The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-09-26 00:00:00

TI4E _STATrsmAH

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NORWICH UNION FIRE dr LIFE SOCIETY. t Of the Auditors, the Committee could only say, that
with their conduct the Committee hail reasou•to be
Yesterday a General Meeting of the Insurers et t satisfied; they were most strict in the elimination
the Norwich Union Fire and Life Office was held at'. and passing of the accounts.
the City of London TeverW, Ilishopsgate-street, for The Local Committees appear to be most respect.
the purpose of receiving the Report of the Comp.it. able. , I
tea appointed on the 27th of Jets last to investigate The Agents shall he noticed below.
the charges made against that Office. The Meeting i 3d. Oa the subject of the Fire Department.
the Committee Report, that since the ezebbloh.
was summoned for 12 o'clock, at which hour there
ment of the Institution is the year 1791, the to.
appeared a very numerous and a very respectable at. tat sum of Premiums received has bete ./4:46 04,
999 677 15
16 6
teedatice of Members. About half.past 12 the Com. And the Ex peaces
mittee of Enquiry entered the room.
Mr. Alderman Perm:son (of Norwich) proposed
Esq. to the Chair. This was unatti.
Thin. Bentley,
sweaty agreed to, and
Mr. Bsest.cy having taken the Chair, observed,
that the motion was made against his will ; he should,
however, nett himself to di.cherge the duties which
it imposed upon him. Ile felt satisfied that under
their protection he *tumid be able to preserve order
end a proper attention to every Gentleman who
might deliver his sentiments. This was what he con-
fidently expected from so respectable a Meeting as
that whirl, he sae, around. him.
It was then weed that the Report of the Commit.
tee should he read. w hide being carried in the affir.
moire, F. A. earke, Esq. *IV requested to read it
It isc ,;(1 be 'impo,sibte t• insert the whole, but the
f„ti...4 4,4 ',ollie will give our readers a tolerable idea
of its
Sabo:lnce of the Report by the Committee, ap.
voluted At hiss GMIPTAI Meeting of Insurers
with the Norwich Fire .'nd Life Association, held
at the York Hotel, 13iidge•street, Blseltf,iars,
London, el the 27th day of July. 1818, burl laid
bef.co another Meeting of the said Liaurerie, held in
the City of London Tavetn. Dishopsgate.street,
• en 0 I 25th day of September, 1818, Ttioetas
BEN :.LEY, Esq. in the Chair.
The Iterw t set out with stating, that the enqui-
ries refer:id to the Committee, were here classed by
them untie' four heati.:—The its, including the
Claims made upon t' .o Society—The 2d. a view of
its Constitution bar' Management—The 3tl, an Ac-
count of the Fire D. ptrtment—The 4th, of the Life
Department—And the h, a Statement of the Funds;
to which some general obsetvat,on were added, along
with an Appendix of Documents referred to.
Ist. The Committee invited all claimants to make
known their demands to them, and at the same time
Addressed a letter to Mr. Wet man Thorp, desiring
to have a communication of such particulars known
to his Committee, ea they, deemed of importance ; his
answer stated that that their Committee were at the
time prosecuting the necessary enquiries.
Before stating the particulars of these claims, the
Report contained an account of the formation} of the
Committee, and particularly a statement, that upon
intimating their appointment to the Directors st Nor.
wich, they teceised a ratification of their powers
from that body, and an intimation of its reediness to
communicate any information that might be ',setal.
The claims made were classed by the Com-
mittee antler three heads :-Ist, Such as had not
been made public ; 2d, Such as had beets reported
upon by the other Committee as unsatisfactory; and
3d, Sects as had been stated to he litigated.
It is needless to state the particulars of the Report
on these heads, as it would sisell this summary he-
patid the limits which it were necessary to keep in
view ; but the general result WIN that while the
Committee had recommended the settlement of some
of these claims, which had accordingly taken place,
they either had not received sufficient information re-
garding the others to enable theta to report, or had
seen grounds for the resistance which had been made
to their settlement.
2d. On the second he'd, the Constitution of the
Society, the Report cc/Wain/el an opinion, that sari-
-001 improvements were necessary to meet the great
extension of a system so useful as that of the Nor.
wich Association had proved to he; the effective ma.
usgentent appeared to rest with the Board of Di-
rectors at Norwich, of whom sit are a quorum ;
the Gentlemen at present in office are of the utmost
respectability ; and the sons of the Secretary, and
the Actuary, Mr. Morgan, appear to have been most
Correct in all their conduct.
The Treasurers are Day and Sots, Bankers, in
Norwich, for the Fire Deps ft:nent ; and Bignold,
Sons, and Co. for the Life; both allow three per
cent ; but the Com.oittee disapproved of ag) sys-
tem, according to which such large sums of money as
in general were floating should be placed in the hand
of any Company ; a new ar,angement in this respect
therefore appeared to be iittlispetisably necessary.
The Secretaries were Mr. Thos. Bignold„, sett.
in the Life Department, with the power tatno-
minatirig either of his sons as his saceessoaand
Messrs. Thomas and Samuel Bignold, jointly,' in the
Fire Devariment ; of the former of these Gentle-
men the Committee had several observations to make
presently ; of the latter, it was stated that the' seri-
siments of respect for his conduct and character,
which the Committee entertain, are very 'bill's. in-
deer'.
The Solicitor is Mr. Thos. Bignald, jon:;.end a
more intelligent and !roundtable character could not
have been chosen for this situation; the Committee,
therefore, acquit him of any share of that mistaken
policy, which has led to the recent complaints egeinst
the Office.
.There is st present no permanent Surveyor.
In the Life Department the duties of Actuary
are done by Mr. Morgan, under whose superintend-
ence the prosperity of the Institution has evinced 'his
calculations to he correct, and his management jutli.
cious. These Gentlemen have given full information
on the various points stated to them.
One of the serious charges preferred against the
Institution respected the Trustees, in The list of
whom the names of various Noblemen appeared
who had not been invested with trust funds ;
the Committee having diligently enqeired, feel
convinced that no imposition was intended or
practised, though they think it a mistake tied
if named Trustees, they should not have been
requested to take the funds into their custody. The
list of Trustees contained many Gentlemen of the
highest respectability, independent of the Noble eer-
sons joined with them, and these had held a sub-
stantial trust; the others appeared to have given
their consent to the use of their names, and petups
the term Patrons would have been more appropriate
for them.

