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d'estime. Had it proved a failure, one who has not participated in the good fortune would have been mulcted in a monetary loss referred to above.

Now the family relations between three members of the management explain a great deal. But the gradual calling up of Capital, from sixty thousand pounds to two hundred and fifty thousand, with an attempt to double it, making half a million, has not yet been satisfactorily explained. A circular was issued convening a meeting of shareholders, before whom a statement was to be read showing the necessity for borrowing another quarter of a million. At the meeting the chairman made the astounding assertion that, in addition to the total disappearance of the capital, a sum of eighty thousand pounds was owing upon debentures which the shareholders had no cognizance of. These debentures were seemingly granted without the consent of the shareholders, and were instanced and used as a mild sort of reason for some more capital being at once subscribed.

Ir transpired, after a lot of heckling, that there were no debentures, but only preferential claims to the amount stated. This is not a fair way of dealing with shareholders, and several expressed themselves in a manner that their feelings prompted. What has been done with the capital already in existence? Is there anything to show for it? Industrial business is one needing careful manipulation, as it is one in which competition is very keen, besides being as a rule worked by men whose positions are such that for a little extra gain they are available for the purpose of subornation. It is averred that the London, Edinburgh and Glasgow try with all their power to buy agents of other Companies by extra commissions and better terms. This is, perhaps, quite legitimate for a new Company, if success follows after a certain time. But this Company, having been established in 1881, has had time to see the effect of its system; and that effect can also be seen by the shareholders, who, time after time have exerted themselves in providing additional money, with the ultimate result that the Company must now double its present capital in order that it may be placed on a proper footing. Is this success? The Accident business is purposely left out of consideration, and it would have been well perhaps if the family party on the Board had confined themselves to it.

LLOYD'S Committee has been using drastic measures over the new subscriptions payable by the companies. In several cases they have been doubled, and in one, it is rumoured, even quadrupled.

The reason is not far to seek, as recent reference in these columns has shown the position of decay Lloyd's occupies. Companies are getting stronger and stronger every year. The barrier being erected round the Room is too late. Years ago the exclusiveness now being aimed at should have been adopted, and the result would have been apparent to-day. Many people regard the Committee as a lot of old women; perhaps the many people are right.

TAKE a recent instance. A young firm of brokers had the temerity to issue a sort of circular touting for business in time risks, at a low price, according to a certain system which they had worked out. It was undoubtedly a smart one, and they deserved all the success obtainable from the use of brains. It is rumoured now that the firm has been summoned before that august tribunal in the Committee Room, to expiate the terrible offence. There is no rule against circularising for business, but, unfortunately, the letter in question appeared in a contemporary. Hinc illae lachryma. This was an advertisement such as the Stock Exchange allows not, nor evidently does the Committee of Lloyd's nowadays.

It may be that, as the firm in question-Messrs. Hargan, Rawle and Co.-are agents for five foreign insurance companies, the actual reason for the action of the Committee may be found in that fact, against the ostensible one mentioned before. It is a serious matter for Mr. Charles Rawle, a most uncalled-for action, as, during the twenty

seven years he has been at Lloyd's, he has been making for himself a high character for rectitude and business ability, which, on launching into business as a principal, seems to be made almost of no avail by the arbitrary action of those in brief authority.

THE question of money-lending to clerks in Banks and Insurance offices, opened in these columns, has proved one of great moment. Proof can be given that a high official in one of the Fire and Life Insurance Companies is in the habit of advancing money to his clerks at the rate of £1 interest for a month on £5-a little safe investment at 240 per cent. Safe, indeed, is the money-as he deducts it when paying the monthly salaries.

ANOTHER obliging gentleman is he who translates languages for many of the large establishments. His business of translating extends beyond that connected with languages, as the translation of interest from borrowers is one of magnitude, and it enables him to put himself in touch with many who, out of gratitude, must not allow legitimate business to pass from him to a less lucky polyglot.

