Lloyd's Coffee-House.
The Times, 1824-07-29T00:00:00

f. estra a t,ieeml MVeeting -of Subscribers tb Lloyd's assemnbled, frthe 7,luros Of t1i into consideratioll the rCPort 'pretiented on th It nst. by their Special Comimittee, appointed bin the 18th of tay last, the re ross o opoing, an application to Parliament to epel te rstrction5 containe(i in tiie 6th Geo. I., 6sp 18. At 12 o'clock the Committee of Lloyd's, accom panied by Ak. Rb- Ieto,e. M.P.; Thomnas Wilson, REsq., AI.P.; &c., efltered tnese rGoomsa; antl the business of the meeting, irhich -was nunmer- ouisk attended, commenced. BENJA3iYx SHAW, Esq., being called aTh Secretar aod the ltgeneral meeting were readl by the Assist,. atSmirthlate, andtevt of an annual sumn of 1001. to William Smthe lat Waswater of this establishment, was confirmeeb Tommittee 1RMAX then statetd, it would be in vain for the Special frommithee stb expect that they could disguiise from themnselires or fote uscribers generally, that thu! report which liad been sub. mitted to the eonsideration of the latter ais notone that ins all res ?ects anssveredt~e Ihotiglperhaps it might be said to av edanswedred theitowithe s tose of t1hesubsctibers, so far as gulp tAilt entertained.(McJar.)It would be Inthe ?eollectiouosti wombehadl now the pleasure tos-ee .smbed roundhltta tefrt meeting which was held for the Ofonesiderattiohichttis-reportreferred, apprehensions almost of an appaligkn eeetb them wheR thiey contemplated the greatDower an elh n nlence witich *ere brouight to bear agamst a syste thathdbe ilten considered the great Centre ardthe founitainhea oalthcmmercial capital engaged ins fo- reign as well as home navigation. But, notwithista-nding that weighit of influence soarydav ihs lem, dhe Subsriberis to Lloyd's con- tinued to underwritewithth same spirit and liberality ast they had before done; and they appointed a special committee in order to pre- ~are areport which might open the eyes..of the public, and. Semonstratete futility of the expectations which had been held out as to the adtvantages thiate were to result from- the the changes then about to be effbated, in the act of George 1. ; and also, in ordler to enforce upon the Government those clatms which it was considered they were fairly enititled to stand upon, who liad been the first indlividuals to found and mature thant extensive system of commiercial protection and communicestion, which for years, and he might almost 8ay ages, had been considlered the boast of the counltry....a syte which had the sanction of an express law in its fvUr$ and is a Xig morovr,ben pbeld byteGvernment otskndo. fl ear,bar. He wontdnot attemnpt,at the pre- sent time,~ to travel through that report. It bad already been placed in the hands of every subscriber; and such as it was, with all its merits anid its demerict, it was nowi before them. In pursuance of the recomnmendations o3f that report, it would (he thouight) be found necessary that some resoluition should be adopted ; provided the recommendatiolns in, question shouild be confirmed by this general meeting of 8ubseribers. And after that, they wvould feel it a luty'- and one it was, of the mnost pleasant and agreeable description tnat could operate on the mind of man, for it was a duty of gratitude I hearl-.to offier thjeir acknowledgmients for,and to express their senrse of, thce great services which they had received from those noblemen in the UPjier House of Parliament, anid, thiose honourable members of the I,ower Housei whio had come forward in support of the ancient system of marine insgurances, and by so doing had acted decidedly in fa-,our of the public, and of their (the subscribers) interests. (Hear.) There hiad been another recommnendation in respect to i~~ematers,suges-ed by the Committee, in cossequence of the I nonin whch Loyd's was at present placed;, and to that recoin- nnndcio he id ow, in their name, invite their most serious at- tenion i wa tat which regarded the liberty now granted of undewritng i patnerships. (ear, hiear. )This was a measure v45~h, f aoptd, ould tend, in the consideration of the committee, t&tle sbvesio ofthe character of that house ; the disadvantage of idivdualsubcriers; and, worst of all, would operate to thie Iriecuityof he ercntie bdywhose polici -a were to be under- wrtten. Andhe thuh hs betions to such a scheme would arise, principall] rmth ea di culties that would stand in the 'way of getting aystlmnmade on tnosegplicies;, or of in- stituting any compulsory legal measures (in the event of suc'h measures becomiing necessary) for the purpose of establishiiig the claim of the insurer, a-id of enforcing its payment by the under- writing partnership. (Hear.) He (Mr. Shaw) was perfectly satis- fied that it was only necessa,ry for him to invite their attention to this verv imnportant point, to be assured that it frould be so directed. And., as far as his own individual opinion went, he did conceive as a miember of Lloyd's, that their adoption of the Committee's recom- mendation contained in the report, should the nieeting bhoof opinion to concur tdierein, would put no individual in a worse situation than he was now in. The adoption of some by-law to meet thle case 'Would do away with no Joint responsibilities; for, let it be remem- bered, that joint responsqibility did now attach to underwriting firms, whiere there was any division of profits, as it did, indeed, in every other business under similar