The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-01 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL. LOAN FUND LIFE

ASSURANCE COMPANY.

(From the Cambridge independent Press.)
Few subjects which are familiar to the public mind are so
misunderstood as the principles of life assurance. It is one
that comes home to "every man's business and bosom" who
has a regard for his own future comforts and happiness. Life
assurance may, indeed, be said to be yet in its infancy, and like
the steam-engine, its greatest efforts are yet to be discovered.
The principles of.fhe Society which has given rise to these re-
marks, arc, in many respects, so totally different from those of
other instiptions of a similar nature, that, admitting their
soundness, it is impossible to come to but one of two conclu-
sions—either that the public has hitherto been wilfully plun-
dered, or, that the most benighted ignorance has hitherto ex-
isted on hat most interesting topic, the probability of human
life.
Under the old system of life assurance (and which is still
adopted by nearly all the established companies) a man who,
after incessant toil and struggle, has managed to keep a policy
on foot for the future security of his family, finds himself,
through illness, misfortunes, or some other calamitous failure of
means, obliged to abandon his policy. The office will give
him nothing for it that is at all in the nature of a recompense
for his outlay, and he finds (as too many have found) that the
whole amount of his heavy payments have beenhliterally thrown
away, as regards his own and his family's benefit; and have
merely increased the store, by way of a " bonus," to some more
fortunate member, who has been able to keep up his payments.
It is a well-known fact, that the great profits of the assurance
office have hitherto arisen through policies so abandoned. We
hear continually of large sums being added to the policies, but
few stop to inquire how they have accumulated. The answer
is, by the sacrifices and ruin of the less fortunate members.

In the " National Loan Fund Assuance" this cruel loss, and
gross injustice, can never be sustained. The leading princi-
ple that distinguishes this Society from any other is, that if
a person finds himself unable, or unwilling to keep up big future
payments, the office, so far from taking advantage of this cir-
cumstance, will render him prompt and effectual assistance.
First, if his embarrassments are temporary, he may borrow
two-thirds of the premium actually paid, and yet his policy
will continue good. Secondly, if he really finds it impossible
to keep them up any longer, a sum will be assured to him on
his decease for what he has already paid, without any further
payment. Thirdly, if he is so negligent and improvident as
to abandon his policy altogether, (in which case it would be
totally lost to his family in the other office,) his representatives
may, notwithstanding, claim two-thirds of the premiums paid,
on his decease.

These are a few of the primary advantages which this So-
ciety pcssesses over any other existing assurance company that
we arc aware of. It thus opens the door to many highly de-
sersing classes to whom life assurance has been hitherto effec-
tually closed. But there is another distinguishing feature,
which is worthy of very general consideration, for there is
scarcely a member of any class of society that is net suscep-
tible of its great advantages; we allude to that branch of tha
business confined to the Deferred Annuities. It is both inte-
resting and extraordinary to observe the power which these
tables show money has of accumulating. The following are
the choice of benefits which are to be derived from the invest-
ment of one shilling per week, when the party contributing
has reached the age of 65. To prevent misconception, these
calculations are made where the age of the assured is only
twenty, where he is more, he would, to secure the same advan-
tages, at the same cost (i. e. one shilling a week) pay a fur-
ther sum for the disparity, vide tables.) He may take—
An Annuity of 471. 16a. for the remainder of his life.
A sum in cash of 3941. I Is.

