The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-10 00:00:00

progress of the society is to be attributed to the zeal

and :ability of those Fent!men.
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rectors trom deriving the full benefit of the business
from the insurance of life against railway accidents
in which this society took the lead; but they hope
shortly to remove the impediments which have
cramped their exertions in this respect, and that a
pt ofitahle result may then be anticipated.
"The b.lance- sheet of the accounts up to the 25th
of Marc h last, with the report of the auditors, will be
laid before the proprietors, and be open for their in-
spection, and will be found to afford every informa-
tion as to the present state of the society's resources.
"The directors cannot conclude their report with-
out reiterating their confidence in the prospects of the
society, a confidence which they trust will be shared
generally by its members. They can truyl
promise that no exertion on their part
shall be wanting to realise the most san-
guine expectations of all parties who are interested
in its success; at the same time, however, they in-
vite the active and earnest co-operation of every
member of the society, whether they be
proprietors
or assurers, in assisting them in their endeavours to
promote and further its prosperisy.
" Four of the directors, Samuel Driver, Esq.,
Henry Peter Fuller, Esq., Edward Vansittart Neale,
Esq., and Sir Thomas Newby Reeve, go out of office
by rotation, but being eligible for re-election, offer
themselves accordingly.
" Thomas Bates, and Henry Peach Buckler, Esqs.,
the auditors of the society, also retire from office, but
offer themselves for re-election.
" By order of the Board of Directors,
"F. FERGUSON CAMROUS, Manager.
"27, Regent street, Waterloo-place, London, May 1.."
The CHAIRMAN then said—Gentlemen, in moving
the adoption of the report which you have just heard
read, I should have been well content to have put the
question unaccompanied by any observation, because
1 think the report so fully
explains everything
connected with the position and prospects of the so-
ciety that I very much fear it will not be in
my power to give much additional informa-
tion ; but as I am aware that chairmen
of societies of this nature are generally expected to make
a few observations bearing on
the condition of those so-
cieties, I readily,com ply with the genersa custom which
obtains on occasions like the present. I own that
the first paragraph, relating to the field of life as-
surance, in the report, gives me great astonishment:
I own I was perfectly surprised that in a country so
remarkable for its wealth and the extent of its
population so small a proportion of its inhabit-
ants avail themselves of the benefits of life
assurance ; and I must confess I was very much
puzzled to find out to what that circumstance
was ascribable. It cannot be to any indifference
which we feel to those who are to succeed us, towards
either our widows or our children. I apprehend it
roust be principally owing to the want of thought
and the want of information on the principles of in-
surance ; and I am sure this question only deserves
to be looked into a little closer to induce many parties
not now insured to embrace the opportunity of securing
a provision for their widows and children after they
have gone. With respect to the combination of life
assurance with advances of money upon the security
of real property, that is a new feature in societies of
this kind, and one which, I trust, will be productive of
great benefit to this society. At present you may easily
conceive that from the short time that the company
has been instituted we have not been able to do a
great deal in this line of business; but there can be
no doubt whatever that hereafter it will prove a
source of considerable profit to this society.—(Hear,
hear.) With reference to the appointment of local
in one which has been
boards we certainly have been, I must say, exceed-
here we have, through the
tlly'lemen there, been fortunate
ai ni, gi loyf appointedof omr fortunate, uavnte arity,ei,v
activeeerspp Liverpool,
ocgli
,ea
in securing a very Efficient board, which is presided
over by Mr. Thomas Littledale, whose high position
will be quite a sufficient guarantee in that district for
Hy and lam sure his name will be of vast import-
• ra ,
ragraph I would notice is
ance to us too. The next pa
the good doing and the well doing of this society gene-
that which alludes to the extent of business that has
been transacted during the time this society has been
in those months
to the number of policies issued
hear.) If you will just refer
in operation.— (Hear,
commencing with August last and ending with
April, and also in the intermediate months, you will
see that there has been a steady and progressive
increase in every month. In fact we have not gone
backwards in any one month.—(Hear, hear.) Our
progress has been slow,
but I am happy to say it has
been sure. I think we may boast that we have not
accepted one questionable policy of any sort or kind
whatever. You see the number of applica-
tions that have been declined. You might,
have supposed that in the beginning of the
society the directors 'would not have been
quite so cautious in accepting lives, yet nothing of
that kind has been the case.—(Applause.) I can
speak from experience, that although I have been in-
sured in other offices, I certainly never went through
so strict an ordeal by the medical officers as I have
done in this society ; and I think they have served
out other gentlemen in the same way.—(Hear, hear,
and laughter.) There is a plan connected with the
insurance of endowments to all the children of a mar-
riage, which has been suggested by Dr. Fuller—
(Hear, hear)—and has been entirely his own work,
for which he deserves great credit, and of which we
shall hereafter derive great benefit.—(Applause.) With
regard to the officers of the company, perhaps I can
say rather more about them than many of my colleagues
around me, because I had no share or hand whatever
in their appointments. Both Mr. Camroux and Mr.
