The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-13
FROM A KINGS LIFE
TO AN INFANTS TOOTH
The Iloyds Take All RiSkS---lnSure an Elephant
Gamble on Elections, Book Against
Twins and TripletS.

a. 81 the rate of 80 per cent
$50 the Kings life till the emu Vi IVY
thew charged 81 per cent for the
Of course, no physician actlhs ~ ns
,,ndarwriters had examined tne rho
~ law in bed in Buckingham S,,na
underwriters had no means VI anart
tha Kings chances of survival
M tno onmnaring the newspaper reports
ter such information as they couii -
-. themselves. 1t was merely gaHipiiiis
the Kings ufe-a bet of loo 10 % VI,
~ mart of the insurers on the rNe
lasting over that period OF uthe; l.,
Tha1 is IIoyds. The underwriters III
.sat eigantic agency will insure aiihoee
ANYTHING. will take any chances 20 ione
os the premium Is large enough |" W.
respond with the risk .,.u. lose
Tney had already insured asdlnS. -,
r,anv who were financially interesteu -
iilaiS o1.ation and many who were not
TSo,I md insured stand owners, decoi a
go and florists 1t Is estimated 'he!
80 lost on a conservative OASIS
s.as+ million dollars by the cereHo"'
nostponement over the days set ~, I've,
thars sbould he no coronation at an my
stand To lose at least half as much asaii'
on policies covering that rlsk'
insured All Jubllees.
On the other hand, the underwriters IN,
sured the late Queens golden 1uollee GU
her diamond jubilee, and, as pom 80 n
Mace according to schedule they me- az.
rnonev on the outcome. They insured 'he
nmaen.s life too. for long years before
- daa+h and made money on that FISK
And on the whole, the underwriters
,iLa bookmakers. usually come out aheau
at the years end.
There is no institution in this country
which does this kind OF tnlng. hioyuo
has marine branches here, but TINS pranch
Of its business is limited to conservative
England. possibly the last place "nete
the gambling spirit might be eXpecteu u
enter into business TRANSACTIONS 10 any
thing like such an extent
In insurance in England there Is a To-
tally different spirit from that Snoyh
here. Even the life companies Will insure
a great man or a prominent woman wlth-
ont the formality of medical examine
ton.
They insured Queen Victoria, and their
losses. should the King die, woulo De
exceedingly heavy. Lord Salisbury Is m
sured in the same way. So are scoIe
of other prominent men whose ueat L
would otherwise bring financial disaster
Opon hundreds OF business enterprises
Years ago King Edward, then Prince
Of wales. desired to insure his life for a
very large amount An American COM
pany which does an extensive business
in England, was asked to take the FISK.
INQUIRY was made if the Prince was VIII
ling to submit to a medical examination.
The Prince was not willing.
Gambling, Not Business
"Then,' said the American company
...La. ,s asmbIinp not business. We
don't take risks upon that pasls.
So an English company insured his lie.
ing business with the increased prestlse
of keeping out of speculative Enterprises.
It has paid the American company well
to refuse.
Insurance in England is very largely
sneculative business with many compa-
MES but the underwriters OF Lloyds outuo
all the companies N gambling. This does
not affect the stability of Lloyds, for that
is a peculiar institution, and insurance is
only one branch of its varied enterprises.
Moreover, the risks undertaken by the
underwriters of Lloyds are individual
risks for which the institution itself is
in no degree liable. This is due in great
measure to the peculiar. circumstances OF
Its growth.
Lloyds started its career early in the
seventeenth century. when one Edward
LLOYD opened a coffee house in Tower
Street. His place was largely patronized
came gradually the headquarters at
which news of the sea could be obtained
That is what 1t did become and the cof-
fee-house feature was gradually eliml-
mated.
The coffee-house was the scene of many
raffles and sales of ships and cargoes
Those were war times. too, and gradually
It became the custom of the shipowners
to speculate in ships and Icargoes before
their arrival.
Underwrite Ships.
Those of the speculative habit would
suhscribe or underwrite their names to
documents insuring outgoing or. incoming
Sims against the chances of wreck or
capture, by the enemy, each subscriber
amending to his name the amount ne
was Wiling to risk Thus in case of acct
dent the loss was divided among the mer-
chants.
If the vessel made her trip safely, the
guarantors received percentage OF the
profit coming to the owner, each accord
ing to the risk he had taken. And SO
grew up the bushes OF under"rluHs III
the shipping trade.
Gradually the underwriting custom be-
gan to be applied to risks other than
marine risks The underwriters scattered
and established offices for themselves
and meantime Lloyds pushed its other
business of collecting and disseminating
marine intelligence.
But nearly 100 years after the estab- |
lishment of the old Coffee-house they as
sembled again in rooms over the Royal
Exchange. 1t was handler to do business
where they could be together, so they
formed an association which while per-
hitting it's members each to take chances
according to his own views. assumed no
liability for the risks he undertook, new
ertheless. did its best to insure. admitting
10 membership only honest and financially
sound brokers-a sort of stock exchange
of marine brokings
That is what it is today. Parliament
long ago held an inquiry into its methods.
the association emerged from it victorious,
and it has since been permitted to do
business as seemed to it best.
Billions in Risks.
Now the assets of the corporation,
which, as has been said. are in no way
nladged by the risks of it's members, are
valued at $20,O0OOO0 at least It's members |
insure every year something like $1,000
co., O0O worth of property. They must de- |
nosit sos 400 or $4,000 as evidence of their |
financial responsibility before being al |
loved TO sign policies, and they pay an
nuaI dues But there the responsibility |
of the corporation ends.
II is curious place, the underwriting |
room at Llovds in the Royal Exchange IN |
London. 1t has three rows of desks or |
boves AZ each Of which six persons may |
eli and at these on every workday the |
underwriters NAV he seen signing poll
cies and discussing and paying claims |
for all sorts of queer things.