The Sun.
London, England, 1810-06-15 00:00:00

FRIDAY,

T.l,OYD's, June 14, ;Sic).
21.1, a GENERAL MEETING of the SUB-
SCRIBERS to this House, held this Day,
I A Sk'ER Esq. in the Chair;
The Proceedings of the General Meeting held on the 29th
Of January last, were read and confirmed, '•
Ttie requisition-for this Meeting having been read, the fol-
lowing Report was handed to the Ch.irman, and reacCby
him :

The,Special Committe appointed on thec2oth of January,
last, by the Stibscribets to this House, for the purpose
of,comiteraCting the Plan of a projeded ‘‘Marine In-.
surance,- Company," and of -opposing any application
which might be mad 9 to Pa rliament,. or to the LOrdS*of
tne Privy Council, for an Act or Charter to enable such-
Company to cued Matine I nsurances,and to take all such
measures as they Should deem expedient for that pur-
pose, •beg gave to report,
That in pursuance of such appointment they immediately
retained the most able Counsel at the Bar, and having soh-
cited and obtained on the•tollosving day an audience of the
First Lord of the Treasury, ,they stated to hint nut merely
the grievances such a charter would. occasion to the subscrib-
ers to this House. in general, but also the impolicy of the
measure in a commercial point of view.
Your committee. after this,_ chreded a Memorial to be.
prepared, and the same was accordingly .resented, not only
twine Lords of the Privy Council, but to_the Lords of:the
Treasury, and copies were also sent to all the law officers of
the-Crown. - -
Yaur Committee shortly after learnt that apetitiotajo.the
.
House
of Commons had .been -presented by promdters of the
new Marine Insurance Insurance Company, acct another by
the Dire tors of the Globe Insurance Office; and having ob-
tained a copy of such Petitions,
_it appeared, that they had
a double object in view, namely, to procure for -themselves
new charters, or to obtain a repeal of .so much of the Ad of
6. Geo. I. c, iB. as gives exclusive privileges to the Royal
Exchange and London:Assurance COmpsanies, to died 'Ma.
rine Insurances. - '
Those Corporations being naturally alarmed at these 'peti-
tions, invited Your t.ornmittee to join them in. their endea-
.yours to defeat the objeds of thepetitioners ;" -and your' Coin-
mittee, after mature c nsideritiOn, being fully coovinced.
that the repeal of thech ters would-he attended With greater
evils tathis House than the grant • of_ any new one, din not'
hesitate to accede to thelOritatlint s • arid notice of a untiori
3,ci
having.been given in the Hotse of Commons for' the appoint-
ment'of a seled Committee; Mr. Marrytitt and, Mr: Grenfel
Opposed such appointment, and Moved,-to substitute an open
Committee in its stead. Upon which occasion thIS- Com-
mime cannot but. notice that Mr. Marryatt made a speech
in the House, which is beyond any eulugium they can be-
stow ; and ,considering it of great unportance that it should
be generally known, the Conithinee solicited from Mr.
Marrayatt permission to print it: Theit efforts to obtain an
open Committee
,tvere however unavailing,- and -the motion.
being carried, aSeled Committee was appointed for the pur.
pose of considering the state and Means of effeding Marine
insurances, and without the slightest intention 61 detrad
ing from thethonour andrespettability of all the individuals
who compokd that Committee, if .could not but -strike the.
eye of every Man who read the list, ,that -there were many
whose .partners were snhscribers to the petition, and who ,
were of course interested in the plan. - - . ' . •
The seled Comanittee being thuS formed, and having had
before them such witnesses as`the projnoters of. the new Com-
pany thc,ught proper to prodtice, for. the purpose of estab-
lisliing'the Want of facility and security' by the present sysr,
tem of Insurance, several ofyour Com initteespresemed thein,
iser yes to support the interests of -this House, and they trust,
that aided as they were..by others of the SObscrit;ers, and by
'Merchants of great respectability and experience, arch a body-
of viden...e was' produced as could rot fail to convince every
impartial mind tnat sthere does not ex isOint?splid guoural for
tile csiab Islaneat ot a new Mari..., Insurance Company,--
or this opinion, indeed, the m
select Coiniqee the.iiselves
appear to have been ; . tor alter act ioNcstigation wiiicil,l!sted•
six Weeks, , the report they. tria,!e to 'the House of Corn-
ions ciOnclndes-, without any rec. ion,endation tor the Web-
lishment ot a new. Chartered Company. -
Doting the period this investigation occupied, your Corn-
knitee thought it right to circulate amongst the Members of