--: - -
Leaving a balance of ' 117.677 18 4
To which there must be added for Interest 2N589 0 0
And Repayments .1,T32 0 0
------

1e159.458 18 4

The Returns made amnuaterl to 450,599 7 7

And the Balance r► as the Funds at March, 1817X106,9;16 11 9
which the Committee report to have been iuiested iu
the manner particularly stated by them.
Upon the wbote this statement insist be regarded
as ♦ery satisfactory, since, though it does net show
a profit to the extent of 50 per cent. yet shows a very
large profit. nod the Insurers are aware, that during
a part of this perird even that profit has been divided.

Taking the three periods of seven years,
daring which the Soo-logy loots exited, the profit
on the first appeals .o have beeu ....... Wit per Cent.
During the second
•
And the third •
Being egoist to as- average ,edt far she
whole period of
The Committee feel assured that. this stateuteot will
be received as a convincing proof of the superiority
of the plan of mutual assurance over that pursued by
the other Companies, and of the security of this Com.
pany.
They observe that the losses have been unusually
great during the year 1817. and ou et.quiring, there
is reason to believe that the proportion of incendiary
fires has considerably increased ; four convictions
obtained during that year (three cases of i item:Wearies
and one of fraudul• ot fire) area proof of this.
They recommend that a further proportion cf the
pretniums(ll per cent.) should he appropriated in aid i
of the present aurplu,., which would protect the in.
surers frvin all possiblity of being called upon to pay
the losses of others ; and being laid out at interest
would not in the end diminish,- though in the meat.
time it 'right defer their prod's.
4th. The Life Department.—By this part of the Report, it
appe.tred that there 'hail Io•eu received tor Bromism, Endow-
tues.no, Annuities. &c. up to the year lbiB,l4e
I soon of .
1 Oat of which there had been. paid • .C 194.142 11 4

.7 .17.- `.

