The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-03-14 00:00:00

REPORT BY THE DIRECTORS

The Directors have again the pleasure of reporting a larger
amount of new business in the past than in any previous
year.

nner or roncies issued nas been 472 ; the sum assured
.mounting to .e 213,631 165., and the Annual Preniiems

amount of Assurances were offered,

but aeclined

It is scarcely necessary to remark that the past year hay been
one of extreme pressure on the' resources of ahnostevery class,
of society. So large an amount of new business could, there.

ideiice of the extension of Life

rally, and of the growing.conviction on the part of the public of
the advantages offered by this Institution. It is interesting at
the same time, in a general point of view, to notice that, so far
as the Directors had the means of tracing, only a very.sinall
proportion of the Assurances were made in connection with.

the piisi year, and of the

he commercial occurrences of
scarcity of money, has, how-

While this
gretted,thc

result which, in its geni2ral aspect, is to be re
s no doubt it is yet a source of considerable gait

to the common fund

The number of deaths in the year of Members assured for
capital sums has been 32, and the amount of claims thereby
emerging -t17,800; on the: other.hand three Annuities have
fallen in, for two of which sums amounting to 415001iad re-
..

was Qt. smat

T alnopnt.

Cons'.

the Directors do not doubt that the CAnitritnitors7w;i4l-elrg
pared to expect whigher rate in their own body than has occur-
red hitherto, and they consider they have cause for congratula-

"U. Lta ALMA. 21ULIILL11:11-ill141111g I,IICII increases num tiers,
and the now advanced age of some of the members, the-deaths
in the year do not exceed one and a quarter per cent. of the
whole number, a proportion considerably short of the average
number provided for by the Tables of the Society.
The net amount of Assurances subsisting at 31st December,
11.1-17, was .i:1,137,657 Os. ; and the income, from premiums
alone, exclusive of revenue from accumulated fond, .411,344:
The position of the London Branch has occupied much of the
attention of the directors, during the year. After mature con-
sideration, they were unanimously of opinion that it was essen-
tial for the interests of the Society that a new agent should he

the Ili-such, 111 relation to the general managgmen of the
Institution, occurred between the General Board and the Local
Directors, which. they regret to say, resulted in the resignation
of the latter gentlemen. their influence* undoubtedly, in
a great measure, to be attributed the decided success which
has attended the establishment of the Branch; and it is grati-
fying therefore to know, as the Directors do froth the best of
all evidence, that their withdrawal has not in any way dimi-
nished their good will towards the Institution, and that their
influence will still be exerted'in its favour.

The Directors do not propose to supply. their place in the
mean time, but to.conduct the business in immediate connec-
tion with the Head Office-z-fir which the rapid
itnturoon rd. " -

ommunica-

facility,

They have appointed Mr. Wit.statt Owirc HAREts,to the
office of Agent and Secretary, and they trust that, in this
appointment and in their other arrangements, they have made
provision for the continued and increased ISUCCPS6O the Branch.

In regard to the Glasgow Branch, the directorsi have much
satisfaction in reporting that its. progress is, in all respects,
satisfactory,• and that a large increase of business has been
made in the year. They have also the pleasure of reporting the
continued interest taken in the Society by the gentlemen asso-
ciatedas an Honorary Board in Manchester.

In the circular letters auto advertisements calling this meet-
ing, the contributors were made aware that the preliminary
steps have been taken • for obtaining from Parliament an ' Act
conferring on the Society the privileges and benefits of town,
poration. The. Bill contains a few slight alterations•Qn some
of the minor details of the .deed of constitution. Thcse have
already been unanimously approved of by two consecutive
:special meetings of the Board of Directors, to the latter of which
the Auditors and Trustees were invited.---all in terms of Act
37 of the Deed of Constitution.

The Directors have further to report that, a vacancy.havisig
occurred in their number, by the resignation of Mr.. Robert
Robertson, they unanimously nominated Mr. A ITKE N MEGOET,.
one of the original Directors, in his place.
A vacancy having also occurred in the body of Trustees, by.
the death of one of their number, the Directors unanqmously
appointed to that office Mr. CHARLES COWAN, Member of Par-
liament for the City. .

