The conditions on which the different offices insure are contained in their proposals, which are printed on the back of every policy; and it is in most instances expressly conditioned, that they undertake to pay the loss, not exceeding the sum insured, "according to the exact tenor of their printed proposals." Nothing can be recovered from the insurers, in the event of loss, unless the party insuring had an interest or property in the thing insured at the time when the insurance was effected, and when the Joss happened. It often occurs that no one office will insure to the full amount required by an individual who has a large property; and in such a case the party, to cover his whole interest, is obliged to insure at different offices. But, in order to prevent the frauds that might be practised by insuring the full value in various offices, there is, in the proposals issued by all the companies, an article which declares, that persons insuring must give notice of any other insurance made elsewhere upon the same houses or goods, that the same may be specified and allowed by indorsement on the policy, in order that each office may bear its rateable proportion of any loss that may happen; and unless such notice be given of each insurance to the office where another insurance is made on the same effects, the insurance made without such notice will be void. Any trustee, mortgagee, reversioner, factor, or agent, has sufficient interest in the goods under his custody, to effect a policy of insurance, provided the nature of such property be distinctly specified at the time of executing such policy. Most of the offices except in their proposals against making good any loss occasioned by "invasion," "foreign enemy," "civil commotions," &c.; and under this condition the Sun Fire Office was exonerated from the loss occasioned by the disgraceful proceedings of the mob in 1780. One of the principal conditions in the proposals has reference to the proof of loss. The Sun Fire Office (see post), and most other offices, make it a condition, that the individual claiming shall "procure a certificate, under the hands of the minister and churchwardens, and some other respectable inhabitants of the parish or place, not concerned or interested in such loss, importing that they are well acquainted with the character and circumstances of the person or persons insured or claiming; and do know, or verily believe, that he, she, or they, really, and by misfortune, without any fraud or evil practice, have sustained by such fire the loss or damage, as his, her, or their loss, to the value therein mentioned." This condition has given rise to a great deal of discussion in the courts; but it has been finally decided, that the procuring of the certificate is a condition precedent to the payment of any loss, and that its being wrongfully refused will not excuse the want of it. The risk commences in general from the signing of the policy, unless there be some other time specified. Policies of insurance may be annual, or for a term of years at an annual premium; and it is usual for the office, by way of indulgence, to allow fifteen days after each year for the payment of the premium for the next year in succession; and provided the premium be paid within that time, the insured is considered as within the protection of the office. A policy of insurance is not in its nature assignable, nor can it be transferred without the express consent of the office. When, however, any person dies, his interest remains in his executors or administrators respectively, who succeed or become entitled to the property, provided such representatives respectively procure their right to be indorsed on the policy. (For further details, see Marshall on Insurance, book iv.; Park on Insurance, c. 23.) Insurances are generally divided into common, hazardous, and doubly hazardous. The distinguishing characteristics of these may be learned from the subjoined proposals of the Sun Fire Office. The charge for insuring property of the first description is now usually 1s. 6d. per cent., the second 2s. 6d., and the third 4s. 6d. These charges are exclusive of the duty payable to government, of 1s. on the policy, and 3s. per cent. on the sum in the policy. We subjoin a copy of a policy of insurance on a house valued at 1,000l., and furniture, plate, books, &c. in the same, valued also at 1,000l., executed by the Sun Fire Office, and of the proposals indorsed on the same. The latter correspond in most particulars with those issued by the other offices. WHEREAS A. B. Esq. of No. Street, has paid the sum of one pound ten shillings to the Society of the Sun Fire Office in London, and has agreed to pay or cause to be paid, to them, at their said office, the sum of one pound ten shillings on the 25th of December, 1833, and the like sum of one pound ten shillings yearly on the 25th day of December during the continuance of this policy, for insurance from loss or damage by fire, on his now dwelling house only, situate as aforesaid, brick, one thousand pounds; household goods, wearing apparel, printed books, and plate therein only, one thousand pounds. "NOW KNOW YE, That, from the date of these presents, and so long as the said A. B. shall duly pay, or cause to be paid, the said sum of one pound ten shillings at the times and place aforesaid; and the trustees or acting members of the said Society, for the time being, shall agree to accept the same; the stock and fund of the said Society shall be subject and liable to pay to the said A. B., his executors, administrators, and assigns, all such his damage and loss which he, the said A. B., shall suffer by fire, not exceeding upon each head of insurance, the sum or sums above-mentioned, amounting in the whole to no more than two thousand pounds, according to the exact tenor of their printed proposals, indorsed on this policy, and of an act of parliament, on the 55th of George the Third, for charging a duty on persons whose property shall be insured against loss by fire. IN WITNESS whereof, we (three of the trustees or acting members for the said Society) have hereunto set our hands and seals, the 24th day of December, 1833. C. D. (L. S.) "N. B.