The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-23 00:00:00

THE ,STATISTICAL SOCIETY.

At the ordinary meeting of the Statis'ical Society
held at the offices in St. James's-square—Colonel
Syke, M.P., in the chair—the usual routine busi-
ness of the meeting having been transacted, a paper
" On the Progress of Fire Insurance in Great Bri-:
tain and other Countries" was read by Mr. Samuel
Brown.

Mr. Brown commenced 11.;$ lecture by giving an
historical sketch of the origin and progress of instir-
ance against loss by fire. He stated that the scheme •
first originated in London about 180 years ago, and
that the corporation of the City shortly afterwards
took the matter into their own hands. But the de-
lays which 'occurred in forwarding the idea, and the
dilatory manner in which it was carried on, inducod
many private companies to compete with them.
From advertisements published. about 1680, it ap-
peared that several private companies were ready to
effect insurances on brick houses at the rate of 6d.
in the pound ; and on wood houses at ls. in the
pound. In the year 1682 the Court of Common
Council did not find the scheme profitable, for they
reliuquished the matter, paying back the premiums
they had s eceived ; and from that time fire insur-
ances were conducted by private companies and
friendly societies. The Hand-in-Hand was the old-
est oflhe cow existing fire insurance offices, and
for 10 years after its establishment it had no rival.
•
The Sun Office was the next, which was followed
•
in succession by the Union, the Westminster, and
the Royal Exchange. The number of offices had
been gradually increasing ever since ; and in 1856. •
there were 75 insurance offices in the United Kiog_ •
dom. Mr. Brown thew went into a very long state-
ment relative to th 3 report of Mr. Coode upon fire . .
anc., lat.-1y presented to the Houses of Par-
liament, in which he refuted the facts and opinions
expressed by that gentleman, and brought forward.
many facti advocating the removal of the duty new
-charged upon policies in England. He stated that
in England, where fire insurances had been . •
known for 160 years, the total amount insured was
in 1856 927,000,000/. I while in France, where it
had only been in vogue for a period of less than 40
years, the sum insured was in 1856 1,880,000,000/.
The great advance which had been made in France
in insurance business as compared with England,
he attributed to the fact that there was no legisla- •••
tive duty on policies in 'France, and that the inaur-
ance of noose property was in a measure rendered
compul,ory by the Government holding the tenant
responsible far all damage occurring from a fire
originating in his tenement, Mr. Brown gave
many curious statistics of the duties which were
laid upon fire insurance by continental governments,
and in every case he showed that the tendency was
to diminish the amount of property insured in
the countries where they existed. The follow- •
ing are the results of his observations :—ln Great
Britain the amount insured, calculated from the
duty paid, was in 1856 927,000,0001., while the
property insured and exempt from duty wits
estimated at about 70,000,0001., and the foreign
and colonial business, also exempt, 125,000,000/. ;
making a total insured for Great Britain , of
1,122,000,00 W. In France the amount insured in
proprietary companies in the same year was
1,320,000,0001., and in mutual companies
480,000,0001. ; total, 1,880,000,0001., or about
700,000,0001. more than England. In Germany
the amount insured, as far as could be ascertained,
was about 1,150,000,0001. For Russia, Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, and several
other countries where it was difficult to obtain in-
formation on the subject, the amount was calcu-
lated at about 400,000,000/., making the total
amount insured in all the countries mentioned
4,482,500,0001., upon which the estimated annual
premiums paid amount to 8,250,000/., and upon
which the total annual loss was about 4,750,000/.
Mr. Brown stated, in concluding his paper, that he
thought there was still ample room for extension of
fire insurance iu this country, and that it was only
restricted by the duty imposed by Government. He
entirely disagreed with Mr. Coode's statement that •
fire insurance had reached its utmost limits in Eng-
land, and that all the insurable property was pro-
tected. 13:fure setting down he brought forward a
long series of figures, refuting the low estimate
placed by Mr. Coode upon the amount of insurable
property in the United Kingdom. Mr. Brown was
loudly applauded on resuming his seat.
A considerable discussion then arose upon the
points at issue between Mr. Coode and Mr. Brown ;
and Mr. Coode made a long statement in suppo. t
of the facts which he had advanced in his report,
after winch the proceedings terminated with the
usual vote of thanks to the chairman.

A NEW USE FOB THE FEMALE SEX.

Our correspondent on board the United State
ship John Adams, in his letter published on Sunday,
remarks that the natives of the Marquesas Islands
in the PaCific, with whom be had been staying, are
in the habit of wooing the fairest damsels they can
find, wedding them, and then eating them up.
Our gallant correspondent is indignant at this sad
misuse of so much loveliness, especially as the na-
tive pork and game are good of their kind, and so
plentiful as to make it obvious that no man need
pick his wife's ribs or cut steaks from her person from
necessity. We need not say that we concur with
our countryman in this view, not only on humane
but on hygienic grounds. Every medical man will
vouch that the flesh of female mamtnalia is less
wholesome than that of males. We fear the people
of the Marquesas must be injuring their health by
their unwholesome diet. - The most curious feature
in the business is that there is a large body of Chris-
tian missionaries on the islands, many of themfrom
this country. We are not Jed to suppose, indee
that these reverend gentlemen are in the habit of
lunching off their tender spouses, nor even do we
hear of their accepting invitations from the native
chiefs to partake of a nice wife ham, or a rasher of
a young girl broiled with breadfi nit. But they are
there, and from the popularity of these repasts it is
evident that the missionaries know of them, and
cannot prevent them. It would perhaps be well
for some of the gentlemen whose contributions go
to sustain these missionaries during their ardnou*
labours to inquire what has been done in the past,
and what may be expected for the future. We are
aware that in May next we shall have in the proper
column of the usual report an exact list of the num-
ber of Marquesas souls conceited to grace, and of
those which are considered to be in a softening
state ; we think it would
.be well to add in a foot
note a classification of these fortunate converts
according to their gastronomical performances.
A few asterisks might do the business. And
if in a second note, merely for curiosity's sake,
a financial account were given, showing, in a word,
how much the salvation of etch Marquesas soul
costs the country, we think that also would
be useful information. Of course souls cannot pro-
perly be estimated in dollars and cents, for the
simple reason that in the limited sphere we inhabit
there is no demand for the article, and his Satanic
Majesty may be said to monopolise the market ;
still it would be instructive to know that the chief
A. B. C. of Nukubiva, who had become a convort
and was in edifying state, had eaten three of his
wives, nibbled the shoulder of a fourth, and had
been saved at a cost of 42,317 65c. to the benevo-
lent people of the United States.—frete York
Herald.