The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-20 00:00:00

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The amount of such investment, if any, on which the
vayment of interest is in arrears.
The table of mortality and the rate of interest used. in
calculating the premiums.
13. The evidence which your committee has obtained
loads them to believe that some such general statemeant
would be of much greater utility in enabling the public'
to oome to a correct judgment as to the condition of an
office, than any form.of account that could be adopted.
In addition to the above, in the case of proprietary com-
panies, the amount of subscribed capital should be state-d,
and also the amount actually paid up, and how invested.
14. It has been brought to the attention of your com-
mittee that the business of assurance offices is becoming
every year of a more varied character.

rpm. SD•

year, with some suspicion and doubt as to the ultimate
advantage of doing so, or of incurring the serious loss
which, under the most favourable circumstances, must
attend the abandonment or sale of a policy. On these
considerations, as a special case, it has been contended
by different witnesses of great experience, that inter-
ference on the part of the Government is not only jus-
tifiable, but a matter of high duty, for the protection
and information of the public.
9. On the other hand, it has been contended, with
equal ability, that insurance business forms no exception
to ordinary trade in these respects ; that the acts which
have already been passed with a view of controlling the
operations of insurance societies have been rather hurt-
ful than beneficial for the very objects they had in view ;
that an apparent compliance with the provisions of an
Act of Parliament and a certificate of complete registra-
vgu;emtpeiaennnteiser,speoria:ds:sttlenpt
tion, while they have proved entirely ineffectual for
their professed objects, and no real security for the
public, have afforded facilities, under the sanction of
further contendedwhitchha,tsiot
Parliamentary authority, embodied in regulations ad-
ministered by a public department, for the formation of
ewrp:thtrattihoenfreoef
dfraeveuldioimwehnitchofcopurlid.
fiars iniaspotheseibplue
not otherwise have been accomplished. And it has been
public
cmisakcoensctiecrhn
concerned,
will not prove more prejudicial by lulling private
prudence and vigilance, than beneficial in respect to any
increased security which they can confer.
10. Much difference of opinion has been expressed by
the different witnesses favourable to the former of the
two principles alluded to, as to the extent to which
Government interference should take place. Some have
contended not only for an enactment which should more
strictly regulate the circumstances under which insurance
companies can be formed, but also for the appointment
of government actuaries, under a department of the state
who should have a direct supervision of the proceedings
of all insurance companies ; while the generality of wit-
nesses favourable to some regulations have confined
themselves to much narrower limits, and have contended
only for such precautions as should test the bone fides of
sew companies, and as should from time to time afford
a fair amount of information with respect to the condi-
tion of such companies, relying upon the good faith of
directors and actuaries for the accuracy of the informa-
tion furnished.

15. This your committee regard as the necessary result
of the advancement of the science on which it is based ;
but there is a class of business which some offices have
undertaken, viz., that of receiving deposits of money at
interest, which appears to your committee totally incon-
sistent with the business of life assurance.
16. Your committee will conclude their report by
calling attention to a part of the evidence which advo-
cates the formation of an incorporated society of actu-
aries, with a view to the advancement of that important
science, and also with a view to issue diplomas or certi-
ficates to persons qualified to practise as actuaries. If
any effort should be made to induce Parliament to grant
such an incorporation, the committee are of opinion that
it will be worthy of consideration, but that further in-
vestigation would be needful before such measures should
b. adopted, as considerable difference of opinion prevails
on the subject among actuaries themselves.
August 16, 1853.

SICKNESS, MORTALITY, (be., IN THE
ARMY.

A blue book, containing important and curious infor-
mation respecting the condition of the British soldier
has just been published. It has been compiled by Lieut.
Colonel Tulloch, Military Superintendent of Pensioners,
and Dr. Graham Balfour, M.D., and it is intended to
form a continuation of four volumes on the same subject,
whiob`were issued between 1838 and 1841. The periods
embraced by it are the 10 years subsequent to 1837.
The present report commences by alluding to the im-
provements which have been made during that time.
The good conduct warrant was introduced in 1837, by
which a progressive increase of pay was made dependent
on the absence of any serious crime or irregularity for a
period of two years. Notwithstanding the strictness of
the regulations, the augmentation had been received by
14,000 soldiers out of 33,000, who might have laid claim
to it ; and it was thus apparent that a powerful motive to
good conduct which did not previously exist had been held
out by this change. Barrack libraries, which in 1847 con-
tained 80,000 volumes, had been established; and ball
and racket courts had been erected in most of the bar-
racks with a view to wean men from the habit of spend-
ing their time in the canteens. Greater attention had
also been paid to the ventilation and the general sani-
tary arrangements of their dwellings. In 1848 savings'
banks were established, and by 1847 upwards of 50,0001.
had been deposited—an amount which had since been
doubled. The changes which had taken place with re-
ams pl
oseorcatbl t oee
o ff rtehe
founde dischargarmy,es
dv andewryo
would
mp
loiert eta
B.dd n t
toe
beingn sthttme exclusion
enul tups
iowononthe
r
all that class who from intemperance and misconduct
wer
were constant subjects of punishment or hospital treat-
ment.