-The interest in this policy may be transferred by indorsement, made and entered at the office, if the trustees or acting members approve thereof, but not otherwise." VOL. II.-H (INDORSEMENT ON THE POLICY.) SUN FIRE OFFICE. the first. Conditions. This office insures against loss or damage by fire, in Great Britain compound interest, on the premium and duty for every year except and Ireland, all descriptions of buildings, including mills and manufactories, and goods, wares, and merchandise, in the same; ships in harbour, or in dock: craft on navigable rivers and canals, and the goods laden on the same; wagons travelling the roads, and their contents; and farming stock of all descriptions, upon the following terms and conditions: Common Insurances. 1. Buildings covered with slates, tiles, or metals, and built on all sides with brick or stone, or separated by party-walls of brick or stone, and wherein no hazardous trade or manufacture is carried on, or hazardous goods deposited. 2. Goods in buildings as above described, such as household goods, plate, jewels in private use, apparel, and printed books; liquors in private use, merchandise, stock and utensils in trade, not hazardous, and farming stock. At Is. 6d. per cent. per annum, with certain exceptions. Hazardous Insurances. 1. Buildings of timber or plaster, or not wholly separated by partition-walls of brick or stone, or not covered with slates, tiles, or metals, and thatchel barns and out-houses having no chimney, nor adjoining to any building having a chimney; and buildings falling under the description of common insurance, but in which some hazardous trade or manufacture is carried on, such as brewers (without a steam-engine), bread and biscuit bakers (not sea biscuit bakers), bottlers and packers of wine, spirits, or beer; chemists (without a laboratory), inn-holders, maitsters (who make pale malt only), oilmen, soap boilers, stable-keepers, and certain others; or in which hazardous goods are deposited, as the stock and utensils in the above trades; and, also, tallow, pitch, tar, hemp, flax, rosin, and turpentine; hay, straw, and all manner of fodder and corn unthrashed; apothecaries' stock, and oil; and wine and spirituous liquors as merchandise. 2. Ships and craft, with their contents (lime barges, with their contents, alone excepted). At 2s. 6d. per cent. per annum, with certain exceptions. Doubly Hazardous Insurances. 1. Buildings.-All thatched buildings having chimneys, or communicating with, or adjoining to, buildings having one, although no hazardous trade shall be carried on, nor hazardous goods deposited therein; and all hazardous buildings, in which hazardous goods are deposited, or hazardous trades carried on. 2. Goods.-All hazardous goods deposited in hazardous buildings, and in thatched buildings having no chimney, nor adjoining to any building having a chimney. 3. Trades-and their stock and utensils, such as maltsters (who make brown malt), and certain others; also china, glass, and earthenware, saltpetre, and wagons with their contents. At 4s. 6d. per cent. per annum, with certain exceptions. Farming stock on any part of a farm may be insured under general policies, without the average clause, at 1s. 6d. per cent., provided it be insured to a fair average value. This office will not be subject to any loss on hay or corn, occasioned by its own natural heating, but the loss of any other property in consequence of such fire will be made good; as will losses by fire from lightning. Insurances may also be made by special agreement on the following risks, and on others of a similar description, not mentioned under the 2d and 3d heads of insurance, viz. on mills of all kinds, and the stock and utensils in them; also on buildings, containing kiln, steamengine, stove, or oven, used in the process of any manufacture, and the stock therein; sugar refiners, sea biscuit bakers, distillers, varnish makers, chemists' laboratories, theatres, coach painters, colour manufacturers, varnishers, musical instrument makers, refiners of saltpetre, spermaceti, wax, and oil, barge and boat builders, carpenters, cabinet makers, coach makers, coopers, cork burners, floor-cloth painters, japanners, lampblack makers, letter-press printers, machine makers, melters of tallow and of rough fat, candle makers, cart-grease makers, rope and sail makers, ship chandlers, hemp and flax dressers, oil leather dressers, medals, curiosities, pictures, prints, drawings, statuary work, spinners of cotton, flax, lint and wool, throughout all the operations attending the manufacturing of these materials, from the raw state into thread for the weaver, and such other risks as, by reason of the nature of the trade, the narrowness of the situation, or other dangerous circumstances, may increase the hazard thereof: all which special hazards must be inserted in the policy, to render the same valid and in force. N. B.