Parliament some pamphlets written on -the subject ; and
having prevailed on Mr. Marryatt, as before stated, to permit
them tapritit his speech, that also was circulated, and they
have reason to believe Witb the best effect.
- So soon as the Report of the Seled CoMmittee was pre-
Sented to the House of Commons, and a copy of it obtained,
• your Committee, conceiving it not to -be supported by the
evidence,:tesolved -to countered the ' cited' it was likely-te.
produce; and understanding that Mr. Marryatt had propared
a counter report, (which he had in vain proposed to the Select
Committee for their adoption) it was detenni cd to apply to
him to puiSiishit, with observations upon the ',oon, in winch
Ile acnuiesced; and this pamphlet was also sent to the Mem-
bers alt the House Of Commons. • .
A Bi,ll was next brought into Parliament by the promoters.
of, the -new Marine Insurance Cornpan), ; and it appeared; on
a perusal of_ it, that they now abandoned the idea of obtain.
ing a Charter, or any Ad of Incorporation: The Bill merely
having fordisobjed a repeal of so much of the Ad ot 6Geo 1.
c. IS, as gives the exclusive priviege to the Royal Exchange'
and London Assurance companies of insuring in partnership,
. and of lending money on bottoniry. ,
On the first- view of this . hill it May possibly occur to
massy Underwriters, that there was 0o very great objection
to it, as being calculated merely to open the Insurance busi-
ness to all, upon equal terms ; but-upon due consideration
of the measure, and the consequences to which it would na-
turally-lead; your-Committee were unanimously of opinion
that it would be attended with much greater evils to this
Mouse and to the Conimercial World at large, than the esta-
Wish/nein of any single new Chartered COmpany. The
effect of taking off' the legal restraint imposed by the Ad
would instantly • be, that every Fire. Office in London alai
Westmiostet wont(' be convened into a Marine Insurance
Cosi pany • that many other Companies would allti be'esta.
blis;:ed in: Condon, and all tiie out-ports in Great Britain
would likewise have their Marine Insurance Condpaiiies., - •
.1t was therefore the decided opinion'of your Committee, •
from every thing which had conic tinder their consideration
since-they were appointed,- that any alteration in the taw,
which in its effect might permit l i.surance Compani•tito be '
4.oranclat pleasure, under the• denomination of !Olin Stock,
Companies, would not only Mint .te against the interests of
the private Underwriters, and be highly injurious to the d
Merchants, but be pr cludive also -of great public mischief.,
by opeoing a field for numerous Schemes and Speculations,
particularly calculated to tempt and- &Jude the Public troin
the chances that are necessarily attendant upon every -species
of' Insurance business. " - ..
They therefore resolved that any alteration to the Law
shoUld•be most strenuously- opposed, and for this purpose a
Petition was immediately presented to the House or Com-
mons against the Bill passing into a Law, and 'praying that
the Subscribers to. this House,- Might be heard against it tfy
their Counsel, Agents, and Witnesses. An Order .of the
House_was accordingly made fin' that purpose; and after
Conr&l and Agents had attended, for three nights without
being called in, (from the press of other public nosinessr rhe
Honourable centleman woo brought in . tile lii, I upon the
fifth instant, (when it stood fora a Second reading among' the
other Orders of the Day) declined moving it, and the Bill
was therefore lost without any discussion having taken place
on its merits. .
Whether it will be resumed in the next Beiori of Par-
liament, your Conan-nye& Cannot positively state; brit they
have reason to believe that the object is not altogether aban,
doned, 'and they:shall therefore leer it their duty to •ke-.1) a
' watchful eye upon any .proceedings for that purpose.
' Your Committee cannot, in Justice to their own feelings,
conclude their 'report, -without takingarthe opportunity of
-acknowledging their obligations- to Nfr Marryatt, tor ind
great, attention and unwearied zeal hellas sliewin in
_protect:,
ing the interests Of this House, and, for Ille• WIC-Natripied
ability with which he advocated their caose *both in the•
House of Commons, and before the Select Commutfe.
,Lloyd's, r4th !nor, igio, ~(Signed)
1. 1. ANGERSTEIN, S.;SHA \V, '
T. PARRY,* • I. li.TH.RocKmokToN
, ,
FCCLAGETT ' f. R I.; E , .), -G. M.UN It.( ), - - I.- INNES,' -
• '.n. la- E. ‘V ZNI El A Nl, E: HEIN'I'Z,'
• I. REEVE, 'l', 11A LLI DAN, ,
,
Resolved Unaniniu4Sly, That the Rein,rt be published in