Equitable Assurance Socie...
The Times, 1824-12-31T00:00:00

'^'r anurxtraordinary Cot of this Society wa iii the confirmation of the minutes of the preceding After these minutes were read, the RECOiDER .' Vice-presidefnt) inquired if Mr. Sweet (who was i ;v legs) had any proposition to submit, and was an- - d in the aflrTnative. 'PROPOSED REVISlOM OF THE SOCIETY. . SwSET saidi, that bchadl in point of form to submit .cowi Court the Aotion of which he had given no- *thbe precedin one-namely, " that the propriety of eelring the Socioty be submitted to the consideralion of winrt of Directors, for the purpose of reporting their , tn thereOn"- In the few werds wvhich he had to say in iiritting his motion, he was far from anticipatihg any i;3ion ; he mnerely meant to express his feelings of con- , in the honour, integrity, and ability of their Di- :wbose dleliberate determinationi vwould, he was per- i-;, give general satisfaction. (Hear, hear.) He knew v,ere prepared to do perfect jusitice to the important a involved in the present consideration, and that ithe membersof the Proprietary imputed the contrary .- .. Itwas,nodoubt,expectedofthe Courtof Directors- expectationwould, hehad nodoubt, be verified in the -tbat they would enter into the inipertant considera- ; 3w about to be referred to them, with calmness and 'S determination to look at the question wiithout any 2 .ceived opinion, or undue bias. It was of the highest ' tance that they should mneet the subject in all its 'gs.boldly and manfully-that they should decide upon .r the most mature investigation-and that they should /i; efore them all the iniformation, all the aid which -.t talents could suppi ,and, more particalarly, that r ense should be sparclon tbe ocasion. He was sure the Proprietors would willingly indemnify them all ;penses vwhich.must attend acquiring the best infor- In to guide their decision. It would be also most de- *e for the Directors to accompany their report with an -{ix, containing the details of the data upon which it was 'ed, so as -to place under the revision of theProprietors, cts and principleo upon which such report maialy ' 1. (Hear, bear.) He knew that the Directors %,/ere ' . entitled to the respect aral conAtIpAme of Xh r -rs, T-Nvonuld in this, as in all other instancea, justifg -tit.0t ce of such feelings towards them. (Hear.) * S-7Kr's motion, of wbhich he had given notice at Jist Court, for submitting the remodelling of' the consideration of the Court of Directors, was a unaninously carried. (JP.OSED SUSPENSION (UF NEW ASSURANCES. BUsHNAN had a motion also to submit, which he preface by a very few explanatory words. His mo- .- s, to propose by way of suggestion to the immediate a leration of the Court of Directors, the propriety of ading the taking out of any more insurances for the , term of life, until the subject new submitted to investigation was decided upon by them. (Hear.) He pady toechis the confidence expressed in the judg- and honour of the Directors, and to anticipate heir decision would be satisfactory to all parties who , interested in the well-being of the Society. He by _eans wished to stop theg.general business of the office, 'to suspenti all new insurances for the whole term of ;W&, tfll the larger question was determined. It must be '- )us that by letsieg in new insurers, they were, under ; -ttung circumnstances, defeating their owvn proposed4object. h h 'r, hear.) The suspensiorL could be of no moment, * - its temporary operation, as he had reason to think the l1r tors would be soon ready with their report, which - I eettle the main question. It Vwould certainly-he ex- eJ nt to have the report with all convenient despatch, ;b he entirely concurred in the opinion that no expense a'i d be spared in acquiring aU the benefit which the alents could give the subject, in the previous consider- r 'oil of all its great bearings. He concluded by auibmit- 'is motion. aIc POYNDeI-n thought there were two objections to j is motion-the first, that as It went vitally to affect , unds of the Society, due notice ought to be given at ore Court, before it could be debated at an I,,I econdly, that it tended to anticipate the consideration 1t'fiit:. they had just before intrusted to theo Court of IV'l?toZsJ by Mr. Sweet's motion. Intong and irregqular conversation arose upon .the point of ine, imbmitti.g, ithout notice, such a motion as Mr. ILnslnan s. Several memnbers were of opinion, that if the wsrvnsuran ces applied for daily were not suspended until made their report upon the conidderation of t 'tinedellzng the Society, the great object in eontemplatisn, ff .~:avtln5) 5h't, ~aof the tirofita already aegulired, to l; a e out of whose funds they had been denved, woUl be i' ated by the rush of new insurers. And s?ch as were this opinion gave the highest praiso to Mr. Bushnan his efforts in presering the validity o, the old interests, ;- .Er meinbers denied that the imputed conseqluence b id. followv, and therefore that it was unnecessary and un. cious to shaelcle at the outset the colnaidexation ot the h;-!ct, which was, and ought to be, intrusteei vitlhout re- r ve to the deliberation of the Court of Directors. They ;lher affirmed, that the new, proprietors could ilot, accord- to the existing laws of the Society, interpoe4 and ap - -Priate to themselves the share of tbe old prcts. Ir. FRESHF[ELD said agexieral impressiont prevailed that al ec xisted a large t;urplus capital$ which ought, or at eti a proportion of it, to be divijed among the Proprietors V, b ad alone contributed to its accumulation. It was na- ral for those who entertained such an impression to wish r:t all new insurances should be suspended which could - czfere with the old interests. It had been said that the pro- td suspension of new insurances was unnecessary, as the part of thc Directors on the general question was nearly ady. Now he thought thiat to be the very reason in favour I ie suspension; for if the report were in so forward a state i rearation, then little impressiou could be madeupon r' t;r funds by so partial a delay of business. (Hear.) 