So far the principles of this important measure are admirable ones, scarcely admitting of question, almost beyond criticism: they have rendered the action of the banks simple, facile, all-comprehensive, and ubiquitous. Therate of interestgiven is, however, perhaps on the border-land, as it were, between unquestionable and questionable policy. The interest given to depositors in Post Office Banks is at the rate of two pounds ten shillings per cent. per annum, or one halfpenny per pound per month. That this rate is satisfactory to a large section of the people of this country, or that the other attractions of the Post Office Banks amply counterbalance the disadvantage of the low rate, is evident from the enormoussum—twelve millions sterling—deposited in those banks in little more than four years; at a time, too, when the old Savings Banks, which are enabled to pay ten shillings per cent. more than the others, have put forth their best efforts to keep the business in their hands, when all kinds of allurements have been held out to those who have surplus funds to dispose of, and when the rate of interest ruling in the Money-market has been, as it still is, exceptionally high. These facts ought perhaps to close the case, and make the interest rate, if not one of the recommendations of the measure, at any rate a part of the scheme which does not detract from its merits as a whole. As, however, this is a point upon which some little soreness is felt and expressed in different quarters, we may be excused for here urging a consideration or two.
This soreness has originated, to no little extent, from the consideration of the inequality of the rate allowed in the ordinary Savings Banks and the Post Office Banks; this feeling is kept up by the consideration of the fact, that that inequality still exists and is likely to exist. The old Savings Banks deposit their funds with Government, and are allowed interest on their money at the rate of 3l.5s.per cent.; the Post Office Banks, of course, deposit their money with Government, and are allowed interest at the rate of 2l.10s.per cent. Out of the fifteen shillings per cent. difference between the two rates, an average of half of it is given by the old banks to their depositors. Now it is well known that the average cost of each transaction in the Post Office Banks is little more than half the average cost of a transaction in the ordinary Savings Banks. If Government can still afford to pay the old Savings Banks the higher rate of interest, it might afford, atthe lowest computation, to give ten shillings per cent. more to depositors in the Post Office Banks. If Governmentcannotafford to pay the higher rate, it ought to discontinue its charity, which, like all other charitable doles, excites discontent amongst those who think they have,and really have, the rightde facto, if notde jure, to share it. That the rate should be equalized in one way or the other admits, we think, of little question; but that the Government should pay no more than it can pay without loss admits of less.
Reverting to the consideration of the actual Post Office Bank rate, it is perhaps unlikely that the small tradesmen class—except where such persons lodge their money at the Post Office merely for security—feels satisfied with it. Happily, however, this is a class which does not need to be considered, and which scarcely will be considered. The Government offers no factitious allurements or inducements to any class of the population; and if it did, would be certain to confine the inducements to those portions of the poorer classes who stand most in need of encouragement. And as for the rest, the Post Office Banks do not in any way interfere, as Mr. Gladstone has recently said,“with the labouring man's liberty of choice, or the liberty of choice enjoyed by anybody else; if he thinks he can do better with his money than by carrying it to the Government Savings Bank, by all means let him do better with it.”A low rate of interest is given for the principal deposited; but then that principal is guarded with uncommon security, and can be moved, added to, or withdrawn from, with the greatest possible convenience. And these terms, theoretically and practically, suit the industrious classes, whoever else they do not suit. Practically they meet the wants and satisfy the demands of alarge section of depositors, or the banks would not have shown such an extraordinary amount of success. Nor are we in want of authorities who assumed, theoretically, that this would be so.“If Government give security,”said a shrewd witness before the Savings Bank Committee of 1858,“they should pay less interest, on the principle that Chubb's locks cost more than the ordinary ones.”
