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

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their rooms in, Waterloo-place; Le)
the chair. • •
CONCENTRATION OF THE COURTS OF LAW—
On Monday a meeting of this
Mr. EDGAR informed the meeting. that a.deilu-
tation of the society had an interview with lord
Derby; on Friday last, on the subject of the con-
centration of the courts of law. its lordship re-
ceived the deputation most courteously, and stated
that his opinion was in favour of a concentration of
the courts.' Consiaered that the locality' pointed':::;:
.out was perhaps the best that could on the whole .
be selected. 'The only point on which ho expressed
n- doubt was whether , the Suitors' Fund was pro-
properly applicable to such a purpose, but that he
would be willing• to have a select committee to con-
sider that matter.. * •
TIIE BANKRUPTCY BILLS.
Mr. EDGAR, p: evious to. the discussion on the
Bankruptcy Bills introduced for the consideration
Of Parliament by the Lord Chancellor in the House
ty in respect to a reform of
of Lords, and by Lord John Russell in the House .
of com Mons, gave a resume of the action which had
by
ithe4lsvo, and explained the points of.'
society
difference and resemblance
_between the two bills.
The points, perhaps, which the meeting would do
been
the
well to consider were, whether the creditor should
get greateC control in the winding-up of estates,
fLiid whether-jurisdiction should be given to the -
local courts. ,

PRICE 4D.: STAMPED, ,SD.

shut up by a high toll, whereas if it were thrown open, it
would be a great public convenience, and improve the value
of property in Southwark. We had built a bridge- at Bat-
tersea,, as a road to the new park, and then put a padlock
upon:it in the shape of a toll: He thought the time had
come to' eal with *ie state of affairs, and he hoped that his

`motion Would be acceded to,
Mr. WALPOLE said he had had a conversation with
the cominissioners on this, subject, and they had, informed
him that the work they had already in hand was' cc) great
that if this was added .it,would'prevent.them from making
any repart this year.. The difficulty ofraisin.fundsfor the
road toll's abolished would. also very•gr•eati but if that of
raising money for the bridge tolls were added, it "woul4 be
impossible to meet the &Maud by one measure. ne sub-.
gested that it would be better- for the hon. gentleman to
wait until the -report of the commissioners was, before the
house upOn one subject, and he would'then be better pre-
pared to form an opinion as to the best course to 'pursue
than at present.
'Mr. ALOOCK. assented to this course, and the motion
was withdrawn. .

ADULTERATION OF- FOOD AND DRINK.
Mr. SCHOLEFIELD obtained leave to bring in a bill to
d i nof CROSS,I
ar g iNnv a rmd sotv moving
prevent the adulteration Of at:tides of 'food and drink.
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS BILL.
Mr. gptrho secondemote
ab readinge tte
explained that its provisions were intended to facilitate the
this iosf bill,the
burgess lists, and to simplify the election of councillors.
The bill provided that the nominations should take place
within four days, or such other period as the committee
reviosif
should agree upon, so that persons wishing to nominate any
bnrgess mightdo so, or have the names pruned by the town
clerk and posted on the door of the town-hall, or other pp-
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
opposite 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—La, 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. EWART 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. •

th
oartablilclasltcoublaetreedtrtoogiflaedeet
in INt
r. HAWES e
consideredt
er, and not b
the wants of the trading community. (Hear.) Where •
they altered the present law they altered it for the
worse. The Lord Chancellor's bill seemed to regard
the debtor as the aggrieved person, and Lord John
Russell's, though it seemed designed to lessen ex-
penge, would. in fact leave it 'as heavy as ever. The
mercantile community would never be satisfied to
_see their property placed in the hands of a trade
assignee without the control of a public officer.
(Hear.) He strongly objected to giving the county
courts the power of dealing with bankruptcy cases.
The county courts had not experience enough to
deal with the frauds and intricacies of bankruptcy.
The experience, of commissioner and an official
usSignee would be necessary for this purpose. He
objected to the abolition of certificates and the
allowing persons to choose their own time of be-
coming bankrupts. This latter provision would
enable persons about to become bankrupts to favour
their own friends. What he should like to see
would be not an abolition of the act 0f.1849, but an
amendment of it where it was defective. Both
bills seemed to be based on the principlethat credit
was rather a Wrong than a right state of things.
But credit was far more important to the poor man
than to the wealthy merchant. He thought both
bills proceeded in the ;wrong direction. (Hear.)
Mr. Commissioner AYETON thought that Lord J.
Russell's bill,,though intended to diminish expense,
would have no such effect. He thought- the
county courts were capable of administering justice
in bankruptcy cases, but it might well be left to
commercial men to choose their own court. Lord
J. Russell's bill rendered the calling of a great
number of meetings necessary, which would lead 4
to inconvenience and expense. .