TRUMAN, HANBURY, BUXTON & Co. will get the money they want, but they seem a little greedy in retaining the whole of the ordinary capital and one third of the debentures. Few people know that the Hotel at Tilbury, which has turned out such a failure, belongs practically, if not actually, to the firm. The loss on this place must be something reckoned by tens of thousands of pounds, so there is one sink for their money. How many more there are of the same nature on a smaller scale perhaps may be learned presently by those who subscribe, after the glamour has

waned.

THE BREAKDOWN OF THE ENGLISH CIRCUIT SYSTEM.— The depleted state of the English Bench during last month has again raised the question of the reform of the Circuit System in England. The arranging of the several circuit sittings is a recurring difficulty with the judges of the Queen's Bench Division. Their lordships appear to be driven to their wits' end in the attempt to reduce to a minimum the huge inconvenience which the absence of so many judges on assize always creates in the business of the ordinary Courts in London. The great towns in the provinces provide a heavy list of work for the assizes. The number of towns to be visited is considerable. So it happened that from the 27th of November until the end of term, eight of the common law judges were out of town. The Special Commission being then in session, there remained available in London four Cominon Law judges, viz., the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Manisty, Baron Huddleston, and Mr. Justice Denman.

Of this thin

battalion, one had to sit daily in chambers. Three judges, therefore, were left to deal with the common jury list, the special jury list, the without jury list, Then, too, since misfor

and various other matters.

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never come singly, Mr. Justice Manisty was for some time seriously indisposed. Now, this state of things -not exceptional at all, for, although the Special Commission is temporary, a similar state of congestion occurs regularly as the circuits come round-naturally causes much irritation. Both on the part of provincial and metropolitan litigants, dissatisfaction has been loudly expressed. The latter complain of delay in their suits; the former of a tendency to perfunctory and impatient despatch of their business. Remedies have been called for, and suggestions have been forthcoming. It would seem to be impossible to improve the existing system further. All that ingenuity can suggest and earnestness can carry out has, we may safely assume, been already tried. "Either," says the Spectator, "the number of judges must be increased, or something must be done in the direction of decentralisation, or, in other words, the jurisdiction of County Courts and Quarter Sessions must be extended." There is, indeed, no escape from this alternative. No other course seems possible. The obstacle in the way of either of these reforms is, of course, the same formidable one. Both would involve the spending of more money. A larger grant will be hard to wring from the Treasury, since even the present outlay has been carped at. Yet the deadlock must be removed. Without the spending of more money, its removal is not possible.--Journal of Jurisprudence.

THE LIABILITY OF TRUSTEES BILL.

time when the loan was made, provided that it shall appear to the Court that in making such loan the trustee was acting upon a report as to the value of the property made by a person whom the trustee reasonably believed to be an able

1. Short title, extent, and Definition.-(1) This Act may practical surveyor or valuer, instructed and employed indebe cited as the Trustee Act, 1888.

(2) This Act shall not extend to Scotland except in so far as it declares that it shall be lawful for a trustee to invest any trust funds in his hands in the debenture, preference, guaranteed, or rent-charge stock of any railway company in Great Britain or Ireland incorporated by special Act of Parliament, and having during each of the ten years last past, before the date of investment, paid a dividend on its ordinary stock or shares.

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(3) For the purposes of this Act the expression "trustee shall be deemed to include an executor or administrator and a trustee whose trust arises by construction or implication of law as well as an express trustee, and also the official trustee of charitable funds.

(4) The provisions of this Act relating to a trustee shall apply as well to several joint trustees as to a sole trustee.

