The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-04 00:00:00

LIFE LIABILITIES AND ASSETS.

I Net Valuei Accumu_ I
Namber. °f '1 td l' 1 Surplus.
I Assuranc* a e Fund
, ' --
General Life As-1
surances, less' 1
re-Assurancesl 13,844 £765,021 £912,643 £177,622
Children's En-I
dowments .....' 207 21,260 23,287 2,027
Annuities (Irn-
mediate and
Deferred) i 421 137,514 156,345 18,801

Total..

11, 172

1X923,823 C 1,122,975

.£198,450

The valuation has been made at 3 percent. interest, and
the net premiums only I axe been taken, so that the loadings
for future profits and expenses are entirely hold in reserve,
and not brought into the valuation.
The results show a considerable surplus in the Life
branch, amounting in the whole to £198,450.
JOHN H. 31‘LAREN, Manager.
JOHN B. JOHNSTON, Secretary in London.

THEATRE-ROYAL DRUPX-LANE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. P. B. Chatterton.
Tins EVENING, at 7, BELLES OF THE KITCHEN. At 8,
FnIIMOSA : Stessrs. Barrett, El Irving, David Fisher, Brittain,
Wright, John Rouse: Mrs Billington, Misses M. Brennan, Mac-
donald. and Katharine Rodgers. Conclude with BORROWED
PLUME• S

THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET.

IfFITS EVENING, at 7 o'clock, FAMILY JARS. After which,
NEW MEN AND OLD ACR KS: Mr Buckstone. Concluding
with A DAUGHTER TO MARRY.

THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHt.

rf n s EVENING, nt 7. MY PRECIOUS BETSY, Followed
by THE LONG STRIKE: Mr. Benjamin Webster, Mr A.

ling, Nit. G. Belmore, Mr Stepheiasm, Mr Smith, kr itignold.
Mr Taylor, Mi-s Furtado. &c. And .I)O3IESTIC ECONOMY
1r G. 13elnaore and Mrs L. Murray.

GLOBE THEATRE-ROYAL.

THIS EVENING. at 7, A HOUSEHOLD FAIRY. At 7.'5,
NOT SUCH A FOOL AS BE LOOKS: Mr H. J. Byron. And
BREACH OF PROMISE. Mr J Clarke and Miss Hughes.

PRINCESS'S TII EAT': E.

THIS EvTrxiso, at 7. TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING: Mr.
Ashley and the Misses Hari is. With RITY BLAS: Mr Fechter,
Mr Marston, Miss C. Lecicrcq, Mrs Addle, &c.

THEATRE-LOYAL, HOLBORN.

Tuts E vE,:rsn, at 7, STATE SECRETS. After which, THE
LADY OF LYONS Mr. Barry Sullivan, Mrs. Hermann Vezin,
&c. And THE LOTTERY TICKET.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress. Mrs. Swanhorongh.
THIS EVENING, at 7.30, AMONG THE BREAKERS: Mr
Clarke. With THE TOODLES. and ISO. Concluding with
THE CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL.

CHRIStY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-pack, OPEN daily (ex.
oept Sundays). Admission. Is.; on Mondays, Gd. Children
under tweire, Fri

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLET 3
Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. ls. Box-office
open from 11 too.

(1.41- 8,
:‘.<----4..„4 ",e).-___.,
-,z-..._,

LONDON, SAI LiI?DAY, DEC. 4, 1869.

The Government appears resolved not to give the
public the benefit of a very useful and sensible piece
of legislation. A reform to which no possible objection
can be made except by interested persons, a reform
which would undoubtedly save many lives and avert
the destruction!of much valuable property, is adjourned
sine die for no apparent reason save that Mr. BRIGHT
prefers the role of a roi faineant to that of an active
constitutional monarch. In spite of the formidaLle
statistics brought forward year by year by the Na-
tional Lifeboat Institution, in spite of the inexorable
logic of the TVreck Register, and its dismal catalogue
of disasters, " the Board of Trade do not intend
to recommend to Parliament to make provision for
any inspection of merchant shipping." Such, at
least, is the language of Mr. LEFEVRE, who, as the
representative of the Board of Trade, visiting the
second port in the kingdom on an official visit of in-
spection, must be supposed to be pretty accurately
informed of the views and intentions of his chief.

The number of rotten and unseaworthy ships whic
are annually sent to sea to find their end by the first
stray rock or the first stiff breeze they encounter
would be hardly credible to the uninitiated. The state-
ments made by volunteers and lookers-on, however,
can be only too readily tested and examined in the
face of the Board's own statistics. A certain number
of ships are lost annually round our coasts—that
much is certain. It is equally certain that of those only
a small proportion perish from unavoidable disaster.
Vessels of the:collier class are sent our, old, unsea-
worthy, ill-found, insufficiently manned, with cables
and anchors alike defective; and the owner can
hardly be startled when he hears, as he so often does
hear, that he has one vessel the less, and that men
and boys have alike gone down with the ship.
Far more than half the shipwrecks that occur on our
shores befall vessels concerned in the carrying trade ;
and the steady waste of life that goes on round our
eastern coast amounts at the year's end to a frightful
aggregate. Surely it is the office of the Legislature
to inquire into this systematic destruction, and to
ascertain how far it is due to plainly preventible
causes. If it merely resulted from accident, which
might be averted by the march of scientific improve-
ment, it would be clearly the duty of the Board of
Trade to recommend an investigation into the
matter ; but when there is good reason to be-
lieve that culpable negligence and indifference to

life, so long as money loss is insured against,
cause annually the loss of many hundreds of English
lives, it may well be asked what a Board of Trade is
for if it refuse to act. We hope that since the right
lion. member for Birmingham carries his theories of
Government non-interference so far, some indepen-
dent member will take the matter up and put it clearly
before the House and the country.

WE are in the habit of hearing strange news from

the United States; but assuredly the intelligence
that a statue has just been erected to Mr. VANDER-
BILT 19 one of the most remarkable items that have
lately come across the Atlantic. On the 10th of
November a bronze effigy of this hero was un-
veiled. "A bishop," we are told, "invoked a
blessing on him, speeches were made and verses
recited in his praise, and the authorities of the City