Or a Policy (payable on his death) of 4661.
In addition to either of which he has the right of borrowing,
in case of sickness, or any other calamity befalling him, two-
thirdsof th a arnaunt actually contributed by him ; an l,in the event
of his dying before he reaches that age, his family may claim
the same proportion; so that, under the worst circumstances,
he can never lose more than one-third of the amount he has ac-
tually paid.
We have shown what can be done for the insignificant sum
of one shilling, because there are few of the poorest of the in-
dustrious classes who would not be able, witif some very slight
sacrifice, to reserve that trifling portion of their wags's. Nearly in
all the manufacturing districts, Saint Monday is kept by the
workman; in other words, one day in the week is dedicated
to idleness or perhaps debauchery. Suppose nothing were
spent (although we fear that is most improbable) on that day,
the very day's wages, accumulated in this Society, would pro-
duce the splendid results we have above mentioned. One
single day's labour in every week throughout a working man's
life, even although it produced him but a shilling, or a few
pence snore, might secure to himself, when arrived at sixty-
five years, an annuity of nearly fifty pounds, or a sum to his
family, on his decease, of about five hundred pounds.
We have taken a view of this branch of the institution in
the most confined point ; but it is to be observed, that the ad-
vantages are as equally available, and in the same proportion,
to the man who could lay by one pound a week, as to him
who can only spare one shilling.
From the brief sketch we have given of the objects of this
Company, it will be seen that they embrace the combined
advantages of an ASSURANCE OFFICE, a FRIENDLY SOCIETY,
and a SAVINGS' BANK. Besides these leading characteristics,
the National Loan Fund has one peculiar to itself. It not only
assures a rnan's family in case of his death, but it assures him-
self in the event of poverty, sickness, or distress. Hitherto
money paid to an assurance office must be considered as a
dedication exclusively to the future, no provision whatever is
made for the exigencies of the present. Thus a prudent and
provident man, who has reserved the surplus of his income, by
yearly deposits in the assurance office, may have accumulated
a large fund for his family to be enjoyed by them, when he
cannot participate in it himself, and yet by some misfortune
coming suddenly " like a summer cloud," and overshadowing
his prospects, he may feel the stings of poverty as sharply as
the extravagant, and the improvident. The admirable provi-
sions of this Society enable a man to assist himself, without in-
terfering provision made for those dependent on him.
Nvebe e
it s toe the peculiarity of the benefits of that office
lv with the
that the following passage (taken from a very able letter by a
correspondent in the Times on this subject) refers :
" A new plan has lately been brought forward, by one or
two of the new societies, in which advantages present are
linked with advantages to come; provision for, with security
to ourselves; the money paid in premiums is now no longer
permitted to slumber in the funds of the Society, but rendered
available to those who have placed it there. The plan to
which I more particularly allude, is that of considering the
premiums as so many successful deposits, instead of sinking
them as so many expended premiums. The plan was first in-
troduced by a strictly mutual society—a society notoriously
prudent and cautious in the extreme--and which has had no
private interest to serve. It is founded on the purest spirit of
philanthrophy, and will relieve many a member from
temporary distress, lighten many a future case, and, by the
security it imparts, rob the breast of many an anxious moment."
—Times, Sept. 18.
As some proof of the soundness of the principles of this So-
ciety, we may observe that some of the oldest-established of.
flees have adopted its leading advantages, although not in so
extensive a degree. We have only to aid that, independently
of large and increasing business in London, branch societies
emanating from the parent establishment are formed, or are
its the course of formation, in all the principal parts of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland, one of which, we are happy to
inform our readers, is about to be located in Cambridge, un-
der such auspices as will insure it the encoueagement which
its principles deserve. We see, by the prospectus of the So-
ciety, that the Directors invite all existing Friendly Societies
to participate in the benefit of the plan, and which they clearly
can de with an advantage equal to private individuals. We shall
return to the subject.

The late James Kinloch, Esq., of Jermyn-street,
after providing very amply for his nearest relatives, with liberal
legacies to his friends, has bequeathed to numerous charities
as follows: —At Aberdeen : —To the Infirmary, the Poor's
Hospital,- the Lunatic Asylum, the Marischal College (to
found three bursaries or scholarships), 1,0001. each. Ia Lon-
don :—To the Scottish Corporation, the Caledonian Asylum,
St. George's Hospital, Charing-cross Hospital, Foundling
hospital, Magdalen Hospital, Female Orphan Asylum, London
Orphan Asylum, and the Marine Society-3001. each.

Madame Albertazzi has entirely-recovered from her
indisposition, and opens Drury-lane Theatre this evening in
Mozart's opera of Don Juan.

DEATH OF MR. BARNES.—Poor Barnes, the
Pantaloon, who lately took his benefit at the English Opera
House, died on Friday last at his lodgings et Pentonville, in
the fiftieth year of his age. The Observer says that previous
to his decease he had made a will, bequeathing to variJus per-
sons the money which his late benefit produced.

Two daughters of a planter, natned Wayne, one six
and the other eight years of age, were murdered on Monday
week by three of their father's slaves. Their throats were cut
from car to ear, and the bodies left by the distracted father's
gate. This deed of horror was committed at the Warm
Springs, Virginia.

A. mournful event occurred at Ripley, Indiana, last
week. Two brothers were hunting in the woods, when one
of them espied, as he supposed, a deer. He told his brother
to fire. The brother did so, and on repairing to the spot they
found, instead of a deer, the daughter of one of them in the
agonies of death, the ball having plEsed through her head.

A SUFFICING REASON.—Colonel Dunlop, of
the Huron and St. Clair militia, has published a letter com-
plaining bitterly of certain commissariat officers, ',hem he
charges with arrogance and neglect of duty ; but he exone-
rates them from all disrespect to himself personally—because
as he says, he is " six feet high, an proportionably-broad
across the shoulders."
SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY.—TiIe Southern
Repol ter informs us that a requisition for a public meeting is
in progress—the object of which is to take into consideration
the best means of carrying out the recommendation of the
Railway Commissioners as to this grand design. We are in-
formed that the signatures of all the leading bankers, merchants,
traders, and professional men of the city, bad been at once
obtained.

A HINT.—It should be generally made known to
all drivers of vehicles on the public roads', as well as to the
public at large, that from the 7th of October next, under a
new Act of Parliament, it will be in the power of the Magis-
trates, upon conviction of careless or furious driving, to com-
mit offending parties to the treadmill, instead of letting them
off with a fine, as under the old law.

On Monday last a man fell from the rigging of a
ship into the Waterloo Dock. carrying with him a block
weighing 32 lb., between which and the deck his leg was
crushed, the bones protruding through the skit-I.—Liverpool
Standard.