2. Receipt of Money by Solicitor as Agent.-(1) It shall be lawful for a trustee to appoint a solicitor to be his agent to receive and give a discharge for any money or any valuable consideration or property receivable by such trustee under the trust by permitting such solicitor to have the custody of, and to produce, a deed containing any such receipt as is referred to in the fifty-sixth section of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881; and no trustee shall be chargeable with breach of trust by reason only of his having made or concurred in making any such appointment; and the producing of any such deed by such solicitor shall have the same validity and effeet, by virtue of the said fifty-sixth section, as the same would have had if the person appointing such solicitor had not been a trustee : Provided that nothing herein contained shall exempt a trustee from any liability which he would have incurred if this Act had not passed in case he permits such money, valuable consideration, or property to remain in the hands or under the control of the solicitor appointed as aforesaid for a period longer than is reasonably necessary to enable such solicitor to pay or transfer the same to the trustee.

(2) It shall be lawful for a trustee to appoint a banker or solicitor to be his agent to receive and give a discharge for any money payable to such trustee under or by virtue of a policy of assurance by permitting such banker or solicitor to have the custody of and to produce such policy of assurance with a receipt signed by such trustee, and no trustee shall be chargeable with a breach of trust by reason only of his having made or concurred in making any such appointment: Provided that nothing herein contained shall exempt a trustee from any liability which he would have incurred if this Act had not passed, in case he permits such money to remain in the hands or under the control of the banker or solicitor appointed as aforesaid for a period longer than is reasonably necessary to enable such banker or solicitor to pay the same to the trustee.

(3) This section shall apply only where the money or valuable consideration or property is to be received after the passing of this Act.

3. Depreciatory Conditions on Sales by Trustees.-(1) No sale made by a trustee shall be impeached by any cestui que trust upon the ground that any of the conditions, subject to which the sale was made, may have been unnecessarily depreciatory, unless it shall also appear that the consideration for the sale was thereby rendered inadequate.

(2) No sale made by a trustee shall, after the execution of the conveyance, be impeached as against the purchaser upon the ground as aforesaid, unless it shall appear that such purchaser was acting in collusion with such trustee at the time when the contract for such sale was made.

(3) No purchaser, upon any sale made by a trustee, shall be at liberty to make any objection against the title upon the ground aforesaid.

(4) This section shall apply only to sales made after the passing of this Act.

4. Loans by Trustees.-(1) No trustee lending money upon the security of any property shall be chargeable with breach of trust by reason only of the proportion borne by the amount of the loan to the value of such property at the

pendently of any owner of the property, whether such surveyor or valuer carried on business in the locality where the property is situate or elsewhere, and that the amount of the loan does not exceed two equal third parts of the value of the property as stated in such report, and that the loan was made under the advice of such surveyor or valuer expressed in such report. And this section shall apply to a loan upon any property of any tenure, whether agricultural or house or other property, on which the trustee can lawfully lend.

(2) No trustee lending money upon the security of any leasehold property shall be chargeable with breach of trust only upon the ground that in making such loan he dispensed, either wholly or partially, with the production or investigation of the lessor's title.

(3) No trustee shall be chargeable with breach of trust only upon the ground that, in effecting the purchase of any property, or in lending money upon the security of any property, he shall have accepted a shorter title than the title which a purchaser is, in the absence of a special contract, entitled to require, if in the opinion of the Court the title accepted be such as a person acting with prudence and caution would have accepted.

(4) This section shall apply to transfers of existing secu rities as well as to new securities, and to investments made as well before as after the passing of this Act, except where some action or other proceeding shall be pending with reference thereto at the passing of this Act.

5. Liability for Loss by reason of Improper Investments.— (1) Where a trustee shall have improperly advanced trust money on a mortgage security which would at the time of the investment have been a proper investment in all respects for a less sum than was actually advanced thereon, the security shall be deemed an authorised investment for such less sum, and the trustee shall only be liable to make good the sum advanced in excess thereof with interest.

(2) This section shall apply to investments made as well betore as after the passing of this Act, except where some action or other proceeding shall be pending with reference thereto at the passing of this Act.