Dr. Chalmers took great interest, as our readers must already know, in Savings Banks. His argument was, that the ready receipt and payment of small sums together with safe custody was everything, and the rate of interest quite unimportant; he more than once said, that“the result of high interest had been to swamp our Savings Banks as a national system.”This question of interest was largely discussed in Mr. Slaney's Committee of 1850. In that Committee Mr. John Stuart Mill was asked whether perfect security or a high rate of profit was most sought after by the industrious classes; to which he replied:“In the case of the working classes no doubt security is the main object, and it is so in the case of all whose savings are small.”In the same Committee, Mr. J. M. Ludlow, an eminent barrister, gave it as his opinion that“the poorer a man is, the more important to him is the safety of his investment, independently of the question of profits;”and in answer to a similar question addressed to him, the secretary of a working man's building society said, that“the certainty of security is the most powerful inducement to investments among the working population.”
Thus, while it doubtless admits of question more than the other details, no serious fault need be found with that clause which provides the rate of interest to be given. Equalizationin the rate of interest of all Savings Banks connected with the Government is far more necessary than that the standard of the one should be raised to the standard of the other. The days have gone by when any dole of charity should be held out to working men as an inducement to save: it is more than questionable whether those days should ever have arrived. The working classes do not want charity at the hands of the public; they long wanted security and reasonable facilities: and when these were provided, as they have been, they were willing that the rest should be left to themselves. All interest given more than the money actually produces or may fairly earn, is repugnant to them; or if it is not, it ought to bemaderepugnant to them.
The deficiencies, if we may so call them, of the Post Office Savings Bank system, to which we promised to allude in closing this chapter, are those features which have been inherited from the parent system, and consist, of restrictions which, we think, are now as unnecessary and undesirable as they are hampering and vexatious. By section 14 of the Post Office Savings Bank bill it was ordered that“All the provisions of the Acts now in force relating to Savings Banks as to matters for which no other provision is made by this Act, shall be deemed applicable to this Act so far as the same are not repugnant thereto.”Under this legislation all the restrictions which were thought—especially during the earlier history of Savings Banks—to be necessary to confine these institutions to the poorer classes, have been continued down to the present time. The principal regulations to which we refer are, theDeclarationwhich is required from any one opening an account, and thelimitation of depositsto 30l.in any one year, and 150l.in all; and that when deposit and interesttogether reach 200l.all further interest shall cease. The reader who may have followed us through our account will be aware of the reasons which actuated the Legislature in making these arrangements.[194]These reasons do not now obtain. No steps are taken (and we have never heard that it is intended ever to take such steps) to confine the benefits of the Post Office Banks to the labouring classes. Why, therefore, these classes, or any other class allowed to deposit in these banks, should be restricted to any amount—or, at any rate, such a small one—it is difficult to understand. To the poor this restriction forms a barrier to saving habits; with regard to any other class, the amount might be as unlimited as it is in the Funds. As a set-off against the unremunerative character, to say the least, of small deposits, no limit should be placed on large ones. It is obvious, that the larger the sums invested the greater will be the success and the profits of the scheme, the more remote will be any prospect of loss, and the more certain will be the creation of a permanent marketable stock of Two and a Half Per Cents.
We are glad to find that this restriction has not escaped the notice of many who are entitled to be heard on the subject.
The Rev. G. H. Hamilton, who made, perhaps, the earliest modern proposals for Post Office Banks, suggested that the limit should be“from one shilling to ten pounds per day;”and since the passing of the Act he has made exertions, hitherto without success, to get the limitation extended to include those sums. Mr. Bullar, also equally entitled to respectful attention, has likewise made subsequent proposals having in view, to some extent, the granting of facilities for investing larger sums.
It is interesting to find that the Post Office Savings Bank system has just been introduced into our Australian colonies and not a little curious and instructive to find that some of the provisions go much further than we have yet ventured at home. The main feature of the“Post Office Statute, 1865,”is an echo of the English Act, but in several of its provisions its scope far exceeds the latter in liberality. No declaration is needed; instead of 30l.in any one year, the colonial depositor in Victoria is only debarred from exceeding 50l.in a fortnight, and the interest given, which is at the rate of four per cent., is not withheld to any deposited amount under 1,000l.Liberal as are the colonial authorities in Victoria, those at Queensland far surpass them. In the Post Office Banks at Queensland there is no limit whatever to the amount which may be deposited; interest is allowed at the rate of five per cent.; and this rate of interest is paid on all deposits without limitation of any sort. Making all due allowances with respect to the relative position of our colonial possessions at the antipodes and the mother country, it seems clear that the former have advantages over us in the matter of their Government Banks, and we commend the example of the Victorian Legislature to our own, and trust that the only marked defect in our Act may soon be remedied.