'I'he l'3tion really was, whether they ought to be called upon *1^ adinit into a participationi of their past accumulation of ofit, a host of new proprietors, who had incurred none of past risk, though they were naturally enough ready to .;ry in nd partake of a distribution of well-applied cna- il. (Hear, hear.) That there was a rush for this profit 'up apparent, and he mustdeny the assertion that the new - ners were slut out, as had been said. The average of eir new policies within the lost twvelve months had been l the rafe of four or five a week; and of late, since the i)lication of the fact of this great accuraulatioqi of capital, 'y had averaged twenty a week. (Hear, hear.) This was In.ugA, he thought, to Zow the necessity of thdeir su2pnd. .q new insurances until the g-neral question was settled. A Ueinber observed, that none of these new Propriet2rs 'ull participate in the old profit, until the number of ;c old Proprietors was reduced below '.5,000,-a reduc- o.n which might not he accomplished before 12 or 14' years. -Mr. FRESHF-sELD repeatedl, that they became partners riace 1816. Mr. SWEET said, that the gentleman who had spoken .aSt but one, hnad fallen into a great error nu to thoss who ,ere entitled to participate in the profits of the So'ciety. ~''or although nio new ineiibcrs could participate in the rofils, until they got within tbe pale of the .5,000 names nf mbers, still they had a contingenit interest, so far as 1I eir chance in due course of being so placed. (Hear.) ll'hy, then, should they unnecessarily increase the entan- rl7ment which had rendered all this discusion for revision it' ?y - They had before suspen(led bu6iness in 1809, L a -61lyh not Sor the satne reason repeat that courae now ? Uthu aY'er tba liep of partnership at the moment when the . *; -~ ,gas submitted for tbe consideration of. the Court <is ?tara ? The salvation of tbe Society depended, in ci opfuion, upon the view taken of their affairs in the con- 1ration3 now referred to the Court of Directors. They had qendrd tbsiness in 1809, and why not do the samie now? , ?avetal Members said, that the suspension, then took after due notice, and this assertion was flatly contra- A ted by othlers. An irregular discuission was again re- cieed upon the pOint of orcter, and reference was-at length .",ade to the Chair. T he REcopErt said he would give no opirtion of his jivn, hut merely read the resolution of the 4th'of DeeTn- Ar, 1817, wlich provided, that no-recommendation should hebc made frotn the Court of Directors, or the members of (itcir Society, which tended to alter the existing by-laws, or in any mantier to affect the propertj of tiSe ociety, -dithout previous notice; or be sanctionc withoutt the ap- tptobation of two succecssive Courts called specifically for the ,Wpese. Alir. BJSHNAr said that he had rqo dlesire to precipitate .~ y discussion-he would either cubwnit the ImlotioIn ow, or let it stand by way of notice, as the pleasure of the '; ourt suggested. - a h laueo h j-The Chair waS again appealed to upon. the practice of tle Court, and Ir.organ (the aetuary, as we understood) 'was likewise appecaled to. 'A%!r. 'MORG-AN rose and said, t lhat as the motion .^as :ueI4y a suggestion to the Directors to exercise their own ud cut upoii a particular lioint of business, he thought it d(ITnot come withini the provisi6n of a regulation, which *'only lphied to mere imperative recommendations. In- jdee.A,rifhey were called upon at once to susp,end their new tassuranc; on that day, a question would arise upo n the tropriety tf depriving their Society in so summary a man- ner af the profit aceruitng from such freab contants, He, could, however, assure the Proprietors, that the Coutt of Direcltrs were prepiared to meet the general question in the most calm, deliberatb, and uiiprejudiced manner. It would, he thought, be wrong to precipitate a report, which ought to be the result of the most mature and cautious deliberation. They ought to bear in mind the great importance of their (lecision to a society like this, which might be callcl.a nationial establishinent as well as one of individtial benefit. He thought it would be much better to leave the whole subject, suspension and all, to the dispas- sion ate jadgment of the Court of Directors. He pledged hinself that the wlhole matter shoultl be referred to themn The discussion upon the point of order was then revived, when the general impression appeared to be that Mr. Bush- nan's mnotion, being merely a suggestion to the Directors, required no notice. Mr. BusHmrAn repeated, that he meant it merely as a suggestion. He must denv, however, that this Soeietv was a national one, or any other than one establishe.l and sup- ported for individual benefit, and to be regulated by indivi- dual control. If a contrary notion got abroad, and that they were to be considered as a national society, the Government miglht give them their aid in nationally disposing of the ten millions atSd a half (if we caught the amount correctly) of capital which was under considera- tion. (A laugh, and cries of "hear.") He repeated his con. fidence, that the subject would be fairly and fully consi- dered in the Court of Directors, and. that justice would be done in the result to the.interests of every class of Pro- prietors. He concluded by persevering in having his mo- tion put, by way of suggestion to the Court of Directors. It was then pa t from the Chair, aid carried in a crowded Co.nrt, with only seven dissenti-ents. The remaining minutes of the former Court were then severally put and confirmed. An irregular discussion was arising upon the minate referring to the two dropped poli- cies, submxitted at the last Court to the reconsideration of the Court of Directors, uiyon the motion of Mr.. Slade, which was stopped by the question of adjourmmenit being put and carried.-The Court then adjourned sine die. -37futAfL, SS AC1C SVocETP