6. Indemnity for Breach of Trust. (1) Where a trustee shall have committed a breach of trust at the instigation or request or with the consent of a beneficiary, the Court may,, if it shall think fit, and notwithstanding that the beneficiary may be a married woman entitled for her separate use, whether with or without a restraint upon anticipation, make such order as to the Court shall seem just, for impounding all or any part of the interest of the beneficiary in the trust through him. estate by way of indemnity to the trustee or person claiming

(2) This section shall apply to breaches of trust committed as well before as after the passing of this Act, except where an action or other proceeding shall be pending with reference thereto at the passing of this Act.

7. Trustee may Insure Buildings.-(1) It shall be lawful for, but not obligatory upon, a trustee to insure against loss or damage by fire any building or other insurable property to any amount (including the amount of any insurance already on foot) not exceeding three equal fourth parts of the full value of such building or property, and to pay the premiums for such insurance out of the income thereof or out of the income of any other property, subject to the same trusts, without obtaining the consent of any person who may be entitled wholly or partly to such income.

(2) This section shall not apply to any building or property which a trustee is bound forthwith to convey absolutely to any cestui que trust upon being requested so to do.

8. Statute of Limitations may be Pleaded by Trustees.(1) In any action or other proceeding against a trustee, or any person claiming through him, except where the claim is founded upon any fraud or fraudulent breach of trust to which the trustee was party or privy, or is to recover trust property, or the proceeds thereof, retained or received by

the trustee and converted to his use, the following provisions shall apply :

(a) All rights and privileges conferred by any statute of limitations shall be enjoyed in the like manner and to the like extent as they would have been enjoyed in such action or other proceeding, if the trustee or person claiming through him had not been a trustee or person claiming through him:

(b) If the action, or other proceeding, is brought to recover money or other property, and is one to which no existing statute of limitations applies, the trustee or person claiming through him shall be entitled to the benefit of and be at liberty to plead the lapse of time as a bar to such action or other proceeding in the like manner and to the like extent as if the claim had been against him in an action of debt for money had and received, but so nevertheless that the statute shall run against a married woman entitled for her separate use, whether with or without a restraint upon anticipation, but shall not begin to run against a beneficiary unless and until his interest shall be an interest in possession.

(2) No beneficiary, as against whom there would be a good defence by virtue of this section, shall derive any greater or other benefit from a judgment or order obtained by another beneficiary than he could have obtained if he had brought such action, or other proceeding, and this section had been pleaded.

(3) This section shall apply only to actions, or other proceedings, commenced after the passing of this Act.

9. Investments on Mortgage of Long Terms.-A power to invest trust money in real securities shall authorise, and shall be deemed to have always authorised, an investment upon mortgage of property held for an unexpired term of not less than two hundred years, and not subject to any reservation of rent greater than one shilling a year, or to any right of redemption, or to any condition for re-entry except for non-payment of rent.

10. Trustees of Renewable Leaseholds may Renew.—It shall be lawful for any trustee of any leaseholds for lives or years which are renewable from time to time, either under any covenant or contract or by custum or usual practice, if he shall in his discretion think fit, and it shall be the duty of such trustee, if thereunto required by any person having any beneficial interest, present or future or contingent, in such leaseholds, to use his best endeavours to obtain from time to time a renewed lease of the same hereditaments on the accustomed and reasonable terms, and for that purpose it shall be lawful for any such trustee from time to time to make, or concur in making, such surrender of the lease for the time being subsisting, and to do all such other acts as shall be requisite in that behalf; but this section is not to apply to any case where, by the terms of the settlement or will, the person in possession for his life or other limited. interest is entitled to enjoy the same without any obligation to renew the lease or to contribute to the expense of renewing the same.

11. Extent of the Act's Application.-(1) This Act shall apply as well to trusts created before as to trusts created after the passing of this Act.

(2) Provided always, that save as in this Act expressly provided, nothing therein contained shall authorise any trustee to do anything which he is in express terms forbidden to do, or to omit to do anything which he is in express terms directed to do, by the instrument or instruments creating the trust.

