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

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

The report of the Judicature Commission, with the
mao,ffnificent scheme for the reconstruction and reform
of the superior courts of j Ustice which it proposed,
has been already noticed. The Solicitors Journal
states that a supplemental commission is being issued,
giving the Judicature Commissioners very large
powers to inquire into the county-court system and
everything connected with it. At the same time Mr.
Justice Willes, Mr. Moffat, M.P., and Mr. Whitmore,
Q.C., Judge of the Southwark County Court, are
being added to the commission.

THE ALBERT ASSURANCE COMPANY.

Mr. Lewis, secretary to the Alliance Assurance
Company, has proposed a scheme for making the best
of the Albert catastrophe. The Alliance Company
were asked whether they would be willing to take °vex
the whole or any part of the Albert business, or whethcr
the Albert account could be worked out by the Alliance
at a fixed commission. Mr. Lewis, replying in an
unofficial manner—for he has not been able to sub-
mit the questions to the directors—says he is
quite certain that the Alliance Company would not
be prepared to entertain any proposal which involves
the acceptance of lives without any medical examina-
tion, however numerous the cases may h 3. But the
proposal to work the Albert Office for a commission
is worth consideration. Mr. Lewis himself think*
that an equitable arrangement might be come to on,
something like this basis :-
1. To appoint, with the sanction of the Vice-Chancellor,
ono or two liquidators to realise the unpaid capital and the
debts due to the company. 2. To entrust the working of
the assurance account to an established assurance company
of high standing, which would collect the premiums under
the existing policies ; discharge the claims as they arise
upon a basis to be agreed upon by tho policy-holders under
actuarial advice; invest the funds handed over by the
liquidators as well as the premiums received; and make
periodical actuarial valuations, say every three years, but
the first to be made at the close of 1870. 3. The policy-
holders to appoint auditors to look into the accounts, and
the result of each year's operations to be reported to a
meeting of the policy-holders held annnally.
Taking the assets of the company at £421,000, Mr.
Lewis thinks that 75 per cent. of the claims now due,
and which may fall in during the process of valuation,
might be paid. The Alliance secretary points out that
such a scheme of working the Albert account through
the medium of some sound office presents several advan-
tages over a mutual office. The latter must involve heavy
expenditure, without any prospect of new business,
except of a very inferior kind. But in order that
the plan of working the account may succeed, it
must be acquiesced in by a large proportion of policy-
holders—say as many as would represent £200,000
in premiums. It appears that Mr. Lewis's scheme
finds much favour with the London committee of
the Albert policy-holders. It will be considered at
a joint meeting of the London and Provincial
committees next Thursday.
Mr. 11. B. Sheridan, M.P., has addressed a letter to
his constituents at Dudley, relative to his connection
with the Albert Company. The main statements in
this document, which is very long, are that Mr.
Sheridan's work in the way of " amalgamations" was
all done in the capacity of an agent, whose time and
labour were paid for according to legitimate bargain,
and that the whole sum he received in this way
amounts, -not to £.10,000, hut only to £28,000. The
amalgamation transactions were conducted openly,
they were perfectly legitimate, and Mr. Sheridan
could not be res-ponsible for the after management of
the company. The business introduced by him to the
Albert was subsequently thoroughly investigated,
and in 1802 Professor de Morgan declared that there
were assets for every liability, and profit beside.
Such is the sum and substance of Mr. Sheridan's
defence. lie thinks the Albert Company by no means
ruined, for if all parties will agree to a sacrifice of
five shillings in the pound, the business can be carried
on safely. The five shillings in the pound which the
policy-holders are to give up represents, it is to be
presumed, the commissions and payments for the
various legitimate transactions which Mr. Sheridan
and other gentlemen received.

THE FRENCH TREATY AND THE SILK TRADE.
One of the principal arguments used by the self-
called " Revivers " has been that the silk trade of
Coventry and of Macclesfield has been ruined by the
French Treaty, and that the only possible antidote
for this dire calamity is reciprocity. This has
brought forth a reply from the secretary of the Mac-
clesfield Silk Weavers' Trades Union, who writes to
the Daily News on the subject. lie has called upon
every silk manufacturer in the town, forty in all, and
the result of his inquiry is as follows :—Of twenty-
eight who were engaged in the manufacture of net
silk goods, twenty-four said they were not aware that
the French Treaty had injured them, and the other
four said that though their business had suf-
fered severely at tunes, they were not pre-
pared to say that the French Treaty had caused it
to suffer. The other twelve manufacturers made
mixed goods as well as net silk goods, and of those
twelve, three of the largest declared-that the French
Treaty had not been injurious to them ; a fourth
declared that he had made during the last three years
more mixed goods than he had ever made in the
same time before ; while eight were strongly opposed
to the Treaty, and declared that it made them
unable to compete with the French in the manu-
facture of mixed goods. The writer adds, however,
that the Macclesfield manufacturers as a
body are of opinion that as the French send their
mixed goods into England free of duty, the English
manufacturers, as a matter of simple justice, ought to
be allowed to send their mixed goods into France
free of duty. It will be seen from this that the
Macclesfield silk trade is not so bad as has been
represented by the advocates of Protection.