The Sun.
London, England, 1838-07-25 00:00:00

4°tlcrreas.—Messrs. Webber and Bland, 43, Bedford-row.
SECRETARY.-F. Ferguson Camroux, Esq.
DEFERRED ANNUITIES.
i• Amongst the several remedies proposed to mitigate or dimi-
„:
idn the burthen of poor-laws, none has hitherto been brought
;:rward or adopted that would either induce or afford facilities to
the able-bodied members of society, to be responsible for their own
1/IPliort.
IL In a state of employment and health every one may be
4lltn
'ed capable of self-support ; competition has, no doubt, re-
ducedtl the rewards of labour to the standard of existence, rep.
Bering it the more necessary that the smallest surplus, over exi-
Iteneies, should be carefully husbanded, in order that, by the best
facilities given to economy and the application of means to ends,
it may be rendered capable of supplying the deficiencies, caused by
want of employment, sickness, the several casualties of life, and by
'ld age. Over the frequent fluctuations in the quantity of ern-
Pleyment, the employed have no contronl ; and, as the cause is not
dependent on fixed laws, but most frequently on the contingencies
_which affect the quantity of money, their duration or occurrence
n_ trio be submitted to calculation—at any rate the remedy is be-
Y"( 1 their reach. The laws of sickness have been sufficiently as-
eertained, for fixing a provision apportioned to the value of a given
Zlitribtition ; but although such a provision is not to be overlooked,
, if trifling importance compared to the hardships resulting from
Want of employment, and unprovided old age. Want of employ-
sickness, and old age, may fairly be classed under one head,
state of non-productiveness. To those, therefore, who
tl depend on their labour, which is seldom too highly remune-
rated.it must be a matter of importance, out of their earnings
When employed, to provide for every period of non-productiveness,
from whichever of the foregoing causes it may arise.
'I. The two institutions open to tl,e productive classes. are Sa-
-I:gs Banks and Benefit Societies, Lose nature and scope, wnen
t%arnined, will be found to offer but a very imperfect remedy against
e evil, being institutions wherein the limited means of this class are
ti
et best made applicable to their several ends.
Savings Banks are of unquestionable utility, but they afford no
ti.,44tingent future advantage, and, besides, the sum that can be
hoarded is incommensurate with the wants of the middle pro-
44etive classes.
Benefit Societies propose to offer provision in sickness and old
u
^e, but their construction will be found imperfect, and their plan
the ; 'east profitable application of the means of economy.
I. Because sickness itself is not a calamity of equal probable
duration to the fluctuations in the quantity of employment
and other casualties, and misfortune, against which they offer
no protection.
4• Because out of a given means, the sum laid aside for sickness
Because
must diminish the provision for old age.
.m
o many must contribute to the sick fund who never
chargeabletemuzlv
oone
s andfamilies.
i t,and t e
bealue tionsie
s lost o vof such contribu-
4.
Because sickness,
be
lnecessarily be includegda
state of non-productiveness, must
in a
eurrence. ny protection against such an 00-

IV. Various observations have been made on the duration of
sickness, amongst the industrious classes, from an early period of life
%mil its close. Those most in use are,—the sickness amongst the
benefit Societies in Scotland, given by the Highland Society ;—the
41elmess amongst the labourers in the East India Company's Ser-
;—the sickness amongst persons employed in Cotton, Silk,
"1, Flax, and in the potteries, by the Factory Commissioners ;
;-"Autl the sickness amongst the English Benefit Societies, from re-
°till made to the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
These results, though varied, show how inconsmeraote is toe
4112,"nt of sickness during that period of life, between the ages of
and 65, when each individual is more immediately thrown on his
!Wu resources ;--they are as follows :

Avi rage Average Yearly
Class of Per:ons. Period. amount of Sickness in the
Sickness. peri d.