THE OLD RAILWAY COMMISSION.

AT the close of the business on Monday MR. Littler, Q.C., rose and said: "This is the last sitting of the present Court, and as I am the senior member of the bar present, and have, I think, been engaged before the Court in more cases than any other member of the bar, with the exception of the Attorney-General, I think it would not be right for us at the bar to allow this occasion to pass without remark. I have seen a good deal of practice, and a great variety of practice, before all sorts of tribunals, and I desire to say, with the most thorough sincerity, that I have never practised before a tribunal which evinced such a sincere desire

to ascertain the whole of the facts in connection with the case before them, and to go over the whole of the ground upon which their judgment would depend. It would not, in my opinion, be right to let this occasion go by without saying that; and, moreover, I think the thanks of the whole bar are due to the tribunal for the invariable courtesy which has been displayed to us in allowing some latitude in the arrangements of our other work and in assisting us in performing it here. That assistance is of the greatest possible advantage, not only to the bar, but to the suitors who come before the Court. Personally, I have sometimes had to ask for that indulgence, and I think it would not be right if I did not record, as the senior representative of the bar, my extreme appreciation of the great assistance which has thus been rendered to my clients. I have one thing more to add, and that is how we all extremely regret one circumstance in regard to the new tribunal-that we shall lose the present legal member. We have all appreciated the care which he has bestowed upon the work; we have all appreciated the kindness with which he has always endea voured to show us the difficulties which were in his mind; and as, owing to circumstances over which none of us have any control, he is about to come back to the bar, I can only say, as one of those with whom he will come into competition, we shall very heartily welcome him back and feel that his legal acumen and general abilities will add greatly to the strength of the bar likely to practise before the new Commission Court. We heartily thank you for the treatment we have always received in this Court.

SIR FREDERICK PEEL.-I should like, with reference to the last portion of Mr. Littler's remarks in regard to my learned colleague, no longer going to be a member of this commission, to express my regret on that account at the change which is about to take place in its constitution, and my sense of the loss involved in the severance of his connection with the commission, both to the public and to ourselves. That it has been a source of much strength to the commission to have had at our command the experience in law of my learned friend is a statement which I am sure would be confirmed by all who have at any time been in this room, or have taken part in the proceedings, and, as we have seen, it has been recognised by Mr. Littler, who has just spoken. I am sure all the learned counsel who have practised before us will say the same thing; and in referring to them and to what Mr. Littler has said, I desire to express my acknowledgments to them, many of them among the first rank in their profession, for the uniform courtesy which they have shown to this Court and to myself in particular. It is not for me to eulogise my learned friend as a lawyer. I am too little versed in that branch of knowledge in which he is so proficient to make it becoming for me to do it, but I may speak of the manner in which he has applied his knowledge to aid us in carrying out the Act of 1873. That Act, creating a commission so admirably constituted as this, gave it to be understood that our course as a Court was to be governed not only by the rules of law, but also by the maxims of natural radical good sense, and my learned friend on all occasions, as might have been expected, not only maintained his reputation as a lawyer, but has also treated all questions from that point of view and in the large and liberal-minded manner it implied. I think it is something like twelve years since my learned friend first joined this commission, and during this long time we, the members of this commission, have naturally seen a great deal of each other, of course in Court and also out of Court. I look back with pleasure to that intercourse with him. To my mind a colleague more agreeable to act with could never have filled his place, and it has been a pleasure to be joined with him in carrying out the Act of 1873. I owe him myself many thanks for the readiness and kindness with which he has always responded to any appeals that I have made to him at different times for his advice and assistance. We shall lose that benefit for the future, but it is still satisfactory to think that the principles which he has promoted have been set out so clearly in his different judgments that they are there still to guide us and to be referred to; and I think further, with pleasure, that his views, although he is no longer one of this commission, will still assert themselves and exercise a beneficial influence on the course of this Court under the new circumstances of the existence upon which it is about to enter.