-Gunpowder, and buildings in which it is made, cannot be insured on any terms; neither does this office insure writings of any kind, books of accounts, ready money, bonds, bills, or any other Becurities for money. N. B.-By an act of the 55th of Geo. 3. a duty of 3s. per annum is to be levied on every 1001. of property insured against fire. N. B.-Persons may insure for more years than one, and in such cases there will be a discount allowed of 5 per cent. per annum, Art. I.-Any person desirous of effecting insurances upon buildings or goods must furnish the office, or its agents, with a particular description thereof, and of the process of manufacture carried on therein; and if there be any omission or misrepresentation in describ ing the building or goods, or process of manufacture, whereby the same may be charged at a different rate of premium than they other wise would be, this office will not be responsible in case of any loss or damage. And if any alteration be made in the state of the buildings or goods, or process of manufacture, after such insurance shall have been effected, then the insured shall give due notice thereof, in writing, to the office or its agents, or in default of such notice, such insurance shall become void, and no benefit be derived therefrom. Art. II.-All policies shall be signed and sealed by three or more trustees or acting members; and no receipts are to be taken for any premiums of insurance, but such as are printed and issued from the office, and witnessed by one of its clerks or agents. Art. III.-Houses, buildings, and goods in trust, and merchandise on commission (except as aforesaid), may be insured, provided the same are declared in the policy to be in trust or on commission, but not otherwise. Art. IV. On bespeaking policies, all persons shall pay the premium to the next quarter day, and from thence for one year more at least, or shal! make a deposit for the same, and shall, as long as the managers agree to accept the same, make all future payments annually at the said office, within fifteen days after the day limited by their respective policies, upon forfeiture of the benefit thereof. Art. V.-Any number of houses and out-houses, and household goods, printed books, wearing apparel, plate, prints, jewels and trinkets in private use, stock in trade, goods in trust, or on commission, may be insured in one policy. Art. VI-Persons insured by this office shall receive no benefit from their policies, if the same houses, or goods, &c. are insured in any other office, unless such insurance, and the amount thereof, be first specified and allowed by indorsement on the policy, in which case this office will pay its rateable proportion on any loss or damage. Art. VII.-When any person dies, the policy and interest therein shall continue to the heir, executor, or administrator, respectively, to whom the right of the property insured shall belong, provided, before any new payment be made, such heir, executor, or admiais trator, do procure his or her right to be indorsed on the policy at the said office, or the premium to be paid in the name of the said heir, executor, or administrator. Art. VIII.-Persons changing their habitations or warehouses may preserve the benefit of their policies, if the nature and circumstance of such policy be not altered; but such insurance will be of no force till such removal or alteration is allowed at the office, by indorsement on the policy. Art. IX.-No loss or damage will be paid on fire happening by any invasion, foreign enemy, civil commotion, or any military or usurped power whatever. Art. X-Persons insured sustaining any loss or damage by fire are forthwith to give notice thereof at the office; and, as soon as possible afterwards, deliver in as particular an account of their loss or damage as the nature of the case will admit of, and make proof of the same by their oath or affirmation, according to the form practised in the said office, and by their books of accounts, or such other proper vouchers as shall be reasonably required, and procure a certificate under the hands of the minister and churchwardens, and some other respectable inhabitants of the parish and place, not concerned or interested in such loss, importing that they are well acquainted with the character and circumstances of the person or persons insured or claiming; and do know, or verily believe, that he, she, or they, really, and by misfortune, without any fraud or evil practice, hava sustained by such fire the loss or damage, as his, her, or their loss, to the value therein mentioned. And, till the affidavit and certificate of such the insured's loss shall be made and produced, the loss money shall not be payable. And, if there appear any fraud or false swearing, or that the fire shall have happened by the procurement, or wilful act, neans, or contrivance of the insured or claimants, he, she, or they shall be excluded from all benefit from their policies. And in case any difference shall arise between the office and the insured, touching any loss or damage, such difference shall be submitted to the judgment and determination of arbitrators indifferently chosen, whose award in writing shall be conclusive and binding on all parties. N. B.-In every case of loss the Company reserves the right of re-instatement in preference to the payment of clains, if it should judge the former course to be more expedient; but when any loss is settled and adjusted, the insured will receive immediate payment for the same, without any deduction or discount; and will not be liable to any covenants or calls for contribution to make good losses. **To encourage the removal of goods, in case of fire, this office will allow the reasonable charges attending the same, and make good the sufferer's loss, whether destroyed, lost, or damaged, by such removal. Insurance of Mills, &c.