The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-31 00:00:00

PRUDENCE AND BENEVOLENCE.

There are some propositions so plain and self-
evident that it is a matter of wonder to the think-

tg mind that they should require to be more

Lau once clearly and simply stated in order to
nsure their general acceptance. Argument seems
thrown away in endeavouring to prove elaborately
that which admits of no denial ; yet the labours

of the divine, the statesman, and the philanthro-
pist are all evidence that men do not practically
believe that which it is impossible for them theo-
retically to deny.
We are led to this view of the subject by the
report which we publish to-day of the meeting of

an association which has for many years been
strongly and sincerely advocated in these columns.
We allude to the " Provident Clerks' Association."

Omitting for the present all reference to it as a
thoroughly established Mutual Life Assurance
Office, in which capacity it is open to all classes,
we prefer to regard its Benevolent Fund alone as

illustrating in a striking degree the remarks with

which we commenced this article.

Were it simply affirmed that it Is not only the
interest but the duty of all to make provision to
the extent of their power for the infirmities of
their declining years and the wants of those de-
pendent on them ; were it, in continuation of this,
remarked that such a provision was peculiarly ap-
plicable to those whose whole income is contingent

on the continuance of life and health, few, we
apprehend, could be found to withhold their
assent to so evident and palpable a truism ; yet,
as a corollary upon this, we find the class to whom
these observations most strongly apply--the
Clerks of Great Britain—a body numbering in
their ranks some 50,000 intelligent, well-educated
and respectable men, are represented by less than
one-tenth of their number in an institution
founded for their especial benefit, and possessing
the strongest possible claims upon their support.
Of thirteen widows who yesterday contended
for the annuities granted by the Club's Benevo-
lent Fund four only were successful. The in-
ference, therefore, is, that the clerks of this coun-
try are either unable or unwilling to afford to
their disabled fellow-workers, or to their widows
and orphans, that support of which they stand so
much in need. True, the subscription demanded
is very small and utterly out of proportion to the
benefits conferred. True, annuities, amounting
to nearly 1,0001. a year, have been granted. We
still feel that among so large and important a
body these results are far inferior to what
might reasonably have been anticipated. If it Le
true, as was hinted by one of the speakers, that
the "superior" or better-paid class of clerks are
slow in giving their aid to this excellent institu-
tion (on the ground, we presume, that they do
not expect to require its assistance), the fact
speaks volumes in their discredit. It is from them
the association 'has a right to expect not only sup-
port but earnest and hearty co-operation, and we
trust soon to have to record an adhesion of such
strength that it may be long before a necessitous
widow is left to mourn the want of that sympathy
and that esprit de corps which would have secured
for her the valuable aid of this noble Fund.
Nor, in blamin g the clerks, can we fully acquit the
principals of our commercial houses of undue neglect.
On them -this institution has peculiar claims.
Their clerks are, as was justly said, the machinery
by which the wealth of our merchant princes is
acquired, and their declining years, their widows
a:AI orphan children demand and deserve their
generous aid. Among the earliest and warmest
supporters of this Association we find the well-
known names of BARING, ROTHSCHILD, HANKEY,
and PRESCOTT. To the steady and constant
friendship of Mr. JOHN ABEL SMITH the members
have often borne warm and grateful testimony,
and there are, in this great country, thousands
of mercantile men who require only that the
objects of this excellent institution should be
fully laid before them to add their names at once
to the list of subscribers. Nor can they in all
the wide range of British benevolence find many
objects on which an annual guinea will be more
usefully and legitimately bestowed.