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Leader (1850-1860), 25th October 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 15, fl ^ «, T> p 0 > c ¦ R -; S a ¦ n 3 r * ...

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      It Is A Long "Latng That His No Turning....

      Vy I ; -L' ~ ' - » J-J •"'*" ' . - » ' . ^—i ^———~ S ? pSS ? S EI The " MeL note of Lord Clarion speats with , a aSassKS ^ aaa ^ F committed a folly oversight . " . Mr . Imxctg is , or was , Chairman © f the Brighton Railway Company , Chapman ot the Crystal Palace Company ; he is or he will he , Director , or s omething else , ot Austrian railways . The progress of the world , he thinks , has sup erseded politics , and is leaving ' private enterprise to carry onthe fl work of progress and civilization . -. our ^ shareholder is the true patriot , and Xaino is « , the Moses to lead us hack from Egyptian T > darkness into the land of commercial wisdom , p In short , the new Laing patriotism goes 0 back to the Old Jewry . > . ¦ . . ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ^^ ___ ¦ . ¦ c , " " .

      ¦ «-^.« ™.L 1h» -Leader. 1023

      ¦ « - ^ . « ™ . l 1 H » -LEADER . 1023

      - Per | I In That Nre - Y .C *' S Bi C N...

      | ' | Agricultural Meetings . —The annual meeting of the Herefordshire Agricultural Society took place last Saturday , Mr . Elias Chadwick , chairman for the year , being the president . One of the chief speakers was "the Chancellor of the Exchequer , who congratulated the meeting on the improved state of agriculture , and the increased prosperity of agriculturists , since the repeal of the corn laws . These remarks were met with approval . Sir . Booker Blakernore alluded to the propriety of celebrating harvest home , and attending to the domestic decencies and comforts of the labourers . At the close of the harvest , he tbonght rich and poor should meet for religious thanksgiving , in the first place , and , after that , for the cultivation of good feeling by manly sports and astimes . All the speakers alluded to the question of agricultural statistics , and tlie general opinion seemed to that they would be very useful , but that they ought not to be enforced tyrannically or inquisitorially . —At the annual dinner of the Loughboxough Agricultural Association , held on Friday week , Mr . Packe , M . P ., -who was in the chair , made some remarks on the same topic , contending that tie publication of the exact state of their-business , their stock in hand , & c , would be very prejudicial to farmers . He also asserted that Lord Palmerstori and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are opposed to the measure on this suibject introduced by their party last session , and withdrawn . The Sociological Institute . —A society has been formed in London , under the name of the Sociological Institute . The prospectus says : — " The general obj ects of the Institute may be declared to be the promotion of the knowledge and practice of equitable human relations , in all the departments of life ; or , in other words , to afford the means by which a true theory and a scientific system of society may be elucidated and enunciated , ultimately to be applied in practice by at least a portion of mankind—those who believe that social life comprehends _ a science which man must himself discover and apply if he would attain therein to the power now exercised by him in respect . of the physical s ciences , namely , the power of calculating effects by understanding and controlling causes . " x . North AusTRAiaAiT Expedition . — Information nas just reached this country from the North Australian expedition , under Mr . Surveyor Gregory , which , it aviU be remembered , was organized by the Royal Geographical Society , aiid undertaken by tie Colomialoffice . The expedition started from Sydney for Moretonbay , and thence to the momth of Stokes' Victoria River . On landing , the party were bo unfortunate as to lose fourteen horses and one hundred and fifty Bheep . Nothing daunted , however , a camp was established on the Victoria River , and , in the beginning of January , Mr . Gregory left with a party of nine officers and men to ascend the river , and ultimately arrived at its sources on sandstone ranges , 1400 feet above the level of the sea , These ranges run east and west , so that the opposite fall of water is consequently to the south . Crossing this water-parting , Mr . Gregory struck on a creek that led him three hundred miles further , to latitude 20 deg . 15 min . south , and longitude 127 deg . 45 mm , west , where he discovered a salt lake in a sandy desert , correctly prognosticated by our great Australian explorer , Captain Sturt . From this point the party retraced their steps in safety , and Mr . Gregory was preparing for a second start from his depot across the country to the east , as far as tho Albert River , where he expects to find more fertile land . Earthquake at Malta . — Some particulars of two severe shocks of earthquake recently felt at Malta are given l ) y the Times Maltese correspondent , who writes : _« The steeple of Queen Adelaide ' s Church , from its height and tenuity , was naturally an object likely to be most seriously affected by undulations , and , in fact , five or six of the courses of stones from the point of the spire downwards have been so shaken and wrenched that they will probably have to be removed to be properly relaid . The stone cross and ball which crown the steeple are thrown out of their perpendicular , tho former leaning to the westward and the latter to tho eastward ; while tho pomegranate which formed the knob of the vase on Ponsonby ' s monument has been thrown to tho ground . The dome of the Cathedral at Civita Vecchia , in the interior of the island , is rent , so as to admit the flight , and tho belfry is much shaken . Tho expenses necessary to repair the injuries done to tho Cathedral alono are estimated at several thousands of pounds . A small room in Civita Vecchia , built of stone without mortar , fell in altogether . From all parts of the country we hear of buildings having been more or less damaged ; among others , the new church at Musta , which is still unfinished , and the now church at Sliema , as also the churcli at Nasciarro . At Casal Siggreni , tho belfry ami a purt of the roof a small church called Tal Ghalia fell in ; tho dome of the parochial clnirch was also seriously affected . Happily , wo have hourd of no loss of life . A Sew Mode op Pukacihkg . —Tho clergy ot fc > t . George ' s in the East have adopted tho plan of preaching from tho steps of the pariah church , and largo eongrcgations have been collected , consisting of persons who it is supposed would not enter the building itself . 'Iho people who thus assemble pay marked attention to tho sermons , and it is in contemplation to build for their use an iron church , with schools for tho education ol their children , ' 1