11. In venturing to express the views which your
committee have been led to entertain as to the course
which Parliament should pursue in future in regard to
the subject of life assurances, they will divide their re-
marks into five heads—

1. As to the mode in which it is desirable to deal with
the present Joint Stock Companies' Act, so far as re-
lates to insurance companies.

2. As to the registrar's office, duties, and powers.

3. As to the registration of existing offices.
4. As to precautions which it seems desirable to take
in order to teat the bona fides of new associations, and
entitle them to complete registration.
5. As to the securities which can be afforded to the
public by the publication of periodical accounts.
12. Your committee will now proceed to remark on
each of these points separately.
1. Your committee are of opinion that the business
of assurance companies differs so much from ordinary
business, that it will be advisable to repeal all the pro-
visions of the Joint Stock Companies' Act so far as they
relate to assurance societies, and to deal with them in a
separate act.

the kingdom during the ten years had been 96'1
hout
inp rT
the
h e
thousanda
pv e
rraagg number
oe
pnser
an od
annum. f
Dragoon ,dmDi sus
During
Guardsonngs to t
the
the hpr hospitalpreceding
7a years the proportion was 92'9 per thousand ;
but the apparent increase was probably due to
the greater care which had been taken to obtain correct
returns. At all events, the ratio of death had been
rather smaller. In the former period the rate was 14
per thousand, or deducting 1.2 for the deaths from cho-
lera, which did not prevail between 1837 and 1847, the
corrected average would be 12.8. The rate during the
ten years in question was 12.4. The deaths from other
causes than disease were 1.2 per thousand—curiously
enough the exact proportion in the former period. The
total mortality had therefore been 13.6 per thousand of
the mean strength, or 1.7 per thousand more than is
usual amongst a town population at the same period of
life ; "no very great difference certainly, but still suffi-
cient to show that, even in time of peace, the profession
of a soldier is not conducive to health. The rate of mor-
tality of the whole cavalry corps serving in Great Britain
had been 13.5 per thousand ; but that in Ireland had
been only 12.6 ; "being a difference in favour of the latter,
but too small in amount to warrant any conclusions as to
the superior salubrity of that country." There had been a
considerable increase in the diseases resulting from im-
morality. During the six years previous to 1837, the
average number of admissions to the hospital had been
181 per year per thousand; whereas during the ten
years under notice, the proportibn had risen to 206 per
thousand. In the foot regiments the returns exhibited
yet more disgraceful results—the numbers having been
206 and 277. The number in the Foot Guards had been
250 ; the number in the Household Cavalry not being
reported.

2. Your committee have already adverted to the in-
sufficient power which the existing act confers upon the
Registrar of Joint Stock Companies to give effect to
the provisions of the law. Your committee are of
opinion that whatever duties may be entrusted to that
officer under any act to be passed, it is essential that
adequate powers should be provided to enable him,
either by himself, or through one of the departments of
the state, to enforce any regulations that Parliament
may think it wise to enact. Experience has proved that
without such powers, regulations become a dead letter,
and are only calculated to mislead by the apparent sanc-
tion which they give to proceedings not in reality con-
trolled by them.

3. Your committee, in a former part of this report,
have alluded to the inconvenience which has arisen
from the fact that a portion of the existing assurance
offices are completely registered under the Act of 1844,
and a portion not so registered. The effect of this dis-

