The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-23 00:00:00

ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRINK.

Mr. SCHOLEFIELD obtained leave to bring in a bill to
ptevent the adulteration of articles of food and drink.
_ _ MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS BILL.

Mr. Clio§§,111:-Woving the second reading of this bill,
exp. lained that its provisions were intended to facilitate the
diva ion of large wards, to promote a better revision of the
burgcss lists, and to simplify the election of councillors.
The b 0 provided that the nominations should take place
within :our days, or such other period as the committee
should agree upon, so that persons wishing to nominate any
burgess might do so' or have the names printed by the town
clerk and posted on the door of the town-hall, or other pro-
per and conspicuous places, on, the day before the election.
The next point to which he should call attention was the
personation of voters. No person could fail to be struck with
the number of personations under the present system. In
a case to which his attention had been called, the opposing
candidate and his brothers were personated by parties on the
opposito side ; and the presiding officer, being surrounded by
the friends of the personating party, had no power to put
questions to them, because he was not directed by two
burgesses to do so. The next point was bribery, the law
with respect to which had two faults. The penalty was
too severe—£so, and disfranchisement for life; and the
process was too circuitous and expensive. He proposed-
to reduce the penalty to .40s. He proposed to appoint a
public prosecutor, to carry on the prosecution, at the re-
quest of-two burgesses; but that was a novelty, and not a
necessary part of the bill. He had received a vast number
of amendments from almost every parish-clerk in the king-
dom, but he dealt with one specific evil by one specific
remedy. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. FOX wished property qualifications to be abolished.
Mr. RIDLEY thought the evil was deeper than the
remedies in the bill contemplated. The subject, he obser-
ved, was one of deep importance.
Mr. W. EWA= and Mr. ADAMS suggested objections to
the bill, especially to the provision for the appointment of a
public prosecutor.
The bill was read a second time.
The house then adjourned.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE MUTUAL LIFE
ASSURANCE.

The twelfth annual meeting of this company was
held yesterday, at Radley's Hotel, Bridge-street,
Blackfriars. There was a large attendance of
members. John Gover, Esq., in the chair.
The directors submitted the following report of
the business of the year 1858, which was read by
the Secretary : _ _

1,169 proposals for assurance have been received, amount-
ing to £214,154.
981 Policies have been issued, assuring £220,290
55 Proposals have been declined by the board,
for assuring 13,000
111 Ditto not completed, for assuring 34,610
22 Ditto in progress, for assuring

£274,150

1,169
Five annuities have been granted for £ll2 9s.
The annual premiums upon the new,business of the year
amount to £7,020 19s. sd.
The annual income of the company is now £58,388.
The number of policies in force is 8,108, assuring
£1,650,555.
The accumulated fund has now reached £151,807 12s.
Seventy-five members have died during the year, and the
claims arising therefrom, including bonus, amount to
£16,269 18s. 6d.

This sum is less than that of the preceding year by
£646 17s.

The total number of deceased members since the com-
mencement of the company is 383, and the amount paid to
their widows and other representatives is £79,142 3s. 9d.
The accounts have been duly examined. A certified
statement by the auditors, to that effect, will be submitted
to the meeting.
The amount of profit declared at the last annual meeting
as applicable for division has been appropriated in accord-
ance with the desires of the members. The cash bonus
chosen has been in course of payment since the Ist January,
1859.
It is almost unnecessary for the directors to remind the
members that when the general commerce of the country
has been in a depressed state, the business of life assurance
has proportionately diminished. The directors, therefore,
feel justified in congratulating themselves, as well as their
fellow-members, that the new business of the company
exceeds that of the previous year by £38,335.
The directors have also the satisfaction of stating that,
notwithstanding the increase of business, they have been
enabled to reduce the annual expenditure by the sum of
£1,154 15s. 9d.
The following members of the Board retire by rotation,
viz. :—Messrs. Groser, Lewis, Millar, and Sanders ; also,
one of the auditors, Mr. Thomas Gladwish. They are all
eligible for re-election, and offer themselves accordingly.
• The foregoing report, showing that the two important
elements of stability and progress continue to be sustained,
will, the directors feel persuaded, be deemed highly satis-
factory to the members, and encourage their individual
exertions to extend the benefits of the institution amongst
friends and connexions.