Mr. PRICE. The Chief Commissioner has been good enough to include me in what he has said so excellently, and it is not necessary for me to add anything to show how heartily I concur in all he has said.

Mr. MILLER, Q.C., who spoke with considerable emotion, said:-I did not expect to have the duty put upon me of listening to and returning thanks for the touching addresses which have been uttered by our Chief Commissioner and by Mr. Littler. I can only say that I retire after twelve years' service under circumstances which I think are unprecedented, and which I will not pretend to believe are justifiable. I, nevertheless, feel one great consolation, and that is that I do not doubt I carry with me not only the sympathy which has been so kindly and so eloquently expressed by my colleagues, but also that of the numerous members of the bar who know the circumstances, and I trust that I may have in the future many opportunities of meeting those with whom I have during the last twelve years been in such constant connection, and that, although the circumstances will be very much altered, the friendship will not.

The Court then separated.

property, of improper investments, and of breaches of trust committed at the instance of, or with the consent of, the beneficiary, and empowering trustees to insure the trust property, and to plead the statutes of limitations, except in cases where the trustee has himself benefited by the breach of trust.

"To any ordinary mind it would appear strange that legislative sanction should be needed to render such acts as those which we have briefly indicated lawful; but, in fact, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that every provision of the Act represents what may be termed a monument to martyrs who have suffered in the cause of trusteeship.

"Another of these measures is the Solicitors' Act, 1888, one object of which is to intrust to the Incorporated Law Society the custody of the roll of solicitors of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England; and another, to enlarge greatly the powers of the Society in dealing with cases of malpractice by solicitors at the very important stage of investigating the facts as a preliminary measure to bringing the offender before the Court. Other subjects of minor importance affecting the profession are dealt with in the Act.

"Lastly, comes a highly technical, but not the less useful, Act dealing with an important incident of land transfer. The perils of a purchaser of land, arising from the need of guarding against the existence of charges on

THE INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY. the purchased land, in the shape of unregistered judgments,

THE following has been published by the Incorporated Law Society:

"It is a noteworthy circumstance that among the Bills which received the Royal assent on the day of the prorogation of Parliament were no less than three measures of law reform initiated, framed, and actively promoted by the Incorporated Law Society of the United Kingdom; two, at least, of which may be fairly said to have been conceived solely in the interests of the community at large.

"Ánxieties and responsibilities must inevitably attend the discharge of the thankless duties of a trustee; but they have been aggravated to an unbearable extent by a long series of judicial decisions which have fenced in the trustee's path with thorns and briars innumerable, and required of him a degree of vigilance and circumspection passing all the ordinary standards by which the reasonable conduct of human affairs is measured. To remedy the evil as far as possible, it has of late years been customary for skilled draftsmen of wills and settlements to introduce protective clauses; and to those familiar with such instruments it has been both painful, and, in a certain sense, almost amusing, to see how every decision of the Courts which has added an extra cord to the judicial lash wherewith trustees have been reminded of their duties, has been followed by the insertion of a new clause in subsequent wills and settlements, expressly declaring that the trustees of those instruments may do that precise thing which the Court has declared that their unfortunate brethren not similarly protected had no right to do. But it is manifest that such a mode of pruning judicial severity must, at the best, be very partial in its practical results, and that the necessity for it indicates a condition of things calling loudly for the interference of Parliament. Recognising this to be so, the Incorporated Law Society, with the able assistance of Lord Herschell in the one House and Mr. Cozens-Hardy in the other, have prevailed on the Legislature to lessen, in some degree, at least, the personal responsibilities of trustees who act in good faith, and take reasonable measures for protecting the interests committed to their charge.