The total mortality of the Infantry regiments hal
been 17.9 or 4.3 per thousand greater than the Cavalry;
a similar excess being invariably noticed, not only at all
our home and colonial stations, but in the French and
other foreign armies. (The deterioration of health, pro-
duced by previous service abroad, did not lead to more
than one death in a thousand. The mortality of the
Foot Guards was actually so high as 20.4. This was
attributed in great part to the improper barrack accom-
modation inasmuch as other regiments in London
had suffered still more. The number of men ad-
mitted into hospital for all diseases, per thousand
per year, was—at the Tower, 855 ; Portman Bar-
racks, 867 ; Wellington Barracks, 949 ; St. George's
Barracks, 788 ; the detached barracks, 788 ; Windsor,
957 ; and Winchester, 855. The ratio in the regi-
ments of the line stationed at the Tower was, how-
ever as high 1,095. Fevers and pulmonary diseases had
been peculiarly prevalent at the Tower—the proportion
of men who had died from the former cause having been
at the Tower as high as 4.1 ; at the Portman Barracks,
2.2 ; Wellington do., 2.6 ; St. George's, 1.2 ; detached
barracks, 1.8 ; Windsor, 2.8 ; aid Winchester, 1.9.
Recent alterations had been made in the Tower, Hyde-
park, Kensington, and Portman Barracks, which, it
was hoped, would produce a marked improvement in
the health of the troops. The number of deaths in the
Household Cavalry had been only 11.1 ; but these corps
possessed many advantages over every other in the ser-
vice, and there were greater facilities of discharging
men who were guilty of irregular conduct, or who deve-
loped traces of constitutional disease.
The total number of men who had suffered corporal pu-
nishment during the ten years had been—Dragoons and
Dragoon Guards, 183; Foot Guards, 40; Infantry of the
line, 768 ; showing the following ratios per thousand per
year : Dragoons and Dragoon Guards, 3.4 ; Foot
Guards, 1' • Infantry of the line, 4.8. The gradual re-
duction had been very striking. The proportion per
thousand sentenced to corporal punishment in 1839 was
10.2 ; 1840, 8.3 ; 1841, 7.4 ; 1842, 7.3 ;
1844, 5.5 ; 1845, 5.5 • 1846, 4.1. In 1832 the maxi-
mum of lashes inflicted was 800 ; in 1833, "0
; 1834,1836
600 ; 1835, 500 ; 1836, 400 ; 1837, 200. 1843, 5.6;
no higher number could be awarded, even bfratte.
court-martial, than 200 ; while a district mr generalarti&l
IwBa4s7l itihnei t emdatxoi
maximum
andhas ab
een reregimentalstrioteodnteo
irtsoo7llates.Sinlcne
ied by court-
-1839, 104.1 of every thousand men were
sen;teinnceldB4tBo,
tniiiaer court-
martial,
ratio andtrtried
d2w. 3a
ss e7n2t.eBn, c eadn
dt o
thetransportation
rdig number
to an official
transportation only 0.9. According
the number of men
return it appeared that in
tried
rb ythocoosuarntdsm. tyhleeBa3rFtrheencphroaprmorytiownas in onlythe
habitual or occasional, was
drunkenness, whether
arltnialthiant
courts-martial in France, so that
English army was 9.0. It appeared, however, thatnot
liable to be tried by
n of crime in the two armies as
b_Purpin°wratt'ss°scoFmremnic,htedarmbyy
fooaree- t h
anyi rd mustcomparison be deduocaten deductedfrom a thed e. Th Englishat
wouldt r trials 1
leave
seatto
the relative
small
a tl ol
proportion
p; class
r so
ft i vceolny.
scripts whose
se
m the general mass of the enlisteder
superior
iinndrede:
selected by lot from
of condua tto those who •vo-
- ortionrvice was compulsory,tahaencdoerawho, being
luntarily, an hco were of less settled and less pruden
Indeed, of the total number of crimes, no fewer
habits.
56 per thousand
dwere
lcommitted
the
ey tehoensvcroilputl-
en '":" h army " continue the.' authors of the
than „pd men, an on y
The Brit' . ,
~ being composed entirely of
men 81ue_,.,0
volun-
tarily en isted, and who are usually more thoughtless
and imprudent than the general mass of the community,
volun-
tarily
Blue-book,
the comparison as regards crime must be made with the
same class in the French army ; in which case the re-
sults would approximate as nearly as 56 to 60 ; and the
slight excess of crime still apparent in the British army
circa
n
may be readily accounted for by the
an
as the greater proportion of the of-
i ee o r eth
fences have their origin in drunkenness, they are likely
to be most frequent among a northern race, who are,
unfortunately, prone to that vice."
Finally, the ratios of mortality in different armies, at
far as they could be ascertained, were as follows :
Prussian army, 13.1 ; United States (Northern division),
18.8 ; French, 19 ; Indian (exclusive of men killed in
action), 18 ; United Kingdom, 15.75.

tinction has been to lead to controversies between the
"old offices " (established prior to 1844), and the "new
offices " established since the passing of the act of that
year) ; which have been prejudicial to the interests of
the public. Your committee are therefore of opinion
that it would be highly advantageous to all parties if all
companies, both those existing and those that may in
future be formed, could be placed under one general
system of registration. In accomplishing this your com-
mittee would recommend that the requirements for re-
gistration as regards existing companies, should be as
simple as possible, but that whatever periodical returns
may be deemed necessary, should be the same as regards,
all companies whatever.

regardWththeassured to muatrueacloansfis unreadntcoe the companies,funds
where
claimsi
of f
and where no personal liability attaches, your commit-
dso fth e s ociet the
y,
commit-
tee are of opinion that the requirement of the law that
the members of such societies should be registered, is of
no real utility to the public or the assured, while it is
both expensive and troublesome ; and that all the ob-
jects of the law would be answered by a registration of
the directors and other officers of such societies.

