The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-30 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PA RLIAINIE:\ T.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-WEDNESDAY:

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The Speaker took the chair at a quarter-past twelve.
The attendance was not large, and some'delay occurred

in making a House.
Dr. BREWER gave notice that he should move for leave
to bring in a bill further to amend the Sanitary Act of

1866.
LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANIES BILL.
The House went into committee on the Life Assur-
ance Companies Bill, but, judging from the meagre
attendance, the subject had very little interest to hon.
gentlemen. Mr. Synan, who has not been heard since
the Irish Land Bill passed its final stage in the
Lower House, once more raised his voice in protest. He

opposed a provision in the third clause, that the deposit
should be returned on £40,000 having been received in
premiums inasmuch as the deposit he contended would
prove delusive. He thought that if there was to
be a guaranteed deposit it ought to be a continuing
guarantee, and he alluded to the recent lamentable failures
of assurance companies.—Mr. S. Cave informed the hon.
member for County Limerick that the object of the clause
was to prevent the formation of rotten companies for the
purpose of being sold. The hon. member for County
Limerick, however, was not convinced, and he• maintained
that the deposit of £20,000 represented the money of per-
sons starting the company, and it ought to be for the
benefit of the policy-holders and the public. It would
shew, he reasoned, that the promoters were not men
of straw, and it would be considered an evidence of their
solvency.—Mr. Shaw Lefevre thought it would
be a trifling element of security, but it was not worth
while contending for. The amendment was negatived
and the clause agreed to. Mr. Sheridan rose with all the
confidence imaginable to address the committee on the
clause, but he was immediately called to order by Mr.
Dodson, the chairman. The hon. member for Dudley,
however, remained standing, when the chairman in most
emphatic terms called out " Order, order." Mr. Sheridan
looked irresolute. He managed to get out " Then, sir, I
am very sorry to say—" looked somewhat con-
fusedly at the chairman, and then sat down.—
Csomewhat animated discussion ensued on the seventh
ause, which provided that every office should cause an
investigation to be made into its financial condition
every five years by an actuary. Mr. Anderson moved
an amendment that this requirement should only apply
to companies formed a fter the passing of the Act, and
that those already established should be compelled to
make such inquiry once every ten years.—Mr.
M`Laren thought the amendment would practically
give the existing companies a monopoly and im
pose corresponding hardships upon new companies.
—Mr. Cave thought it would be well to make the exception
proposed, and the hon. member for the Glasgow and
Aberdeen Universities had given notice of an amendment
which practically had the same end in view. The
majority of the committee were disposed to accede to
the proposal of the member for Glasgow, but a
division was taken, when the amendment was
carried by 81 to 16 votes.—Mr. Bowring sug
gested the difficulty of defining what " actuary "
meant, and, inasmuch as the seventh clause was to pro-

. ,
vide against bubble companies, he moved that "an
actuary" should be omitted, and " a professional actuary
of not less than seven years' standing" inserted instead.—
Mr. S. Cave could not accept the proposition, and perti-

neatly asked, " What is a professional actuary ? " and
added, " there is no professional actuary." The mem-
ber for Exeter had a supplemental amendment, which

provided that unless the actuary should be at
the time of the passing of the Act the actuary

of an established company, he should be a mem
ber of the Institute of Actuaries of Great Britain

and Ireland, or of the Faculty of Actuaries in
Scotland.—Mr. Cave said he had hoped that the actuaries