Addison were appointed before I had'the honour of
being invited to join the company; therefore as
far as any credit may fall on the directors in the
selection they have made, I have no part, share, or
parcel in the matter, an can, therefore, speak more
fully on that subject than my colleagues ought to do;
and I think the mode in which the business
is conducted is very highly to the credit of the
manager ; and as for our local superintendent,
I think it would be very desirable if we
could find two or three more like him—
(Hear, and a laugh.) I would simply now, before I
sit down, say, that I really believe we may congra-
tulate ourselves in having made a start seldom
done by societies of this nature. We all know the
number of associations like this that are now in the
field ; we all know the vast canvassing there is for
business, both in town and country ; we all know it is
by very great exertions indeed that new companies
can really get on. Now, although it is said to be
fairly in operation, you see what we have done, you
see we have made a start, which hardly any other
company can boast of; and I have no doubt whatever,
seeing the way in which our business for the last six
or seven months has progressed steadily, that when
we have the pleasure of meeting you
year we shall be able to give you such
a continued good report as will justify not
you, but others out of doors, in becoming
only insured in the society, but also not
holders of
nexth
shares in it.--(Hear, hear.) I now
beg leave to move
that the report that has been read be received and
adopted.—(Applause.)
Mr. VANSITTART NEALE said there were one or
two points upon which, notwithstanding what had
fallen from the Chairman, he wished to touch, be-
cause they seemed to him points important to be
generally understood by all persons, in order that they
might satisfy themselves of the really solid ground
that there was for supposing that this society would
have very considerable success, and would prove a very
good investment both for those who insure in it, and
for those who had capital in it. The first
point was the mode of investment, or rather the ap-
plication of the money they had to lay out, which
they had prominently put forward as a new feature
in their society. He believed he might say the dif-
ficulty which puzzled all old insurance societies was
what to do with their capital—he meant to say they
had not, easy and accessible to them, a safe and pro-
fitable mode of investment. The old insurance
societies made very large profits from this circum-
stance, that the rate of interest which accrued to
them by buying stock at 50 and 60, and selling it at
80, gave them a very profitable source of investment,
but an investment arising from a state of things in
this country which he hoped would not arise
again. It became now to those who started insurance
societies in the present day a matter of importance
to know how they could invest their money profit-
ably and safely. By the mode in which investments
were made in this society these two essential features.
security and profit, were combined, because they knew
that a borrower had a considerable advantage in paying
off a loan which he had received by instalments, making
it much less burdensome, and thus equalizing the
pressure upon his resources, and at the same time
affording him the consolation that if death should re-
move him his property will be left to his family
discharged of the loan. In this society advan-
tages
not tphoesr s et shse,
party
u steo
wt hheo
mm
the
ee yl
loan
pa o,
were combined which building societies did
or died. In the case of this society, by the addition
of an annual payment that danger is provided for;
and when they considered what a very large class
there was who could command from their exertions
considerable incomes during their lives, yet who were
by no means certain that those incomes would be
continued after their deaths, he could not but think
that the mode adopted by this society was a very im-
portant feature, a feature which was likely to prove,when
it was properly understood, very attractive to a very
large class of people. It was on this ground that he
thought that every one of them would be justified in
urging on his friends, if they had the disposition to
insure their lives, to insure in this society, and in urging
them also, if they had any spare capital to
employ, to lay it out in purchasing shares
in this association, because it followed from
the income they expected to get from this system