Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-22

30 per cent Of the vAloe Of the vessel ana
ss s sg0 and Fhs s. s sgss pr fRssn,asi
other companies viii % TIE same. If yoS
Are going into b business enterprise you can
find plenty 81 men IN Lond199n WIG VII
amount provided you place the facts before
them and are willing to pay the premium,
they demand. Thus they divide the risk
with You. After hearing your plans. II they
out, they will bet you a certain amount
that you will succeed. You bet that you
won't. If you fail they will pay the forfeit,
whatever It is.
Policies on Loyal Lives.
During the last years Of the reign Of
Queen Victoria there was an immense
amount Of insurance on her life, as this
sort Of betting is called. Many companies
issued policies running one. two. three and
more years, the longer policy requiring the
larger premium, and the profits were very
large because she lived to such a great age.
In the same way hundreds of people-maybe
thousands-carry policies upon the life OF
King Edward. At the time he was Ill pre-
miums ran UP as high as so per cent for
the year. Before the coronation the pre-
MUM was 30 per cent. 1t was merely gam
bling on his life. The insurance companies
bet 100 against 80 or so whatever the
premium was that his majesty. would live
at least a year. Their client bet that he
would not He has already outlived all the
policies that were issued at the time of his
coronation and the insurance companies
have pocketed the premiums without ex-
pending dollar. The rates upon King Ed
wards life have gone down to and 8, and
in some cases to 21a per cent. OF course
the underwriters cannot have medical ex-
animation, but they are in close touch with
the kings physicians and members of his
household, and make 1t their business to
know all about his physical condition. The
lives of other European monarchs are in
m zroN h1-f TO O or
tent. This form of speculation does not
appear to have developed at the other cap
itals.
King Edward carries $500 600 straight in
surance on his life. He endeavored to Sc
cure an equal amount in the three big COM
panies in New York. but they would not
write him policies without a medical eX-
amina ton, which he would not submit to.
Therefore all the insurance he carries is in
English companies.
Lloyds.
Lloyds is the greatest insurance concern
In the world but it is not actually a COM
pany. Is it an association of about one
thousand members and is conducted to a
certain extent upon the same plan as our
stock exchanges or the Chicago board Of
trade. Three hundred years ago or more
ship owners, sea captains, shipping agents,
exporters and importers used to rendezvous
at a tavern and coffee house kept by Ed
ward Lloyd in Tower street, near the Lon
don bridge. Now their headquarters are In
the Royal Exchange building, across the
street from the Bank Of England, the ex-
act center of the financial world where the
same business is still carried on under the
same name and in very much the same
way. In olden times merchants, sap
tains and ship owners assembled at Lloyd's
coffee house to get the news, and, being to-
gether in that way, it was perfectly natural
for them to speculate with each other and
buy and sell cargoes before their arrival:
There was a good deal Of betting also, and
in time there grew up the practice of I'M
derwriting each others cargoes against the
chances of wreck, capture by pirates or de-
struction by storm. A merchant who was
sending out from London or importing from
a foreign country valuable cargo would
ask his friend to share the risk with him as
well as the possible profits. They would
write out an agreement, each signing for
the share that he was willing to assume
b, 10 or % per cent, as the case might be
and the written agreements were deposited
with Edward Lloyd, the landlord, who
locked them up in his desk
This informal practice continued for gen.
erations. with gradual organization. until
about the beginning of the eighteenth CEN
fury the proprietor of Lloyd's coffee house
gave up serving refreshments, and 1t be-
company which made business of under
writing ships and cargoes. hundred
years later the business had become so
large that it was moved to rooms over the
association known as "Lloyds" carry on,
and collectively, a business of
several billion dollars a year. The assets
Of the corporation amount to more than
$40, 600 006; membership, like a seat on
the stock exchange, Is worth more than
100000. The corporation insures nothing
but ships and their cargoes, but individual
members and groups of members au-
thorized to take any risks they choose pro-
vided they do not involve the corporation.
They meet at headquarters every day and
there find financial and shipping news from
all over the world. They have an agent In
every point on the map who wires the ar
rival and departure Of every vessel and
description of its cargo. By going to
Loyds and paying few shillngs anybody
can learn the approximate whereabouts Of
every merchant ship engaged in the foreign
trade. In a large room are several rows of
desks, at which six persons can write, and
in the center Is an open space, where the
business is done. Everybody keeps his hat
on like the Quakers, and there are funny
rules and customs among the members
similar to those of a stock exchange.
May Insure Anything.
If anybody wants to get anything insured,
no matter what it is, all he has to do is to
go down to Lloyds and send in his card to
some member whom he may know or to
whom he may have an introduction. After
hearing the facts the member will give his
or state an opinion, or take the
matter under advisement, and ULTIMA ely
may assume the risk individually or invite
other members of Lloyds to join him.
When the details are arranged a policy is
drawn up, ornamented with an internal
revenue stamp to assist in paying the ex
penses of the Boer war, signed and sealed
and deposited with the clerk or secretary of
the ASSOCIATION. At the termination of
the policy this official gives the under
writer's whose names are upon 1t release.
If they lose their bet he calls upon them
for their money and pays it over in due
form to the holder Of the policy. If they
fail to pay they are suspended and their
names are posted. After an interval, If they
do not make good, they are expelled from
the association. The latter, however, as
sumes no financial responsibility for indi-
vidual underwriting.
Hanging on the walls of Lloyds' Office is
a policy issued on the life of Napoleon
Bonaparte in 1906, with a premium of per
cent month
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of insurance companies in London which
have no connection with Lloyds, and which
do all kinds of business. They will insure
anything-horses, dogs, cats, vegetable gar
dens forests of timber and houses against
fire. lightning and accidents of every mag
Unable kind. You can see their signs hang
ing out on the street AS l was going up
Regent street the other day I saw highly
polished brass plate on the door frame of a