"This much-needed change in the law is to be found in the Liabilities of Trustees Act. The Act declares that a trustee may appoint a solicitor or a banker to be his agent for the receipt of trust money in certain cases, and protects him against liability arising out of depreciatory conditions on sales, or out of losses resulting from loans of the trust funds where he has lent not more than two-thirds of the value of the property, and has acted upon a report as to the value of the property made by a person whom he reasonably believes to be an able practical surveyor or valuer, instructed and employed independently of any owner of the property. It also contains provisions limiting the liability of trustees in cases of advances on leasehold

writs of sequestration, and so forth, were brought into very disagreeable prominence some two years since by a decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Re Pope (17 Q. B. Div., 743), which upset preconceived notions as to the true legal construction of an Act of Parliament passed in 1864 with the honest but, as the Court held, unavailing intention of protecting purchasers from charges of this description on land, not discoverable by means of searches at public offices. These searches were in themselves of a very laborious kind, and formed no inconsiderable element in the cost of land transfer, and a climax was reached when it was proclaimed by the judges of appeal, in the case referred to, that no searches, however exhaustive, would effectively protect a purchaser, or, in other words, that no one could safely buy an acre of land in this country. The consternation produced by the decision found voice in the legal journals, and in a very able paper, prepared by Mr. William Godden, a member of the Society's council, and ultimately in the promotion by the Society of an Act just passed under the title of the Land Charges Registration and Searches Act, which meets the difficulty so far as secret burdens on land are concerned. The Bill, in its original shape, also contained provisions having in view the simplification of the operation of making searches for the various registered charges, but, as most of those practically acquainted with the subject will probably think, the efficiency of this part of the measure was considerably impaired by amendments made during the passage of the Bill through Parliament.

"Like all bodies discharging varied public functions, the Incorporated Law Society has to encounter criticism. There are those who charge it with doing too much, those who charge it with doing too little, and those who charge it with doing inefficiently what it does undertake. The achievements in legislation to which allusion has been made go far to show that the governing body take a high-minded, as well as an eminently practical, view of the Society's powers of public usefulness; and the gradually extended control over what may be termed the internal concerns of the solicitors' branch of the legal profession conferred on the Society from time to time by statute is a fitting recognition of the sound good sense and moderation which have marked the exercise of its privileges and the discharge of its important and laborious duties."

Receipt is acknowledged of The Law of Charitable Bequests, by Amherst D. Tyssen, D.C.L. of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law (William Clowes & Sons.); London Government, by Henry Clarke (Simpkin, Marshall & Co).; also the following magazines :-The Cosmopolitan (Digby & Long); The Verulam Review (Elliot Stock); Baily's Magazine (Vinton & Co.).

PUMP COURT.

The Temple Newspaper and Review.

EDITORIAL, ADVERTISEMENT AND PUBLISHING OFFICES, 33, Exeter Street, Strand, W. C.

Union Assurance

JANUARY 9, 1889.

Pro Lege.

INSURANCE.

A REVIEW of the accounts of this Society Society. for the year ending June 30, 1888, reveals a continued satisfactory state of affairs as far as shareholders are concerned. The directors' report states that the bonus appropriated to policy-holders "ranks among the largest bonuses given by any Company, and has given great satisfaction to all entitled to participate in it." This is very pleasing, particularly to those most directly interested; but a study of the accounts shows that under different conditions than those that exist in this office, results might have been considerably better than they were. Our dictum is against proprietary, or stock company, offices, inasmuch as life assurance is concerned; for the reason that the primary principle and foundation of all life assurance is mutuality, and the protection supposed to be afforded by shareholders assuming the liability is merely nominal. This point is well illustrated in the case of this office. While the amount of authorised and subscribed capital is £300,000, the total amount paid up in cash is but £30,000. The nominal amount of each share is £200, and the amount paid up in cash on each share is £20. dividend for year ending June 30, 1888, was £26 per share, and in 1887 it was £24 per share. This is equal to 125 per cent. per annum, from the combined life and fire branches, on the paid-up capital. As the general reserve and fire fund contains over £775,000, the inutility of the share capital is apparent.