-We subjoin for the information of such of our readers as may be interested in the insurance of mills, the following statements, put forth by the Leeds and Yorkshire Assurance Company. CLASSIFICATION OF MILLS. Class I.-Fire Proof. Mills built entirely of stone or brick: the floors laid upon stone or brick arches, resting upon stone, brick, or iron pillars, and consisting of stone flags, tiles, cement, or plaster; the frame-work of the windows and roof of iron, the roof covered with slates, tiles, or metal; the staircase detached, constructed of solid masonry or brick-work, without any mixture of wood or timber, and having no communication with the mill but at the several land. ings; the openings for upright shafts or machinery (if any) to be boxed off with iron or stone. Class II.-Fire Proof. Mills of which the construction is in all respects the same as Class I. except that the floors do not rest upon stone or brick arches, but consist of stone flags laid upon iron beams and joists. Class III.-Mills constructed as Classes I, and II. but having the stone floors resting upon timber beams and joists, and the frame-work of the windows and roof of wood. Class IV.Mills built of stone or brick, and having one or mora of the upper floors constructed of stone flags laid upon iron or woo beams, on which floors the dangerous processes are carried on; th staircase of stone, and detached. Class V.-Mills constructed of stone or brick; having the floors except the ground floor, of wood, planked and jointed with iron; the staircase of stone, being detached or on the outside. Class VI.-Mills constructed of stone or brick; having the floors, except the ground floor, of wood; the staircase of stone, being detached or on the outside. Class VII.-Mills constructed of stone or brick; having the stairs and floors of wood; the stairs being open to the building. N. B. In all the classes it is understood that the mill does not adjoin any other mill or extra-hazardous building; that the heating is by steam, and that the boilers and firing places are in a separate building, not endangering the mill. L. s. d. L. s. d. 0 0 12 0 0 13 0 0 14 0 0 16 0 0 Remarks.-The premiums affixed in the above scale are on the supposition that 3-4ths of the value of the building or stock are given in for insurance. If only half the value is given in, the premium will be 1-3d more; if only 1-4th, the premium will be 2-3ds more; and so on. Buildings, machinery, and stock, may however be insured for any sum or sums, subject to the average clause; or machinery and stock may be insured by rooms. The introduction of stoves or fires, for heating, in lieu of steam, will add to classes L. s. d. L.. s. d. 0 10 0 0 12 0 L. s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d. ny's, or other public engine stations, or have not engines belonging A kiln adjoining and communicating for the drying of oats or other grain, will add 2s. to the above premiums. Wind corn mills, built of brick or stone, and having the roof of wood, will come under Class VII. I. and H. 6d. premium. V. and VI. 15. 6d. premium. III. and IV, Is. premium. VII. . 28. premium. When mills are more than 2 miles distant from any of the compa Amount of Property insured.-Duty.-Insurance against fire, though practised in France, Holland, and some other countries, is not general any where except in Great Britain. It has been known amongst us for a century and a half, and is now very widely extended. It appears from the officiat accounts, that the gross duty received on policies of insurance against fire in the United Kingdom, in 1832, amounted to 836,0967.; which, as the duty is 3s. per cent shows that the property insured was valued at the immense sum of 557,397,5331.! But notwithstanding the magnitude of this sum, it is still true that most buildings are not insured up to their full value; even in towns, many are not insured at all; and in the country it is far from being customary to insure farm buildings or barn-yards. It is difficult to imagine that this can be owing to any thing other than the exorbitance of the duty. On common risks the duty is no less than 200 per cent. upon the premium; or, in other words, if a person pay to an insurance office 15s. for insuring 1,000l. worth of property, he must at the same time pay a duty of 30s. to government! On hazardous and doubly hazardous risks, the duty varies from about 120 to 75 and 80 per cent. upon the premium. Such a duty is in the last degree oppressive and impolitic. There cannot, in fact, be the slightest doubt that, were it reduced, as it ought to be, to one third its present amount, the business of insurance would be very much extended; and as it could not be extended without an increase of security, and without lessening the injurious consequences arising from the causalties to which property is exposed, the reduction of the duty would be productive of the best consequences in a public point of view; while the increase of business would prevent the revenue from being materially diminished. During last session (1833), the duty on the insurance of farming stock was repealed. But the relief thence arising is immaterial; and the increase is, besides, highly objectionable in point of principle, inasmuch as there is no ground whatever for exempting farming stock from duty in preference to any other description of stock. A duty on insurance is not, in itself, objectionable. We do not wish to see it repealed, but to have it effectually reduced. Were it fixed at 1s. per cent., it would hardly be felt as a burden; while the revenue would suffer little or nothing from the measure. Amount of Duty on Fire Insurances paid by the different London Offices, during each of the Ten Years ending with 1835. 