      Fl ^ «, T> P 0 > C ¦ R -; S A ¦ N 3 R * ...

      j i - ' , , ) '¦ . ' ? an of - bo - . - the - ? of the ex- East London Shoeblack Society . —A meeting of t ] the friends and promoters of ragged schools , and of the j boys belonging to those schools , was held last Saturday ^ evening in the Whitechapel Society ' s room . Tea having c been partaken of , the report was read , from which it ap- t peared that the liabilities had "been paid off , and that the new Refuge , at 81 , High-street , Whitechapel , had been 5 opened for the reception of twenty-one homeless and c vagrant boys , who were clothed , fed , lodged , edu- t cated , and taught tailoring , shoemaking , and shoeblacking , partly by their own earnings , and partly at the ex- i pense of the society . The -practical workings of the ] society since its foundation were shown by a table , which . ( exhibited that , out of three hundred and twenty-two 1 boys admitted * one liundred and sixty-nine had left , fortyseven been dismissed as incorrigible , and one hundred and six reclaimed . Eacli of these latter boys had been effectually put into the way of obtaining his own living for the small sum of—excluding the Refuge operations—^ bout ? . The balance-sheet showed that the society had been nearly self-supporting during the past six months . In moving the adoption of the report ; Dr . Tripe said , the receipts had been one-third more during the last halfyear than they had been the six months before ; and that , of the 754 Z . received , 616 J . had been earned by the boys themselves—a statement which was greeted with applause . Mr . John Macgregor , barrister at law , then read-a lecture , illustrated by diagrams and specimens * of curiosities , on tlie history and . antiquities of Egypt , ' ' with a view to showing that the prophecies of Scripture s are verified by the facts which he was then describing . 3 Vocal and instrumental music , poetical declamation by f Mr . Payne ( the chairman ) , and the singing by the boys of a sort of hymn descriptive of their past and present ' condition , formed other features of the evening ' s enter' tainment . Above a thousand persons were present , and y the lady visitors numerically predominated , y Shade-Trees in Cities . —A suggestion lias been tl made in the Building News which is worthy of attention . The writer proposes that trees should be planted at e proper intervals along some of our London thoroughn fares , as in many of the American cities , both for the f sake of an agreeable shadow in summer , and for pictuis resqueness and cheerfulness . Such a proceeding would 0 indeed be merely a return to our old practice , for London was at one time a very leafy place , and is even now more so than some cities . The Cockney is notoriously fond * ' of ' greenery ; ' aud , if the trees would not be killed by the gas or the smoke , or by the ill-usage of the nomadic jo tribes of boys ( whose hatred of anything beautiful seems e to be instinctive and ineradicable ) , we do not see why ' something of a sylvan character should not be given to our dull brick-and-m or tar avenues . —In connexion with v * this subject , a letter . has appeared in tho Times from a al correspondent who signs himself " Sub Tegmine Fagi , " a- and who states tliat householders at Brixton ( where he ie lives ) have been ordered by the parish vestiy , in virtue , of an act of William IV ., relating to highways , to cut . down , or prune and lop , all wayside trees and hedges , l ~ "in such manner that the road shall not be prejudiced at by tho shade thereof , and that the sun and wind may t ? not bo excluded from such road , to tho damage thereof . " 0 £ Tho writer is greatly disgusted at this order , and not . without reason . As long sis there is power to enforce ie such regulations , farewell to all hope of " shade trees " lX ~ for our cities ! ice The Ciioi-era . in Madeira . —Tho Board of Healtli at Funchal has officially certified the cntiro cessation of ,. tho terrible epidemic which has recently devastated the island of Madeira . 3 l , r . : , 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' ' ' 1 I r 1 5 r 3 ^ * e lt 8 ' Z - £ 3 10 __

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      ¦ ¦ '' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ R Rtf This Department, ...