The

In

Life assurance is entirely distinct from fire, both in the nature of the risks and mode of premium charged. point of fact, one has nothing in common with the other, and, when offices undertake both branches, the accounts should be kept separately, and not intermingled. In the case of this Society, the "shareholders' proportion of profit for the five years, carried to the General Reserve and Fire Fund," is £34,089 10s. 11d. (which is over 113 per cent. on the paid-up capital). This, we are told, is " appropriated to the benefit of the shareholders, but retained by the Society in order to increase the security of the assured, which amount now forms part of the General Reserve Fund." This appears very magnanimous, and it is duly entered in the "Fire Revenue Account" as an item received from the Life department. Out of this account, a profit is carried, in its turn, to Profit and Loss Account, and the "dividends to shareholders" is there found to be £39,000. The question naturally suggests itself, Why was not the shareholders' proportion of profit from the life

department carried direct to Profit and Loss Account, instead of meandering through, and trying to hide itself in, the Fire Revenue Account ?

The fact that this office, notwithstanding its enormous annual dividends to its shareholders, has been able to build up a General Reserve and Fire Fund of £785,539, is proof of the greater additional advantages that would have accrued to policy-holders had it been a mutual office. The history of all life offices that have been at all decently managed shows that the protection afforded policy-holders against loss, by shareholders assuming the liability, is in name only. The very essence of life assurance is the mutual principle. Tables of mortality disclose the truth that at each age a certain percentage of selected lives die. To meet the losses occasioned by this mortality, it is necessary for the hundreds to band together and co-operate-the contributions from the many paying the death losses of the few as they occur. This is the primary principle, independent of compound interest. But why band together under the pseudo ægis of a syndicate of shareholders, which is only an expensive and ornamental appendage, neither useful nor necessary for the well-being and security of those who are compelled, by the very law of mortality, to mutually insure each other?

The Scottish The directors' report of the Seventy-fourth Widows' Fund. Annual General Court of this Society contains very interesting information, and shows this affluent office to have continued its wonderful growth of funds. The statement regarding its mortality and claims is worthy of notice, as the following extract will show ::

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"The rate of mortality among the members is still con siderably less than that indicated by the tables of mortality which form the basis of the Society's calculations. The number of deaths which might have been looked for was 644, while the actual number was only 473, or 26 per cent. less. Of these, 131 were of persons who had attained 70 years of age and upwards-43 of them dying between 80 and 90 years of age, and three over 90.

"The claims arising in consequence of the 473 deaths amount to £598,955 18s. 5d., made up thus-original sums assured entitled to participate in profits, £400,171 6s. Id.; bonus additions thereon, £174,834 12s. 4d.; policies not entitled to participate, £23,950; claims in consequence of death, £598,955 18s. 5d.; seventeen endowment assurance policies became claims by survivance of the lives assured, amounting to £4,559 14s. 5d.; the total claims of the year thus amounted to £603,515 12s. 10d.

"The bonuses paid, with participating policies which became claims in 1887, amounted, on the average, to 437 per cent., notwithstanding that in many instances bonus had been previously surrendered for cash or applied in reduction of premiums. In 38 cases these additions increased the original sum assured by 100 to 174 per cent.-the average increase being 122 per cent."

It is worthy of note, regarding the growth of the funds, that the net premium income (less re-assurance premiums) was £763,417 195. 5d., which was sufficient to pay the entire disbursements for the year, including death claims and bonus additions, without trespassing upon income from any other source, or the life assurance funds, and also to embody an excess amount of £14,023 os. 7d. The entire total disbursements for the year amounted to £749,394 18s. 1od., and embraced the following items:s. d. £ Claims (after deduction of sums re-assured)... 603,515 12 10 Year 1887 includes £4,559 14s. 5d. payable under Endowment Assurances, and £975 os. 2d. in respect of deaths in previous years.

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