•
Months. Days. Days
litais,s`;'..l,l:tinnarliaSoeleties' return .... .21 to 65 16 t 11
6 1-15
.ketsiti r., CompaNys labourers 20 to 65 9
, runmisses 1
Cotten
21 to 61 7 27 1
Wool, Yorkshire 2to 61 10 29 I
pr),ltt". Westof England 2l to 61 A 13. '
' '4,1, Yorkshire..
kx.i..A.ilk ... , ............. :.. :
.1 c,‘ for Di
i..
1,..4
kn,.....,_. fru lon of Useful
------7.--:._"tge ............ 21 tn 65, 1R 21 ,

Th •
,taiu, i
;t appears that the highest expectation of sickness, amongst
year fro
13 twelve and a half days, and the lowest six days, _in each
h Jo the age of twenty to sixty-five; its mean duration, in-
-4 -4; ve of accidents of all kinds, would be nine and a quarter days,
Isttrar.onteg:?ioril. from these causes, an individual may expect to be ab-
t,,e m productive employment throughout a period of forty-
she Years: while, it may be observed. his religious observation of
h. seventh ilay, in which he ‘, shall do no work," has diminished
an34pirsod6u4catyivse.ness, by its recurrence in the same period, six years
alckne °T° the foregoing facts it must be obvious that provision in
tiun, •"' °r a Ilealth Assurance by means of a separate contribu-
con mu
unnecessary, more particularly as such separate contribu-
ust tend t clanes ha, .0 waste the resources out of which the industrious
bursheo oreit,°Provide for the future. It also in effect throws the
society tue Permanently sick on one class exclusively, instead of
at large '
while they ; who are thus called on for an act of benevolence,
families• Besides this no compensation is given out of the contri-
thuotsi: "'°
.1:or a provision in sickness and old age to the families of
no never reach the age of 65, though death should happen
inediately preceding it ; and, if an assumed hypothesis is correct,
that sickness before death is not more than five weeks, and taking
~,(I:lYing-ay at los. per week, itll not unfrequently happen the
benefit
returnp a man may obtain as a` li ong and steady contributor to a
Society, will not exceed 505., a sum scarcely equal to one
year's payment at a shilling per week, while by his death he leaves
"is family entirely unprovided for.
It is to remedy these defects, inherent in the constitution of
nefit Societies, that the National Loan Fund Life Assurance
Snetety proposes to submit a plan of Deferred Annuities on a new
rs:nriPle, which will not only afford a more ample provision for old
14ft*c‘• na,„d protection against sickness and misfortune—but in addi-
iorhue means, at all times, of putting his energies in motion, and
The of premature death, a better protection to his family.
,replan proposed will embody several essential objects :
° secure an increased provision for old age out of a given
sca'ing by applying it exclusively to the purchase of a De-
'erred 'Annuity.
2. To render the purchase of a protection in sickness unneces-
try, by enabling the purchaser of a Deferred Annuity to
-• B
Vrithdraw or borrow two-thirds of his previous payments.
y she use of two-thirds of all his payments when required,
to limit misfortune and want of employment, and extend
the power of productiveness by an increasing command, in
each year, of capital, so that, while providing for old age,
each succesive contribution renders him more secure against
Present misfortune.
a.
To afford. at the age at which the Deferred Annuity would
eoumence, without reference to his then state of health, the
esption of receiving, instead of his Annuity, its value in
mosey, according to the value fixed on the contract, or a
a
largera
sum payable at his dea.
In the event of death th
the age at which he would
be entitled to his Deferred Annuity, to return two-thirds of
his payments to his family [or such fixed Life Assurance as
may be settled on the contract].
6. In all such cases where the power of productiveness fails,
either from disease or accident, to enable the assured on
equal terms to convert his Deferred Annuity into a present
Annuity.
4, 111. Nothwithstanding the obvious and manifold advantages of
I_lllll plan ever every other hitherto proposed, for securing present
future competence to the industrious populat-so still more
It Iklng advantages will be exhibited by contrasting it: prospective
/4'vislop for old age with that offered by Benefit Societies. This
are' from the non-abstraction of a given sum for a separate )sene-
;lliii sickness, which protection, by the operation of the Loan ail on the Deferred Annuity, is not only more ample, but other
risfortunes are provided against, whichif
calculated, and a sepa-
ate contribution made for each, whose duration equals that of
Iliekness, the purchase of them would entirely absorb the means of
Providing for old age, while such a system must tend to discourage
productiveness, and afford no protection to a family in the event of
r!'tnattire death. The object this plan embraces is to open faci-
ities to the efforts of self-support, to stimulate the independence of
one class above .the forced benevolence of another, while it recom-
aUlads itself to the latter by diminishing the burthen of Poor-laws,