4. Your committee feel that perhaps the most impor-
tant part of their inquiry is that which refers to the
one hand, your feel that the ground
hitherto occupied by these useful institutions has
precautions whichs
coit
regard with
to
thefor
rs hati should d
of b enew mp n hereafter ados. pted
Ond
e
committee the
been comparatively limited, and that their applica-
tion is capable of a great extension, not only in the
imo
ne n to
fsh thiso l d
enterprise, be
security of the public. On
of opinion that in the
thigher
eniraahnbl del
yr ma pi classes,dpcill
ee d to;
ol assesadh tmohfaitst ohicts e
itsy,
recently
therefore but als o among-
heveenrviemr
y
iti etmhtxeepteees ndea seri e
interest of the companies themselves, as well as in that
o
of the public, it is desirable to interpose such checks as
inptnhoo
ert thetosathnhswteo
rtal that
yhtaaeot
absolutely
needful
tecehehdfeeuflerkotl
nfoeormrr
will give a reasonable guarantee as to the bona fide in-
tentions of the promoters of such companies. To this
extent only the committee are of opinion that any inter-
ference at this stage is desirable. With this view, in
paid
tpp;a:
en
ofy
public
a should
least be e
funds,
0 admittedu,onodoelr.
such
which
and to
complete registration until a capital shall have been sub-
addition to such regulations as may be considered need-
ful for the purposes of registration, the committee are of
c ribed
opinion
,s
ha nabe that
a en toiunavnl
leyeswte
d in company
regulations as parliament may deem fit to enact ; to be
considered in the double light of a test of bona fide in-
tentions on the part of the promoters, and of a security
for the liabilities of the company at its early stage of
existence.

5. No part of the subject submitted to your commit-
tee has received more attention than that of the publica-
tion of periodical accounts. Hitherto those accounts,
as published, have been of a most unsatisfactory charac-
ter. Your committee have carefully considered whether

it would be practicable to prescribe such a form of ac-
count as would accomplish the objects of the Legiele°
ture ; but after the most careful consideration, they are
led to the conclusion that no fixed form could be made
applicable to all cases, which would not be exposed to
much evasion, or which would practically afford any
real security.
Your committee, therefore, would recomend that i
to make a courtshall be imperative upon each compan m
Y
plete investigation into its affairs at least once in five
years, as is usually prescribed by their deeds of settle.
ment, and at such tunes so prescribed, which shall show
a complete valuation of their mica and liabilities, and of
their assets to meet the same ; and that all such valua-
tion accounts, which may be made for the information
periodical
and use of their proprietors, shareholders, or members,
shall be registered in the office of theregistrar
p
i c;arbdalathnacet
in each intermediate year between such
sheets or valuations, there shall also b
ment containing authenticated infe
ormat
ri
eon registered a state-
On the follow-
ing particulars :

THE HORSE TRlM—Notwithstanding the almost
weekly exposure in the public journals of the " Horse
Trick," there are still persons left who suffer themselve
to be operated upon. A case of this sort occurred at
the fair here on Tuesday last, in the person of
Mr. Rogers, farmer, of Burnt-wood. On that gen-
tleman going into the fair he was attracted by
a group of men standing round. One of them
said he would give 301. for it. Of course the owner
wanted the mare, and ultimately getting to high words,
said the other party should not have it at any price. The
person who pretended to be in want of the horse walked
up to Mr. Rogers, and in a low tone said, "You appear
to be a judge of a horse, sir, and I should like that very
much, but you hear he won't sell it me ; I should be very
glad if yon would try to buy it for
desirous of doing his fellow man a good turn, consented
to his wishes, and striking the bargain at 301., he wen
off to the bank and drew the required sum, handed i
over, and got possession of the horse, which was nO
worth 30s. He then discovered that he was duped, fo
his " fiend" had fled. Intellvencer.

The amount of receipts during the year for premiums
on policies.
The amount of expenses during the year.
The number and amount of new policies issued.
The total number and amount of liabilities on all cur-
rent policies.

The total amount of premiums receivable on the same
The whole amount of capital,, distinguishing the man.
ner in which invested.
How much in cash.