in the management, and particularly of-Mr. Bignola,
senior ; bet, after the most deliberate consideration
and enquiry, the Committee are of opinion, that his
immetliateletirement from the °Mee of Secretary is
indispensably necessary for. its future welters and
prosperitY. Under e well-regulated maisagOusent of
its affairs, and a judicious controol, the Committe"
thick' that this Institution hes a fair ptospect not
only of affording ample remeneration, and even of
yielding profits to its Members, but of rising in the
estimation .ofzthe-Pebtle,""tilrit ile with the first
Establishments of the kind io.the kingdom.
There was an Appeodit to the Report,.whicis the
Chairman conceived it unnecessary-tabs read, as it
consisted of numerous letters which were very long,
and which wool() be printed along with the Report.
Their contents were highly honourable to. the So-
ciely, and to the conduct of the-Ditetteia.
Mr. PATTISON then moved, that the very able
Report now read, be received and adopted by this
Meeting.
Mr. Alderman Thou. seconded the -motion, and
observed, he had great satisfaction in bearing teitih
mony to the great pains and labour with which it
must have been produced, since it was a Report of
such great ability and impartial investigation. lie
was happy thus to explaio,because he was charged
with acting hostilely to the'present Committee. lib
was., however, not less happy that he had acted with
. the approbation of his colleagues of the George slid
Vulture, and since the Report now read, had
ad-
mitted that faults existed in the management of the

..... ..._..__.._ _ _
Institution, he was particularly happy that this Re-
port had provided • remedy for them. It was not
denied by the present Report, Wit certain claloss
ti.id been utivatisfied.—he *Auld. not be answeraiile
tor the ousoher of them, It eat far from the otject
of the George and Vulture Committee to throe, any
slur upon the Inititution.. Those claims had oow
been itivettioted by another Committee, whose ex-
ertions fully tlyarrired the approbati in of alt liberal

mind,. lie slid not mean so Mato il.4t Vie concern

was not solvent ; he only wished to brit' in ques-
tion the reasons for evading this enqu;r► ; and Ise was
happy to have (lone so, because those reasons were
most satisfactory to the credit of the Institution.—
The necessity for enquiry, sod the importance of it,
was borne out by the present Report. lie was
happy thus far to hue co• operated with those Gete•
tlemen, whose object was the good of the Society.
Mr. BIIGPIOLD, spit, stepped forward, but
being opposed.
Mr. ROBUST BARRY* a Barrister, stood• up. lie
was &plied if he was sit Insurer, and answered in the
'orffirmatiee. lie observed, he would not be so inde-
corous. to stand up to address a group of hottoureble
men like the present assembly, if he was not duly
qualified as an Insurer. and if he had not a right to do
so as a Member of the Society. Ile had heard with
patience the veryliberal and elaborate Report now
read. lie hoped those who had produced it would
meet every reward duet,, the great talent, study, and
integrity which was due to them. Upon the merits
of the Report itself be should be sorry to offer any
objection. He only wished to move en amendment
with regard to one highly meritorious and respectahle,
individual, whose character had been most unjustly
aspersed and injured by it, and with regard to the
character of an Englishman, the feelings of English.
men would bear him oat in saying, he hoped they
would not let prejudice or malevolence enter into
their)contempla tion,so as to justify any intemperance;
for, as regarded the protection of personal charac-
ter, these Would not be suffered to take piece
of fair argument. Ile had a difficult task to per-
form in addressing a public assembly, confessedly
under great prejudice with respect to the individual
in whose behalf he spoke ; bet, for the sake of jus-
tice, he demenderl. hearing. Men, in general,
were not without faults ; it was more than was con.
siatent with human nature to expect perfection.
which did toot belong to it, and such might by true
with regard to Mr. Bignold, under the great diffi-
culties in which he was placed ; but to condemn that
Gentleman unheard, the father and founder of this
great and flourishing Institution, as, by the Report
now read, it unquestionably was, would be an act of
marked injustice. There was but one ground stated
upon which Mr. Big-told ought to retire. namely,
that it would benefit the Society. Here was a paint
opon which he most humbly and anxiously supplicat-
ed justice. Had they ever called upon Mr. Bignold
to justify his conduct--had they once called hits
►efore them—had they heard witnesses in his behalf?
If they had first heard and then condemned, he
should have beets silent 1A his defence, and should not
have opened his mouth on the *object, for, in that
ease, be did not know how he could defend him.—
Ile believed those Gentlemen, whet► they prejudged
Mr. Bignold, with ■'l their zeal and talent did not
>now they were doing wrong, but it was a principle
of the Constitutional law of this country, which
would not suffer any man, from the Prince upon the
Throne downwards, to be condemned unheard, with:
out witnesses, and onconfronted by his accuser'
being placed before hirn.—(Cries of "hear, hear !"
"Mr. Bignold is in the room," with continued inter-
ruption.) —He was here, it was true, but what thi
Learned Counsel complaioed of was, he had not
beets heard upon the subject before condemnation.—
(I/car, hear! and continued interruption.)
Mr. BROOK, a Member of the Committee, spoke
hr vindication of their conduct. The Committee had
most deliberately come to the opinion, that it was
for the interest of the Society that Mr. Bigaeld
should retire. They had signified to Mr. Bigeold,
the propriety of retiring before the Report should, ba
given in, mud he had hoped that, in consequence,
they could this day apply the old_obserestion to him,
—de mortals nil nifi borsion,—( Laughter.)--They
imputed no misconduct to him—they snitched no dis-
grace to his character. Ilia honesty etid his zeal were
not only enimpeached, but highly meritorious. His
zeal was noti however, tempered with 'prudence.—
(Applause.)---=That lie acted according to the best of
hisjadgment they would admit, but hisjodgment of the
peeper mode of acting was such as to reader his retire-
meat indispensable to the prosperity of the Society.
—(Great applause.)
Mr. BtueOLD addressed the Meeting at consider.
able length, lie wield not enders to-have his came
bandied from one part of the kingdoth to the other
as a person who had been guilty of crimioal offence,
without any specific charge !against him. All he
, wanted was a fair enquiry iuto his coodect. Was he