      ¦ ¦ '' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ R rTf THIS DEPARTMENT , AS AIA OriNIONS , IIOWEVEB EXTREME , [ AUO ^ aTeSsIOS , TUB MIXOM NECESSARILY U 0 I . DS 11 IM- ; S SJUiF KESPONSlUiaS FOIt KONK . J a E

      T^E Re I8 No Learned Man But Will Confes...

      T ^ e re i 8 no learned man but will confess he hath 3 much profited by reading controversies , his senses r awakened , and h . is judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , % yhy should it not , at * least , be tolerable for his adversary to write ?—Milton i : : ¦ - ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ :. ¦ _—_— ; : ¦ : . . ' : ¦ '' - 3 1 1 I t r

      Assurance For Assurers. J (To The Editor...

      ASSURANCE FOR ASSURERS . ( To the Editor of tlie Leader . ) Sir , —Asit is considered that the article on " As surance for Assurers , " published in your last number is calculated to somewhat mislead the public on this subject , may it be permitted to offer a few remarks in reply . The questions to be answered are—Of what does the population consist ? -what is tlie num "her of insurable lives out of the eighteen millions how many are in . such a position of life tliat they cannot afford to assure ? how many are in poverty and distress ? how many are just above the condition cf paupers ? how many are females , -whose lives are xarely assured ? how many are infants , or not at insurable nge ? how many are in that condition life not wishing to assure ? how many whose lives . g , re uuinsurable ? how many whoso means are above the requirements of assurance ? how many who never will assure ? and how many who avail them selves of the benefits of Friendly Societies ? After making these several deductions , it will " found that the number of offices in existence is more than sufficient to transact all the business of assu rance that will be effected for the next half century Mr . Scratchley must well know , as a practical economist , that the lower the rate of annual expen diture in an assurance office tho more profit to the assured . Could the established offices return large bonuses in the shape of profits if the expendi ture were not a small ratio of tho receipts ? Of what does the profit of lifo assurance principally consist Why , a less rate of mortality with a higher rate compound interest received than estimated in tables , and lapsed policies combined with small penditure . There cannot be monopoly in assurance Qn the mutual system . The subdivision of the contributions of the public to so many offices inevitably increases enormously tho rate of annual expenditure . For instance , by a recently published tabular analysis of the transactions of fifty-four lifo assurance companies , established within the last twelve years , it appears they received in capital , paid up , 548 , 809 / . ; in premiums and interest , 1 , 664 , 187 / . ; and ex vended in preliminary expenses , interest , dividends , commission to agents , and expenses of management , 1 , 017 , 100 / . The expenditure and claims together averaging , on ( tho net premium receipts , 85 per cent ., including [ capital , G 4 percent . The expenditure alono averaging | nearly CO per cent , of capital , premiums , and interest i received . Out of the fifty-four companies thirteen hod ceased to esibt , and at the present nument many

      ^ l 0 of te to are negotiating for amalgamation ^ * as well as several winding up in Chancery . . ^ . . .. *' It certainly cannot be proved by experience that S " there is room for three times as many assurance bi societies as now exist , " for even several of the present C established associations do not average two hundred ni policies per annum ; they could transact ten times ii the business actually effected with very little addi- tf tional annual expenditure . . £ If there be room for so many assurance societies , b : let it be asked what is the market value of the shares c < of many of the companies established within the last tl ten years ? and , how many shareholders would be r < too glad to dispose of them at any sacrifice ? fc I remain , Sir , your obedient servant , P Investigator . ^ p be

      ? Had The Above Amount Of 1,Gg<1,187/. B...

      ? Had the above amount of 1 , GG < 1 , 187 / . been received by some of tho older established institutions , the additional expenditure would not have exceeded one per cent ., l > y which a million sterling would have been I savcil , accumulating at compound interest for future bonuses , now utterly lost to assurers . The fact of tlie excessively high rates of commission paid to obtain business is known to be a growing evil in the reckless race of competition , as well ua an enormous loss to policy-liolders , and undoubted evidence that thoro are ut present too ninnj' companies for tho business to be transacted . In one society , where receipts nre , nearly half a million sterling per annum , the expenditure does not exceed 1 $ par cent . ; divide this amount between one hundred new schemes , and them id inevitably an enormous increase of expenditure , which the abov . c figures testify .. » d i _ cr en ro ) n in us at jris ire li- nt , ly v . c

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 25, 1856, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25101856/page/15/