15,819 15,572 15,644 15,395 16,423 17.473 40,471 42,317 28,356 32,475 10,793 10,950 11,106 27,154 27,020 27,379 8,477 9,490 10,173 73,368 72,821 73,157 57,858 56,676 54,366 55,716 55,266 57,973 129,112 17,334 16,312 Total. 479,096 492,941 513,868 529,411 562,303 534,428 550,562 554,988 549,886 550,394 Amount of Duty on Fire Insurance paid by the different Country Offices in England, during each of the Eight Years ending with 1835. The Hope, Eagle, Albion, Beacon, British Commercial, Palladium, Surrey, Sussex, and Southwark, Brighton, Old Bath, Gloucestershire, Canterbury, Berks, Gloucester and Provincial, Hartford, Cambridge, and Country, and others, (in all 22 offices, chiefly those lately established,) have discontinued their fire insurance business. IV. INSURANce (Life). That part of the business of life insurance which consists of granting annuities upon lives, is treated of under INTEREST AND ANNUITIES; so that we have only to treat, in this place, of the insurance of sums payable at the death of the insurers or their nominees. Suppose an individual of a given age wishes to insure 1007. payable at his death, the single premium, or the series of annual premiums, he ought to pay an office for such insurance, must plainly depend on the expectation of life of such individual, and on the rate of interest or nett profit which the insurers may make by investing the premiums. With respect to the first of these conditions, or the expectation of life, it is usual in estimating it to have recourse to Tables framed from the mortality observed to take place in particular cities or districts, as in Northampton, Carlisle, &c.-(See INTEREST AND ANNUITIES.) But though the actual decrement and expectation of life among an average population, at every year of their lives, were accurately determined, it is doubtful whether it would form a fair basis for an insurance office to proceed upon. The general opinion seems to be, that insured lives are decidedly above the average; for insurance offices invariably profess to act on the principle of rejecting bad lives or of making them pay a proportional increase of premium; and it may, besides, it is said, be fairly presumed that persons insuring their lives are of a superior class, and are not, generally speaking, engaged in those manual and laborious occupations that are esteemed most injurious to health. But, on the other hand, the friends of parties whose lives are supposed to be bad, and the parties themselves, are most anxious they should be insured. It is also far from being an uncommon practice, for certain individuals to prevail on persons whom they happen to know, or believe to be bad lives to insure; and then to get a legal assignment of the policy in their favour, on their giving the "men of straw" a bonus for their share in the fraud. At all events, there can be no question that large numbers of such lives are perpetually offered for insurance; and every individual conversant with the business knows that, in despite of all precautions, policies are very frequently effected upon them. Mr. Milne, on whose judgment every reliance may be placed, states distinctly that "all the caution and selection which the offices in general can exercise, is necessary to keep the lives insured up to the average goodness of the bulk of the population."-(Ency. Brit. new ed. art. Annuities.) Since the competition among the different offices became so very keen as it has been of late years, there are but few lives so bad that they will not be taken by one office or another; and we doubt, were the results of their experience made public, whether it would be found that there is much foundation for the opinion as to the superiority of insured lives. With respect to the second condition in valuing an insurance, or the rate at which the interest of money may be estimated, it is impossible to arrive at any thing like accurate conclusions. At an average, perhaps, transactions in life insurance may extend over a period of 30 years from the time when they are entered into; and in such a lengthened term the greatest changes may take place in the rate of profit and the rate of interest. Mr. Finlaison, of the National Debt Office, appears to think that 43 per cent. may be taken as the true average rate in this country; and that 44 is a rate at which no loss need be apprehended.