Leavings Balance of • 257,190 19 9
After the most Mature Consideretion. of 1014 de-
partment, the Commitee expressed the 'highest
heti ,0 at its results.
The Committee have the high satisfaction to state,
that the funds, of which the disposition is consider.
ed beluse, woul,l be sufficient to reinsure the whole
risk now I ring upon the Members, at the Equitablis.
Mice Hates (which are higher than those of the
Norwich), supposing the lives not to have been de-
teriorated otherwise than by the Increase of mg..
The Committee here expressed their high satisfse.
lion at the zeal shown by the Agents of the Institu-
tion, whose watchfulness appears in general to have
protected the Office from losses, and thus to baste
contributed, in an important manner, to its present
prosperit). The unusual number of attestations,
and other precautions required also has been very
useful.
It does not appear that a single claim on the Life
Insti,utiott is unsettled, though it now issues a greater
needier of policies than any other in the kingdom.
The Committee would have abstained in their Re.;
pert from all notice of the other Institutions had
they pursued a similar course ; but their conduct to.
wards this Office has forced comparison ; the Com.
mittee fully believe, that whatever may have been the
intentions of the other Companies, this Society will
have cause to rejoice in the present investigation its
place of its enemies.
Here the Report enters into some particulars re-
garding the history of the Equitable Society, from
which it is inferred, that the charge of improvidence
and rashness brought against this Society, is quite
without foundation ; and with regard to the eager.
nest for extending their business, which has been im-
puted to the Directors, the Committee think it
enough in answer to say, that 900 applications for
Life Insurinces have been rejected since the first
establishment. ef the Oifi.ce, in 1808, while during
the first five years no single risk beyond 30001. was
Lakets•
A peculiar advantage attending this Institution is,
that it makes no charge for entrance money, by
which more than .20001.'wei made by the Equitable
during last year ;. the plan also of proportioning
bonuses to the. gdflif paid is better than the Equitable
plan of proportioning theta to the sum insured. An-
other argument also in 'airport of this Institution
may be derived from the fact, that the Rate of Mor-
tality essumod its its Tables, is greater than the ac-
tual rate, so much in, .that the Actuary of the other
Instito.ion has shoWn,, (mai sap
.experience of 30
years, the Awarleitibt.On4r. have came upon the
Office, when by.thg:4lcalation literate was three. -
sth. Funds appear to the Committee, from IV
sethenticated statements, to show -islet, to; 'lto
amount of 366,0871. Os. 6d.
From all the evidence that the Committee have
-seen, they have the gratification to believe, that a
more respectable, assiduous, and responsible body of
Agents does not exist, than -the great majority of
thosein the service of this lostitotion, in which way
not more than 15001. has been lest by insolvencies,
while no less a sum thin • 700,0001: bas passed
through their hands.
Of the mortgages at present taken in the names of
Mr. Thomas and Mr. Samuel Hignold, the Commit-
tee have recommended that, a transfer should be
made to certain of the Trustees; a proposition
which was at once acceded it) on the part of Mr. Sa-
muel Higeold, though the answer of the other Gen-
tipmau bee riot .been eqoally satisfactory.
On the sabot.; the Committee express an no-qua
lified approbation of the general principles of this
Institution; hut are of opinion that great defects
exist in the Deeds of Settlement, which call for in.
vt•stigatien ; and that some improprieties in the ma-
nagement have occurred, which, if not corrected,
may provedetritnental to the Society.
It would hive been gratifying to the Committee to
have been able to speak favourably of all the perste,