might have entitled themselves to Parliamentary recog•
nition by applying for a charter ; and Mr. Bowring said he
fully comprehended the difficulty of bringing that body
under the Act. The secretary to the Board of Trade, if
they adopted the amendment proposed, in the
second instance by Mr. Bowring, it would be
by a side wind, giving a legal status to the society
of Actuaries, to which any person might belong on
paying a subscription.—Mr. Gilpin pointed out the un-
wisdom of creating the impression that Parliament had
made assurance associations safe by the appointment of
an actuary. They had had instances where, although
actuaries had been employed, the societies had gone
wrong. His opinion was that the shareholders and others
concerned would cease to exercise that vigilance which
alone was their security.—Mr. Monk thought they could
not define an actuary in the schedule, and on the other
hand Mr. Sheridan believed anybody knew
what an actuary was, Although he had no
legal status his attention had been directed to
vital statistics. Mr. Bowring intimated that
his object, which was to provoke a discussion, having been
attained, he should withdraw his amendment, although he
hoped that in the definition clause the hon. gentlemen
would try to meet his views.—With the view of making
the bill as complete as possible, and of affording every
safeguard to the people, Mr. W. Shaw proposed to add
that when the investigation and report on the
state of the company's finances took place the latter should
apply to the Board of Trade, who should appoint
an auditor or auditors, who should have ample power to
examine the accounts and the directors and officers of the
company, and that he should report whether a correct
view of its affairs had been given. The hon. gentleman
also proposed in his amendment that the person so
appointed should report on the nature and value of the
assets of the companies.—The proposition did not com-
mend itself to the committee, and Mr. Lefevre, on the
part of the Board of Trade, opposed it. He pointed out
that it greatly extended the operation of the
bill in, as he believed, a dangerous direction.
In point of fact the Board had not the proper officers to
do such work, and instead of greater security there would
be less. —Mr. Synan opposed the proposal, on the ground
chiefly that it was compulsory. He did not think it was
necessary to have a second examination of the company's
condition, unless those interested asked for an independent
investigation. The hon. member for Bandon, finding
there was no possibility of carrying his amendment, with-
drew it.—Several other amendments having been consi-
dered, Mr. S. Cave moved that the various companies
should post their reports to polidy-holders, but the propo-
sition was opposed principally on the score of expense.—
Mr. Mlaren supported the amendment, and called
attention to the great expense which insurance com-
panies incurred in the matter of advertising
and printing, and Mr. Cave said it was absurd
to suppose that such companies could not
afford or should not send a statement of affairs
to a person who was interested in them to the extent of £lOO
or more. It was a species of Conservatism in trade which
he had never before heard of. A division was taken when
the amendment was lost by 119 against 46 votes.—Mr.
Shaw moved an amendment which would render it
imperative that the companies should send their
accounts without being applied to.—Sir. J. C. Lawrence
assured the committee, and he spoke from experience
when he said so, that many persons would have been saved
from ruin if there had been made a clause which made it
imperative to deliver accounts.—Mr. Russell-Gurney
said it was utterly impossible to send it to a person in
Japan, whereupon Mr. Candlish, the member for Sun-
derland, suggested that that difficulty had been got rid of
by the adoption of the words of the hon. member
for Edinburgh, "the United Kindom." After the subject
had been thoroughly discussed, the amendment was
negatived.—Mr. Synan moved an amendment that instead
of the consent of one-fourth of the policy-holders, two-
fifths should be obtained before an application was made
to the court to sanction a transfer,—Mr. S. Cave pointed
out the difficulty which stood in the way of the adoption
of the amendment, namely, the great number of policies
which were held in trust. The amendment was withdrawn
Mr. Anderson called attention to the seventeenth clause
which provided that one or more policy holders or share-
holders should petition for the winding up of a com-
pany. He proposed to amend the clause by substitut-
ing the words " not less than five shareholders or tun
policy holders." The hon. member remarked that, how-
ever solvent the company might be, the shares would
become utterly unma.ketable, and all payments on
behalf of deceased persons would be stopped until an
investigation had been made. Mr. S. Cave
thought the proposition would have the effect which
the hon- member was afraid of, and the Secretary to the
Board of Trade pointed out that there was nothing at
present to prevent one shareholder going before the Court
of Chancery, and the object of the clause was simply to
determine what was insolvency. —Mr. Anderson withdrew
his amendment, as he had no desire to divide the com-
mittee.—The remaining clauses having been agreed to,
and some few alterations made in the schedule, the bill