cireumistances. But this, so far from being A similar case with that of the underwriting partnerships which it was proposed to allow, gave the public, on the contrary, an advantage. The policy 'Was subscribed in the individual name or names, and the legal measures which it mlight be occasionally necessary to adopt, couldl be taken with the same fac'lity and effect as they could be atgaiost any other nmdi- vidualunderwriter. Now that vwhich gave to the public ani ad- 'vantage, would give, he was very sure, an advantage to the whole bdy of underwnitera; and one,ofasuch a nature as must tend to up- hold the characteTof this establishment. (Hear.) He was not aware that it was necessary for him on the present occasion to call their attention to any thiing more that was contained in the report : but perhaps, before he sat down, he miight be allowed to advert to the position in which that house at present found itself, and to mention to them this fact --tbat the Committee lharing long had the whole of' this subhject tinner their verv anxious and attentive consideration, had, upon every view they c6uld take of it, come to this determina- tion in their own minds...namely, that there was no occasion whiatever for the Underwriters 'of Lloyd's to spare, or to retire from/ those honourable eccupaiions to whiclh they had been so leng accustomed. (Hear, hear.) For years and years, antd for one age at least, they hadl to compete with two char- tered and estahlishied -corporations. 'What that competition had led to, and what disadvantages and losses the subscribers to Lloyd's had suffered in consequience, perhsips it would baffle the power of any Individual who heard him, to put dlown to paper, o-r to dipze to his own mind. It was true, insdeed, that the Government of the coun- try, in their own wvisdom, no doubt, and as thinking that they were acting rightly, and providing for the ben, fit of the public,had thought fit to introduce that competition. But if the subscribers to Lloyd's had thus subdued the one antagonist, let them not doubt that they would subdue the other. It was perfectly well known to those who wvere engafced In underwriting., that it was impossible to carry on underwriting by insulated bodies; and that the skill, and spirit and liberality, witk which it had been conducted in this country,an in other parts eof thle wiorld had cen-tred always in the combined infor- mnation and intelligenc ofAsatreotin.( Hear.)Although theGovernmnent had recently imposed an increased burden on the body of under-. writers, it should be remembered that this was not the first instance in whiich Government had laid such additional weights upon com- mercial individuals. Bitt they had always sliown-and in the sub- acribers to Lloyd's particularly,there had always beesi found-an in- n)ate British spirit that would ever meet and surmount all difficul- ties. (Hear.) And by a perseverance in that manly spirit, ad in that line of upright, fair, and liberal conduct which h ad hitherto marked their proceedings, the underwriters- of that room would con- tinua to maintain their high character, wouild ride triumphant over thie storms whiich at p eet assailed th~em ; and having weathered ,every di fclywudacor at last in that haven of public con- fidence i hchte ii so long enjoyed honourable peace, re- spect,anseuiy(Cer. JonL,,0. then addressed the meeting ; but in a tone ofvocwhcenbd us to collect little more than the mere ,object of hssec.W understoodI him to tay, that after an inter- ,course wt h usrbr to that room of many years' standing, anti duringthpeidowic insurances to the amount of several mil- lients sterlin had been effected by thetin on his accouint (hear), lie now rose to move! the resolution which he held in his hand with infi- nite gratification. That resolution he came forward to propose as a commaercial Yuan, and saipon those general principles, in virtue of ,which he felt a dleep conviction that no united companies whiatever had at any time offered to the mercantile world and to commerce encouragetment so great, informnation so extensive, and security so sound and imnmediate, as they had derived from Lloyd's. (Hear.) These advantages he considered to arise fronm the low rate of pre- sniumasdemanded there, andL from the liberal adjustment and prompt payment of losses whien they occurred. Notwvithstanding the many unwounded and unfair reports that had been industriously propagated to the disparagement of Lloyd's, he felt quite assured that if its suibscribers continued to be composed of the same wealtliy and re- ,spectable persons who had hitherto so well sustaiiied its reputation ; if they continued totrauisact their business with the samte Integrity and -on the same liberul principles that thiey hiad always done in times past, Lloyd's would still maintain the high ranik and reputation which in had acquired in this and in all othe-r commercial countries. (Hear, hear. ) He then proposed, and V. F. RivAz, Esq., seconded the first resolution (for which see advertisement.) This resolution was carried unaniimously. ROBiERT SSSEDRSrS, Esq., very briefly moved-trie second reso- lotion. (8ee advertisement.) WILr.1AM, BELL, Esq., as an oldI subscriber to that bouse, and zxs particularly approvuing of the suggestion containedl in this resohu.. ftimsn, begged leave to second it. The CHrAIRANe said, that before proceeding to ihe question on this resolution, he might be allowed to