The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-25
A VAST SUM TO BE PAID.
Countless Insurance Policies on the
Life of Queen Victoria.

|
LONDON. Jan. 24-The financial effect
Of the Queens death will be widespread
and in the aggregate enormous. The mos
direct penalty falls on the insurance com
panies, nearly ali of which suffer. The
have, however, no reason to complain be
cause owing to the Queens advanced ag
they received much more in premium
during the past half century than the
must now disburse as principal.
The Queens life was never insured II
| American fashion for the benefit of he
children II was, however. insured b.
hundreds. probably thousands. of person
| in no way connected with her, but who's
business would suffer by her death. 1t i
| possible to insure against almost any i'm
aginable contingency in England If sufh
cieDt premium is paid. The current rat
| on the Queen life a few months ago wa
II per cent for enc year.
Most of the theatrical and other amuse
ment managers and the proprietcrs o
| fashionable shops were accustomed to in
sure the Queens life at the beginning o
| the season in order that they might re
! coup the heavy loss her death would en-
tail. Practically every theatre in England
/ will remain closed until after the funera
and the attendance thereafter will be Sc
riously affected for a long time. The
| blight descends on several branches o.
trade which will continue throughout The
year of mourning.
Another numerous class who insured
! the Queens life quite heavily were those
who are dependent upon the privy purse
either by direct payments or as tenants
of the many royal estates. such as Eamp-
ton Court Palace. All these privileges
cease unless the King sees fit to renew
them There is also the Queens numer-
Gus personal encourage, who will mostly
be supplanted, as the King already has
his own. .
Lastly, there are those among the poor
who insured the Queens life as specu-
lation. There are many such. The prac-
tice was fostered by the benefit societies
whose ordinary business is to insure chill
dren's lives for a small sum for a penny
week. Their agents were everywhere
among the poorest classes. and their Gus
tom was, where there were no children to
insure to induce the ignorant to pay a
penny a week to insure the life of the
Queen. II is difficult to understand the
motive appealed to, but certainly the So
licitations were successful in thousands
of cases. The losses that all these COM
panies must meet largely account for the
weakness of eonsols, which they are COM
PEELED to sell.
a medical examination or knowledge Of
the person insured is entirely opposed to
American practice. American Offices here
continually received offers of such bust
ness. The late Duke of Edinburgh once
sought to obtain 900 insurance from
an American company. but declined an
examination of the risk. His application
was refused.
Many other financial and commercial
agreements lapse through the Queens
death These are matters in which the
Queen had not the remotest concern, and
II Is difficult to understand why they were
made terminable upon such a contingency
unless it was a peculiar manifestation OF
loyalty. There are many private leases
expiring in this way. and also partner
ships, etc.
There is an exaggerated idea of the
Queens private fortune. She was, Of
course. a rich woman. but was not fsbu-
lously wealthy, as was often assumed. 1t
was stated few months ago that she bad
just invested c j, 600 coo in London ground
rant properties. The Queen caused the
statement to be contradicted with the
gratuitous addition that she did not pos
sess million pounds to invest. It is the
general impression in parliamentary cir
Giles that the allowance of the King will
be fixed at e5O0,0O0 annually. which. If he
surrenders the Crown lands to the Gov
eminent will be entirely covered by the
income therefrom