The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-09-25
Lire Assurance.

I
fraction of society. The perpetual appearance
in our newspapers and periodicals of the adver-
tisements of apparently numberless societies
and companies, framed to transact the business
of life assurance, necessarily famllarlzes the
most superficial observer with the existence
and operation of that system; and perfect
stranger to the habits and character of our popu
lation might with some proprlety be led TO IN
fer from this circumstance that the practice of
the assurance of life forms an essential part of
social economy, and is well understood, both in
reference to its general principles and the vari-
Gus phases which they have been made to as
sumo From the same circumstance, however,
we feel warranted in drawing conclusion d-
rectly the reverse; for there can be no stronger
proof of popular ignorance upon this subject
than is afforded by the terms in which ma
jority Of assurance companies couch their adj
dresses to the public, and the pleas they advance
as reasons for preferring their particular plans.
As general rule, it may be said that these APP
peals are addressed to that very numerous class
who, though not actually mont thinking, are prone
to be satisfied with the smallest possible display
of argument and thought-whose intelligence
and moral sense are sufficiently acute to perceive
the obvious advantages of wise economy, but
who have neither inclination nor opportunity to
look beneath the surface of things presented to
them. On no other ground can we account for
the specious but flimsy characteristics which,
having been assumed by many offices, are
| da1 nth of
which, to say theleast Of it, by no means fiat
tiers the sense of the community. Two other
causes are in operation to aid in producing this
undesirable result. The first is the dry and
somewhat repulsive form in which the theory
of assurance has been expounded by those who
profess to explain it. Had the object been to
throw an air of mystery over matter which is
in reality remarkably simple--to make that ap-
pear difficult and abstruse which is essentially
easy of explanation and singularly practical in
its application--it could not have been done
more efficiently than by the continual use of
mathematical terms and formula by the pro
fessors Of the science, who in this respect de-
serve to be ranked among modern mystery men.
| The other cause to which we have alluded is
that intensity of competition which, running
through every trade and profession, has appa-
rently seized upon life assurance as its favorite
prey. Regarding society as whole, not a few
are being fast driven to the conclusion that I'M
restrained competition, while it has developed
to an extraordinary extent the means of pro-
ducing wealth, given mighty stimulus to me-
chancal invention, and turned into a practical
direction many discoveries of science, has, on
the other hand nurtured an Unsuitable spirit of
cupidity, bringing in its train an unchristan
jealousy, and mode of dealing utterly nimical
to the growth of independent thought and the
exercise of high morality. So it has become
with life assurance, which, instead Of being re-
garded as the exercise of pure and benefcent
principle, has sunk into an ordinary trade, con-
Quoted for the advantage of a few, rather than
the benefit of many, and apparently regarding
as legitimate the publication Of illusory gain,
land every other mode which may have the eff
feet of inducing the unwary to enter into con-
tracts that are in most instances to extend
over their lives, and which in the end may
prove much less beneficial than otherwise they
might be.
The theory probabilities, which constitutes
one Of the main elements of life assurance, was
primarily applied to the assurance of property
against the casualties Of fire and the perils of
the sea. The period of its original application
has formed topic of ingenious speculation, and
still remains uncertain. BY some its existence
has been traced to date long antecedent to
the supremacy of England as commercial and /
maritime power. 1t has been attributed to the
Rhodians, who were supreme in commerce
many generations before the Christian era; and
the absence of complete body Of the Rhodian
law renders US unable to establish or negative
the opinion. Others, again, have protested to
trace this kind of contract among the Romans:
but the passages that have been cited from the
history Of that people resolve themselves into
4 statement that risk Of transport for the use
of the Roman government was by that govern
ment taken upon itself-a kind of indemnity
having no precise resemblance to our idea
Of assurance. Passing over the intervening
period. and glancing at the history Of the
modern States of Europe, we find grounds
for supposing that the Jews of France in
vented the contract when they were driven
out of that country in 1882; but as their
object was to secure TO themselves, when out
of that kingdom, the value of the effects they
had left, their contracts may be said rather
to have resembled our bills of exchange than
policies of insurance. 1t is more than proba-
! Bile, then, that the Lombards were the earliest
Of the European States in the use of insurance
The author of treatise ''on the Law of Fire
and Life Insurance" AYERS that the policy of ma
rine insurance, even Of the present day, is an
antique form Of contract used by the LON
bards; and SO early 1920 policies issued at
Antwerp We're made according to the custom
Of the Lombards, in Lombard street, London"
1t is singular. therefore, that though original
ing in the continental States Of Europe, the
application Of the principle has there continued
to be Insignificant in its extent. Life annuities
have been more popular, arising, perhaps,
chiefly from the plan of Tontines, introduced
into France by clever Neapoitan, and which