ebiserve, that in the event of its~-beintg passed, the subscribers would onl be pledged to the pro- priety of some new by-law being made. Tihat by-law itself would yet hiave to lbe prepared ; and in a subsequent stage must either be approved by ballot, or submitted to another general meeting. The vote of this day, therefore, could not make it a final measure. This resoltition was thei put,and carried unanimously. The CnA1R?tiA_?r then informed the meeting, that he had been directed by the special commiittee to submit to them certain votes of thanks, vwhich lie blt assured would meet with their adoption. Tt -was considered that these mnotions should rather come direct from the speciA~mirttec, than fromT any individual subscriber, inasmutch S)m ite must beaipoe to have liad geater opgortunity, r'V, messhg the services ta a been rendered to Lloydabyth nob~0%nd honourable individuals who were the subjects of such mo- tions ; and tsie committee had likewise witnessed more imniediatey the gneral and undeviating attenitions which had been showin to thiem by thle partdes in question. He then moved the third resolution, which was secondedl by James Ianes, Esq., and carried unanilmous-ly. iFor this anidfor the fcurthiresolution, also moved by the Chairmnatr, and seconded by John Whultretore, Esq., see advertisement.I Mr . Adra 1 worp__, _ t __ - -tcrbudb, would deta th commie tmttee but for a very few mnomrents, while he endeavoured to express his grateulaknow edgmets for the high honour just conferred oni him. He heartily wished that an servic of his were worthy to be ne- ticed in sotistinguished anflttering a roanaer(hear); and that any humble efota on his Part had in anypdegrecoontributod to arrest the progress of a measure which, in f t mind, 'was inost unjust and most uncalled-for-be of course meant the Mnlarine Itsurance Bill Hear.) If he could take credit to himself for having rendered the least service to this institution, which ihe could not (hear)b he should not have felt under the embarrassment wvhich now oppressed him. The p art he had taken, hie so took froim a conscientious conviction tihat the present sytem of efecting marine insurances was the best thateould be adopted for the commiercial system of this coustry ; and be was quite satisfied, thathowever eormoa theainfluence with which they had had to contend- they should have ultimtately Guc- ceeded in throwing out tlle -bill, but for some circumstances with which no one coald be prepared to contend. Thermeetiag wouldi re- collect thatvhe Government was opposed to them; that a. most ex. traordlinai,y, but, for the promoters of that bill, certainly a most jul- dicious, distribution of shares had taken place. (Hear.) It would be also rec lleeted, that this hrivate bill was introduced at the very latest period of the session in which such a bill coumdbe brought in ; and by that mecans, opportunity of challenging the intereets of Wnividuals connected with it was in a great measure lost. He would own that he ditl feel the utmost astonishment that the Go- vernment should lend themselves to thN grivate p~artymau, more particularly wvhen he remembered now liberAll9 the sub.. scribers to this room had come forwrird with their munificent isub.. scdptiorls in 1803, a season of great public agitation and alarm; azid what a beneficial efflct their promptitude a:d liberality had had on the feeling ofthe country. Neitfier could he forget thc great exam. ,ple which they had set'of liberal benevolence in 1815, in their pa. tronageof the Waterloo subscription. The meeting would allow him to add, only, that so long as any services of his could be consi- dered useful to their interests, he should, as a Illember of their spe- cial Committee, bealways ready toreceive their commands. (Cheers.) The Clhairman moved, and WILLIAM PIL%TT, jun., Esq., seconded the 5tlh resolution. (See advertisement.) . TnoMAs NWILsON Esq., M.P., in returning thanks, sa,d it was impossible for him not to sav with his honourable and worthy fiend who had last addressed the meeting, that he felt quite unde- sev-Ving of so great a recompense for his humble exertions (hear); but this he would say, that hle never in his life undertook a duty with greater pleasure than that of defending the underwriters froni the ca- lumnies in uestion. (Hear, hear.) It was a gratifving opportunity of sloxving his respect for so large and so respectable a set of men, anti of so great importance beth to the Government and the com- merce of the country as the Subscribers to Lloyd's. (Hear.) He could only add, that so long as underwriting was carried on upon its presentliberal. and eFective fboing0so long as Lloyd's maintained tlhehigbhcharacter it had possessed, and did now sustain-so long every merchaifiYupon the Royal Exchange, whetherinor out of Parliament, must, or at least ought to feel (hear) an interest in warmly sup- porting so valuable and excellent an institution. In the pgart which he had taken on this subject in the House of Commons, he had ex- perienced but one regret, and that was, for the failire of his humble butstrenuous effots. (Hear, hear.) He trusted that the meeting would dohim the justice to believe, that if any further exertions of his could have availed their causc, those exertions would have been at their disposal. (Hear.) No exertions, however, were, he be- lieved,wantiug on their behalf; but. as had been already stated from] the chair, there was