(
I(1

THE BRITISH EXPIRE MUTUAL LIFE

A SSURANCE.

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 yeai 1858, which was read by
the Secretary :-
1,169 proposals for assurance have been received, amount-
ing to £274,154.
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

Mr. CARRICK said that the official assignee now
gave £20,000 security, which was a guarantee that
the bankrupt's funds would be properly dealt with.
If the Chancellor's bill were adopted, where would
the official assignee look for remuneration ? He
thought some clause should be introduced, giving
the official assignee proper remuneration.
Mr. LAWRANCE said, as it was evident that both
bills must be referred to a committee, it would be
better not to discuss details on that occasion, but
to see what were the principles is both which they
could agree in. He could not recognise anything
like a sound principle in reference to bankruptcy
since 1854. The bills now introduced— especially
the bill with the 440 clauses—showed a lamentable
ignorance of the subject, and of the wants of the
mercantile community. After intelligent inquiry,
he could not find that a single practical man had
been consulted with respect to either bill. Both
bills proceeded on the assumption that the expenses
of the present system were enormous ; but there,
were expenses thrown upon the Court of Bank-
ruptcy with which the Court of Bankruptcy had
properly nothing to do, in the shape of compensa-
tions and remunerations. He was of opinion it
would be unwise to fuse the Courts of Bankruptcy
and Insolvency, and he agreed with Mr. Hawes
that the county courts were not suited to decide
cases of bankruptcy.
Mr. HASTINGS thought that the county courts
were well calculated to administer justice in bank-
ruptcy cases. Every argument that was available
for conferring jurisdiction on the local courts in
regard to debts was equally available with respect
to bankruptcies. Mr. Ayrton was mistaken with
regard to the expense and the number of meetings
which it would be necessary to hold under Lord I.
Russell's bill. That portion of Lord J. Russell's
bill was copied from the Scotch law, and under
that law the expense was only 12 per cent. of the
assets. (Hear.) Again, it was not correct to say that
there was no provision to guard against malversa-
tion of the funds in the hands of the official assig-
nee ; and with regard to the payment of that
officer, the bill of Lord J. Russell provided that he
should be paid a salary. It was provided that he
should be paid £5OO a year, exclusive of fees.
That, however, was a matter of detail, and if it was
not enough it could be easily increased. It had
been said that the system of classification of certi-
ficates worked well. It would be impossible in this
country to get any six men to agree on the exact
shade of a man's commercial morality. (Hear, hear.)
The Commissioners would give dikerent decisions
on the shades of commercial morality, and therefore
the system of classification ought to be abandoned,
for it gave rise to uncertainty. It was high time
that the publ,ic should take up the matter and de-
cide for themselves. (Hear.)
Mr. HOWELL 'was of opinion that the bills were
totally opposed to the feelings of the , commercial
community. He strongly advocated the mainte-
nance of the classification of certificates, which
originated in a suggestion from himself.
Mr. LINKLATER said he would rather be guided
in this matter by the experience of Mr. Hawes
than by the theory of Mr. Hastings. The county
courts were wholly unsuited to adjudicate in cases
of bankruptcy, it being of importance above all
things that the court which had to decide on bank-
ruptcy should
certificates, b e fixed.
his experience With
g ard
told
ficati of on
the system worked well, and that was shown by
the anxiety of traders to get a high class certificate.
It was frightful to contemplate the effect of Lord
Chelmsford's bill, which not only abolished impri-
sonment for debt, but would enable a debtor to
pursue and continue a reckless course of improvi- .
deuce. The abolition of the distinction between
tr
traders and non-traders would be highly adv an.
tageous. (Hear.)
The debate was then adjourned to Monday next.

£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. :-3lessrs. Groser, Lewis, Millar, and Sanders ; also,
one of the auditors, Mr. Thomas Glaiwish. 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 of
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 the
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 £79,14235. 9d. Three bonuses had been de-
clared amounting together to £53,867155. 2d., viz.,
£23,102 lOs 10d paid in cash, £10,6338s 1 ld 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 reduction 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 been made
through an alteration in the travelling agency of
the company, which had been found too expensive
for the results obtained. The re-arrangement of
this part of the system had been attended 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 bothto the company and to those
to whom he alluded. In conclusion, he observed
that two striking illustrations of the benefits oflife
assurance had already becAn afforded in that company.
Their excellent friend, r. 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.

.; II L.

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