. •
It remains for this meeting to confirm these appointments,
-as well as to appoint three Directors in room of the' three at
the top of the list, who now retire in terms of the rules.
The heads of the Bill for Incorporation, referred to in the
report, having been read, and the Bill laid on the table,—
Mr. JOHN SEMANTIC :MOHE, Profesior of Scots Law in the
University of Edinhurgh said,—l have been somewhat unex-
pectedly called upon to propose a motion for the adoption of
this meeting, which, however, I do. with thegreatestTleasure,
because I have always taken a deep interest in the sue&ss and
prosperity of this Institution. I had many interesting consul-
tations with my late friend Mr. Cleghorn, before this Institution
was formed, and 1 was so satisfied of the sound and :scientific
principles on which it was based, that 1 never doubted that, as
soon as they came to be understood, it wonld meet with that
general favour and support which I am glad to see it has, to
such an extent, received. There were two great principles on
which Mr. Cleghorn proceeded. The first was to make the
Premiums as low as was consistent witli the entire safety of the
Institution, and so as to secure, beyond all risk, the fulfilment
of its obligations. In this respect, most of the existing Assur-
ance Companies bad been misled by the Northampton tables,
and had made the Premiums for young which I in-
clude ages up to fifty or so—much higher than was necessary,
while their tables for the older lives were somewhat too low.
This error was perceived by Mr. Cleghorn, who, from more
recent and better calculated mortality tables, found that the
premiums.for these younger lives could be safely and very con-
siderably reduced; and he framed a table which all subsequent
experience lies proved to be singularly correct. lam happy to
say that, since this table was framed by Mr. Clegborn, the
Registrar-General of England has appended to one of his late
Reports a table for the gnidance of Life Assurance Societies

and it is ee►y gratifying
table are nearly th

to find that the rates specified in that
ame, end in many instances precisely the
,is Institution. sow one of the chief and
resulting from this redaction of the pre•
miums upon the younger lives is, that it, operates as a direct
bonus in favour of .every. Insurer, when the premiums of this
Institution are contrasted with those payable to,the older As-
surance Societies. It operates in this way. A person bf twenty
years of. age, insuring with this Institution. can, for the pay-
ment of the same annual sum which other offiCes would demand
for insuring aloo, insure here Xll5 or .'l2O, payable imme-
diately on his death. The Premium payable to this Institution
for ~100 is £1 15s. Pd., while, in other Offices, it is ~62 Is. 6t1., or
or £2 3s. 2d., and, in some, still higher. There is thus an
immediate and certain benefit secured by the-lower-rates of
premium. lint the second, and most important improvement
suggested by Mr. ('leghorn was this, that if any profits should
be made, after paying an-expenses and securing all the obliga-
tions, as must be the care, even •at his reduced rates of
mium, these were not to he frittered away among those insurers,
or their representatives, whose contributions .to the *general
fund could never possibly: have tOuled to make such profits;
but should be reserved for distribution among those contritni-
tors whose payments into the general fund hail come to be equal
to the sum assured.: .711 e importance of this, improvement has
never, I think, been -sufficiently estimated. And truly the
practice which has prevailed in .several highly respectable and
flourishing Alutual Assurance SoCieties, of giving a' share of
what they call their bonuses or pe•ofits to the representatives of
every insurer, who has been such for five years, is, to say the
least, very strange, and seems to indicate very limited know-
ledge of the true principles of life Assurance. It reminds me
of the old rule byl.whi h originally all lives, whether young or
old, were equally insured at the same insariable rate of 5 per
cent. The absurdity of this rule was soon- discovered ; but
truly the other is not flinch less absurd. Why, in five or seven
years, every life should get the same share of what are called
profits, is utterly incomprehensible.. The delay is plainly in-
tended to approximate somewhat to the num assured 1 but this
can never besione upon reasonable principles, till there be a.
graduated. scale, Corresponding to the age of the parties, he.
cording to which the pretits shall be distributed among the
policies which fa11...1f any Office were to insure a person at 75
years of age, which, I flare say; few ()dices would do, I :haw no
doubt the. premiums .would be so high that, in five years, it
would approximate to the sew ittsured; itrul if this sum were
4'loo, &MA if. 2 per cent. yearly of„profits were to lie added, for
each of the five years, supposing the policy then to fall, the sum
'payable would be iO. • But, suppose , a young man of
nsure £lOO at .t. 2 a year, and to pay the iwemitun f
-oars, and then to die, his representatives would I
rqually dr
per cent. yearly upoii his policy, and would also Fe .i. 110;
hat all that the office would receive by this transaetion o'ou/it
he premiums which bad been p,tid. Nr,t
re absurd- than this. It tide: -
representatives, drawing the ,1100 in
more than they had paid into the office, would yet a sntlicient

same, with those of t

he intere,tl
hat th,

be th(

1,:7t tkome raurr. fJ the ; ;Ltd hi 4011...„
they should have all the preipisAlz* returaea to tlicin, under tbe.
uktne of 6o2tcs, I cannot cmceive. Yet this is tb (wail ice.
-