such an array of influence against them, as scarcely any opposition eould hope to contend with. He also trust- ed, that what had that day fallen from- the worthy chairman would be remembered; tlat by the subscribers persevering in the same system upon which they had hitherto proceeded; by theirzea- lously upholding the high character they had acquired ; and by the merehanits of London warmly supporting them (and he, as one of those merchants, should most undoubtedly bring as much of his business as he could to IAoy&'%), they would all ha-ie tlhe Pleasure of seeing Lloyd's Caffee-house outlive the storm, and continue the same soild and distinguished institution that they had ever consi- dered it to be. (Cheers.) The sixth resolution (see advertisemetit) wavs moved by the Chair- man, and seconded by GEORGP SUEDDEN, Esq. Mir. MANNING, in acknowledging the complinrent, felt assuied that the meeting would do him all justice while he stated, conscien. tiously, the principles upon which he had spoken on the subject of their letition, in his place in the House of Commons. He wished to take this public opportunity, however, of stating that his services on that occasion had been exceedingly over-rated in this flattering acknowledgment of the efforts he had made in the businesa. Having already so fully exprcssed his opinions on the measure which had now been passed into a law, it would ill become hin to repeat the arguments he had urg-rl in Parliament,after the Special Com-mittee had done him the honour of confiding the petition to his care. Upon the part of that committee, anti of the subscribers generally, lie cer- tainly considered the delegation of that petition a very gratifying and distinguished preof of confidence. The honourable gein. tleman then adverted to the circumstance of his having pre- sided (as we underatood him to say) at a meeting of mer- chants held, in the year 1814, at the City of London Tavem. The object of that meeting was undoubtedly to establish a third chartered company, it being considered bv the parties to it, that in consequence of the high rate of premiums occasioned bv the war, difficulties were at that time experienced in effecting marine insur- ances, which rendered it highly expedient to adopt measures fbr the establishment of some such new coripany. But even at that time, all that it was intended to ask for was for a specific charter (hear) ; it was never contemplated that application should be made for so objectionable a purpose as he conceived) as the authorizing under- writing partnerships. (1 ear, hear.) And he now thought it right to state, that although his opinions as to the expediency at that time of the objects of the meeting he spoke of, continued quite unchanged, yet circumstances were at present so entirely altered and different, oving to the great reduction of premiums, and the extreme facility of etecting marine insurances at Lloyd's, that that whicrl was formerly highly necessary had now ceased to be 2o al: together, and eught by- no neann to be adopted. (fHear.) *Vhen it was considered, that taking the average rate of premiums of insurance between the two perieo, there was a difference now of about 58 per cent., it wouldbe seen on how widely different grounds the question of a new company stood in 1814 and in 1824. In 1814 it seemed the more necessary, because, on account of the high rate of premium, many of the insurances which ought to have come into that room were effected at Amsterdam and in New York ; so that, even had the charter been obtained in 1814, those inconveniencics which must follow fromr. the Marine Insurance Bill at the present time would not have followed. The two cases were therefore entirely different; for the reduction of premium, and the facility of business at Lloyd's, afforded no pretence fbr the measure which had heen passed. It was under this feeling that he had strongly opposed it in the house in all ics stages butt the last. At the last he was certainly not present-not having had the remotest conception that at such a period of the session, and at such an hour, a measure of such extreme importance would have been forced upon so large a body of the commercial world. (The remnainder of the hon. gentleman's speech, from the tone in which it was clelivered, was altogether inaudible to us.) The seventh resolution having been moved anti seconded, A. RoaxtETsoT, Esq., AI.P., returned tharks; and took occa- sion to eulogize the vast national utility of lIloyd's, which he cha- racterized as an institution whose place it was impossible to supply. He also adverted to the second resolution as one of singular im- portanceand propriety; for no underwriting partnerships nor asso- cistions could give that security and facility which were to be found in thisinstitution. The hon. gent., after exhorting the committee to coritinue their services, concluded by heandsoinely tendering his future services in support of any measure favourable to the welfare of Lloyd's. (Our limits will now alloweus only to refer the reader to the ad- vertisement for the other votes of thanks ; and to observe, that the 8th resolution was prefaced by a neat acknowledgment, on the part of thee Chairman, of the professional services of Mr. Freshfield, the solicilor to Lloyd's; and the 12th by a warm eulogium from Mr. Dewar on the zeal and attention of the worthy chairman, B. Shaw, Esq.)-The meeting then broke up. LLOYJYS COFFEE._HOUSB.