The SECRETARY also read the balance-sheet o:
the receipts and expenditure of the year, which
showed the company to be in a prosperous state.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report and the balance-sheet, remarked that they
contained a truthful statement of the transactions
of the company during the past year, and also of
the present position of the company, so far as it
could be stated, at the termination of the first year
after the division of profits. The company had
passed through another successful year. Its whole
history, in fact, was a history of prosperity, and
would near a favourable comparison with that of
kindred institutions. It would be found on exami-
nation that very few offices indeed had within the
comparatively short period of twelve years accom-
plished so much. During the last year the compe-
tition for life business had been very great—so great
that many companies had been driven to seek
refuge in amalgamation ; but the British Empire
Mutual stood erect and firm. (Cheers.) It had now
become known throughout the length and breadth
of the country, and had business transactions in
almost every district in England ; its principles
had secured public approval, its benefits had been
conferred, directly and indirectly, upon thousands
of individuals, and it now ranked amongst ttle
best assurance institutions of the day. The total
number of policies issued from the commencement
was 10,838, assuring the sum of £2,213,910 ; the total
number of claims was 383, the aggregate amount
paid being £79,142 3s. 9d. Three bonuses had been de-
clared amounting together to £53,867155. 2d., viz.,
£23,102 10s.10d paid in cash, £10,633 8s lld applied
in reduction of premiums, and £20,131 15s. 6d.
reversionary The payments on account of death
claims and the bonuses 'gave an aggregate of
£133,009. After all these payments the company
had still a very large accumulated fund, and an
income of nearly £60,000 a year. (Cheers.) It
would be observed from the report that the new
business—that of the past year—amounted to
£220,000; and it was extremely satisfactory to know
that that addition had been obtained not merely
without any increase of the expenses, but concur-
rently with an actual redustion of expenditure to
the amount of £1,154. (Hear, hear.) This diminu-
tion extended over almost every department ; but
there were three items especially in which it was
to be traced—First, there was the appointment of
agents. In 1857 there were 93 agents appointed,
while in the last year there were only 38 ; and
under that head, therefore, there had been a con-
siderable saving. Another source of economy was
the discontinuance of the connection with the
British Empire Mutual Fire Office, which had
operated disadvantageously to the life business.
Lastly, a considerable reduction had baeegnencyof
made
through an alteration in the travelling
tho company, which had been found too expensive
for the results obtained. The re-arrangement of
this part of the system had been at tended with
some difficulty, on account of the peculiar claims of
the agents to the consideration of the directors ;
but he believed that the change effected would
prove satisfactory both to the company and to those
to whom he alluded. In conclusion, he observed
that two striking illustrations of the benefits of life
assurance had already been afforded in that company.
Their excellent friend, Mr. James Blackett,
who
had addressed them on many previous occasions
had died, leaving 10 or 11 children and 30 or 40
grandchildren, for whom he had made a consider-
able provision by means of life assurance. The
other instance was that of Mr. Henry Dunn, chair-
man of the Wakefield board, to whose widow the
directors had handed over the sum of £l,OOO.
Mr. RUNTZ, in seconding the motion, expressed
his satisfaction at the increase in the business and
the reduction of the expenses, adding that he
believed the latter might be still further diminished
without at all impairing the efficiency of the
management.
The motion was then passed unanimously.
The retiring directors and the retiring auditor
were re-elected.
On the motion of Mr. RUNTZ, seconded by Mr.
ROBINSON, of St. Ives, a vote of thanks was ac-
corded to the chairman and the directors.