-(Parl. Paper, No. 284. Sess. 1829.) But this is not a point on which (as Mr. Finlaison seems to suppose) previous experience can be safely depended upon in forming engagements for the future; and were this the proper place for entering upon such discussions, we think we could assign pretty solid grounds for concluding that no institution, intended to last for the next half century, would be warranted in reckoning upon realising more than 3 per cent. upon its investments. We should look upon this as the maximum, and of course could expect nothing but ruin to fall upon any institution founded upon the hypothesis of realising 4 per cent. of interest. At the same time, we would not be understood as laying any undue stress upon this opinion; and are ready to admit that there must always be more of conjecture than of certainty in such conclusions. Security being the principal object to be aimed at by every insurance office established on sound principles, they would not act wisely, if they did not calculate their premiums considerably higher than may appear necessary to those who look only at what has taken place during the last 30 or 40 years. Societies contracting prospective engagements that may extend for half a century or more, are exposed to innumerable unforeseen contingencies; and they would be highly censurable, and altogether unworthy of the public confidence, were they so to conduct their affairs, that they might be liable to serious embarrassments from fluctuation in the rate of interest, or an increase of sickness, or any other cause. The success that has hitherto attended the Equitable, and some of the long-established offices, must not be taken as any criterion of what may befall them and others during the next 100 years. Mr. Morgan, the late able actuary of the Equitable, in his account of the rise and progress of that institution, published in 1828, has satisfactorily shown that its peculiar prosperity nas been in a very great degree owing to circumstances which cannot possibly occur again. The premium, for example, charged by the Society, so late as 1771, for insuring 1007. on the life of a person aged 30, was 41. Is. 54d., whereas it is now only 21. 13s. 4d.; and there was a corresponding difference in the premiums for the other ages.-(p. 36.) But the excessive magnitude of the premiums was not the only extraordinary source of profit enjoyed by this Society in the earlier part of its career. We learn from the same unquestionable authority, that half the insurances made during the first twenty-five years of the Society's existence were abandoned by the insurers, in many cases, after the premiums upon them had been paid for a considerable number of years, without any valuable consideration being given for them by the Society!-(p. 38.) So copious a source of profit was alone adequate to enrich any society; but such things rarely occur now,-people are become too familiar with life insurance, and sales of policies are of too frequent occurrence, to allow any office to realise any thing considerable in this way. Now, we ask, can any one who takes these facts into view, and couples them with the frugal and cautious management which has hitherto always distinguished the Equitable Society, be surprised at its success and can any thing be more absurd than to appeal to its experience in casting the horoscope of the societies that have sprung into existence within the last few years. But, independently of these considerations, there are other circumstances sufficient to account for the great success of some of the old offices. Since the close of the American war, a very decided diminution has taken place in the rate of mortality; the public tranquillity has neither been disturbed by foreign invasion nor intestine commotion; we have not been once visited by any epidemic disorder; and the investments in the funds, during the war made at from 50 to 60, may now be realised at from 80 to 90. We do not presume to say that circumstances may not be even more advantageous for the insurance offices during the next half century; but we should not, certainly, think very highly of the prudence of those who proceeded to insure on such an assumption. Security, we take leave again to repeat, is, in life insurance, the paramount consideration. It is, we believe, admitted on all hands, that the premiums were at one time too high; but we doubt whether the tendency at present be not to sink them too low. A great relaxation has taken place, even in the most respectable offices, as to the selection of lives. And the advertisements daily appearing in the newspapers, and the practices known to be resorted to in different quarters to procure business, ought to make every prudent individual consider well what he is about before he decides upon the office with which he is to insure. Attractive statements, unless where they emanate from individuals of unquestionable character and science, ought not to go for much. Life insurance is one of the most deceptive of businesses; and offices may for a long time have all the appearance of prosperity, which are, notwithstanding, established on a very insecure foundation. If a man insure a house or a ship with a society, or an individual, of whose credit he gets doubtful, he will forthwith insure somewhere else. But life insurance is quite a different affair. The bargain is one that is not to be finally concluded for, perhaps, 50 years; and any inability on the part of an establishment in extensive business to make good its engagements, would be productive of a degree of misery not easy to be imagined. Life insurance companies are divided into three classes. The first class consists of joint stock companies, who undertake to pay fixed sums upon the death of the individuals insuring with them; the profits made by such companies being wholly divided among the proprietors. Of this class are the Royal Exchange, the Sun, the Globe, &c. The second class are also joint stock companies, with proprietary bodies; but instead of undertaking, like the former, to pay certain specified sums upon the death of the insured, they allow the latter to participate to a certain extent, along with the proprietors, in the profits made by the business. The mode in which this sort of mixed companies allot the profit granted to the insured, is