the most sincere
satisfaction those who took an interest in the association
at the earliest period of its formation, when surrounded
by many discouraging circumstances, now witnessed
its present solidity and prosperity. (Loud cheers.)
The hon. gentleman then gave an amusing resume of the
various and conflicting suggestions which had been
thrown out for enlarging the utility of the society—some
declaring that increased economy was
.necessary, others
that greater expense ought to be incurred in making
known its objects ; one that more money should be
given away in gratuities, and several that their officers
ought to be better remunerated ; and observed that
amidst these various reeemmendations it was difficult to
know how to improve the existing system. (Hear,
hear.) His own opinion was that their pro-
gress had been sound and safe. Of course they
would be most ready to augment the relief
afforded when they procured the means. (Hear, hear,
hear.) But how were those to be obtained ? He did
not know, unless it was by urging individually and col-
lectively the employees in great manufacturing establish-
ments of the metropolis to avail themselves of its advan-
t;iges, by pointing out to them that it only wanted some
onhoargifdns eted
hrnttedohtanmaon.t
managers.
nnef
rraoextendiegefdeneradbsfear
itsea(edcd,
(Cheers.)
besweee
prodigalityr
sfi
etu with
usefulness
hee
of
Atasistßhsomi en acotNhn noe
securitynse
pat iabir ndyre
ti,
throughoutat ndidni
et
di ono af
benevolenceassistance
l
The C
usual shrewdness, hit the right nail upon the head, for,
however much the benevolent department had succeeded,
it had not done so one-tenth as much as it ought. He
(the Chairman) had often expressed that opinion, and he
still held it unchanged. He believed it was no less the
interest than the duty of the heads of every large esta-
blishment in the City, to suggest to those in their em-
ploy the advantage to themselves, in comfort and peace
of mind, of making some provision for the future ; and
he would add his request to the board, that they
should take measures during the next year of bring-
ing the subject more prominently under the notice
of these extensive employers of clerks. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. WELCH replied, that the suggestion of the chair-
man would he early brought under the consideration of
the board. He might mention, that very recently a
large establishment in London had assured their clerks
to the number of thirty, in the society. That was a
good beginning to start with, and he hoped the example
would be generally followed. (Bear.)
Thanks were then voted to Mr. Smee, Mr. G. Pol-
lard, and Mr. J. W. Gilbart, the auditors, for their
services during the past year ; also to Mr. Byrne, the

[PRICE SD•

secretary, and the general staff, for the able manner
which they had conducted the affairs of the office ;

And
vari-

likewise Co the press, for the able support it had in'
ably given to the society,
Mr. BYRNE briefly acknowledged the compliment., As
to the question of remuneration, he and his colleagues
were quite satisfied to leave that in the hands of, the
board, from whom they had always received the greatest
kindness and the utmost consideration. (Hear.)
A vote of thanks to Mr. J. A. Smith, for his conduct
in the chair, and a similar vote to Mr. Welch for pre-
siding at the former meeting, terminated the proceedings,
and the members separated.