The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-04 00:00:00

TO the POLICYHOLDERS and SHARE-
HOLDERS of the EUROPEAN ASSURANCE
SOCIETY.—You have seen from the newspapers that a
Petition has been presented to the Court of Chancery for
the Winding up of this Society, which is to be beard on
Saturday, the 2d of October. This Petition bore the names
of Mr. Thomas Carlyle Hayward, a former Director of
this Society, and Mr. Robert Crawford, one of its present
Directors. _ _ .

Mr. Crawford attended a meeting of the Directors on
Monday last, and took part in their deliberations, and on
the very next day, without the slightest intimation to his
colleagues of his intention, ho presented this petition.
It is but fair to Mr. Hayward to say, that as soon as he
became aware that he had been improperly induced to join
in the petition be withdrew at once.
The allegations of Mr. Crawford have been responded to
in the following affidavit, although the first intimation of
his petition was about four o'clock on Tuesday, when
notice to appear before Vice-Chancellor James, at two
o'clock the next day, Wednesday, was served :
" The statement in the said petition, that the said Society
is altogether insolvent and unable to pay its debts is un-
true. The moneys available for payment of current claims
are sufficient for the purpose, and the assets and subscribed
capital are, and will be, sufficient to provide for every lia-
bility as the same may arise. The said Society does, in
fact, pay its debts, and there is not a single undisputed
and due policy claim remaining unpaid, or which the
Board is not prepared to pay, and no debt of which pay-
ment has been asked of the said Society remains at the
present moment unpaid, or which the Board is not pre-
pared to pay.
"The books of the Society show that the petitioner,
Robert Crawford, appears a debtor to the Society for sums
amounting to £1,200 or thereabouts. including the unpaid
call on his shares, and loans unaccounted for, believed to
have been received by him as an agent of the Society."
The Directors have also issued the following advertise-
ment to the daily papers:—
" European Assurance Society. —The Directors of the
European Assurance Society request the policyholders and
shareholders not to be alarmed at any of the reports which
may appear at the present moment, as they are, advisedly
and in full assurance of its sound position, determined to
oppose to the utmost the unwarrantable attempts to ruin
the Society."
Nothing could be more improper than the course pur-
sued by the petitioner. Had he one grain of the sympathy
he professes for the great interests concerned, his course
would have been to secure the policyholders first, and not
to rpsh iuto Chancery and hand these important interests
over to a set of wreckers, whose sole object is to fill their
own pockets at the expense of the Society. It is now well
known that a gang of designing persons has been occupied
for weeks, if not months, in compassing the destruction
of this and other Insurance Companies, and it is suggested
that the policyholders and shareholders throughout the
country should combine with the management at the
chief office to overthrow these unprincipled attempts at
injWitury.
h this view, the time for convening meetings being
so short, sheets with headings have been prepared, which
can be signed by eitherpolicyholders or shareholders, and
have been distributed to the district managers and agents
in the country, where they can be signed, or at the chief
offices of the Society, 17, Waterloo. place, Pall-mall, Lon-
don. By order of the Board.
HENRY LAKE, General Manager.