not the same in all; and in some, the principle on which the allotment is made is not disclosed. The Rock, Alliance, Guardian, Atlas, &c. belong to this mixed class. The third species of company is that which is formed on the basis of mutual insurance. In this sort of company there is no proprietary body distinct from the insured; the latter share among themselves the whole profits of the concern, after deducting the expenses of management. The Equitable Society, the Amicable, the Norwich Life, &c. belong to this class. The advantage to a person insuring in any one office as compared with another, must plainly depend on a comparison between the premiums demanded, the conditions of the policy, and, above all, the security which it holds out. It may appear, on a superficial view, as if the mutual insurance companies would be in all respects the most eligible to deal with, inasmuch as they have no proprietors to draw away any share of the profits from the insured. It is doubtful, however, whether this advantage be not more than balanced by disadvantages incident to such establishments. Every one being a partner in the concern, has not only his own life insured, but is part insurer of the lives of all the other members; and may, in this capacity, should the affairs of the society get into disorder, incur some very serious responsibilities. The management, too, of such societies, is very apt to get into the hands of a junto; and to be conducted without the greater number of those interested knowing any thing of the matter. There is, also, considerable difficulty, in constituting such societies, in distinguishing clearly between the rights of old and new members: for, supposing a society to be prosperous, it is but reasonable that those who have belonged to it while it has accumulated a large fund, should object to new entrants participating in this advantage. But the affairs of a society conducted in this way, or making distinctions in the rights of the members during a long series of years, could hardly fail of becoming at last exceedingly complicated: nor is it, indeed, at all improbable that the conflicting claims of the parties in some of the societies of this sort now in existence, may ultimately have to be adjusted in the courts of law, or by an act of the legislature. Supposing the premiums demanded by the societies which retain the whole profits to themselves, to be fairly proportioned to the values insured, we should be inclined to think that they are, on the whole, the most advisable to insure in. The subscribed capital of such associations as the Royal Exchange, Sun, Globe, Scottish Union, &c., and the wealth of the partners (which is all liable, except in the case of the chartered companies, to the claims of the insured), afford unquestionable security. Individuals dealing with them know exactly what they are about. They know the precise premiums they will have to pay, and the exact amount of the sums that will be paid to their assignees in the event of their death. They incur no responsibility of any kind whatever. For, unless some very unprecedented and unlooked-for change should take place in the condition of the country, they may reckon with certainty on the terms of the policy being fulfilled to the letter. But, as already observed, every thing depends, in matters of this sort, on a comparison of the premium with the advantages to be realised. And where the premiums are believed, either through carelessness, or intentionally, in order to provide for the safety of the establishment, to be a little too high, it may be more expedient, perhaps, to deal with a mixed company. The subscribed capital and fortunes of the proprietary body afford a guarantee on which the public may depend in dealing with any respectable company of this sort; while, by receiving a share of the profits, the insured gain by the flourishing condition of the association, and it is of less consequence to them though the premiums should be too high. It should, however, be borne in mind, that an individual insuring with a mixed company, on condition of his getting a proportion of the profits, becomes a partner of such company; and being so, incurs responsibilities. In dealing with such associations as the Alliance, the Rock, and a few others, this responsibility can hardly be said to amount to any thing. But there are companies of this class in the field, and holding out very tempting baits to the unwary, those insured in which may find, at some future period, that this responsibility is by no means a light matter. A highly respectable company of this mixed class, with a large subscribed capital,-the Guardian, -inserts in all its policies the following condition, viz.-" That the responsibility of the individual members shall, in all cases, be limited to their respective shares." It may be doubted whether this condition be good in law; but if it be, it materially affects the security afforded by the Company, which otherwise would justly claim a place in the very first class of offices. As no one attempts to secure himself against a contingency which he is satisfied cannot happen, the existence of a condition of this sort implies a doubt, on the part of the proprietary body, of the perfect solidity of the establishment. Such a doubt may be, and we believe really is, very ill-founded; but the public will, most likely, be inclined to think that the proprietors ought to know better than any one else. The Albion Fire and Life Insurance Company also inserts in its policies a condition to the same effect. |