[177]Whenever the Post Office of a village or hamlet is advanced to the dignity of a Money Order Office, it will also be opened for Savings Bank business.
[178]Up to the end of February last the total sum reached exceeded twelve millions sterling,—a sum which it took the original old banks, with no competition, eight years to realize.
[179]Thus, as we learn from an authentic account, in Bristol the old Savings Banks lost 700 and the Post Office Banks gained 2000 depositors; in Dublin the same relative proportions were 400 loss and 1,400 gain; in the county of Kent there was a loss on the one hand of 3,500, and a gain on the other of 9,300 depositors; in Middlesex, the old banks lost 12,000, and the Post Office Banks gained 42,000 depositors.
[180]Report on the Post Office, 1864.
[181]Report on the Post Office, 1864,p.13.
[182]This Transfer was settled in November, 1863. The trustees and managers at a special meeting deliberated whether or not to carry on the Bank“under the increased responsibility imposed on trustee by the 11th clause of the Consolidation Act (1863), or to empower the managers to transfer the deposits to the Post Office Savings Banks.”They resolved by a majority of two to take the latter step, and the transfer was made immediately afterwards.
[183]Since this Return was completed, the trustees of two other banks have given notice to close. The one, a small bank at Castle Wellan, in Ireland, and the other, the Leighton Buzzard Savings Bank, make, with the Huntingdon Bank, a total of ninety-eight transfers.
[184]The Huntingdon Savings Bank has given notice to close. The capital of the Hunts Saving Bank amounts to £60,000.
[185]The fullest information on these matters may be gathered, in cases where the reader is not thoroughly familiar with them, from many sources. In addition to the Act, and the Regulations for the Post Office Banks, three little manuals may be specially mentioned to which reference may profitably be made. (1)Handy Book on Post Office Savings Banks.London: Stevenson, 1861. (2)Post Office Savings Banks: a few Plain Words concerning them.London: Faithfull andCo.(3)My Account with Her Majesty.Reprinted fromAll Year Roundand theBritish Workman.
[186]The well-known Form itself which in one piece of paper gives the acknowledgment, and folded, leaves room for the address, was designed and registered by Mr. Walshe, of the Post Office.
[187]Acknowledgments are received in most parts of England by return of post, or within thirty-six hours; in some parts of Cornwall and Wales two days, and in some parts of Ireland and Scotland three days, are required.
[188]The departmental arrangements for these cases, technically spoken of as“cross entries,”need not be further explained.
[189]The depositor's book must, of course, be invariably presented in every transaction, and when the depositor has obtained repayment of all his balance the book must be given up in order that the account may be closed.
[190]We regret that we cannot find space to describe more minutely the system adopted, as also so much of the internal arrangements of the chief Savings Banks as have been permitted to be made public. We may say, briefly, however, that the Chief Savings Bank commenced operations in a part of the building at St. Martin's-le-Grand, but was soon driven to seek more accommodation. Its location is now in St. Paul's Churchyard, where, in spite of large premises, we believe, it once more became restricted as regards room, and has since acquired additional space. The office is presided over by a Controller, who is aided by an Assistant Controller and two principal clerks. The staff comprises a large number of permanent clerks of different grades, and an enormous number of temporary clerks employed upon the more routine work. The office itself is divided into four branches,—the Deposit Branch, the Withdrawal Branch, the Account Branch, and the Correspondence Branch. For the benefit of all those who are interested in Savings Bank management, we hope that an interesting paper, read by authority, by Mr. Chetwynd, the first Controller, before the Congrès International de Bienfaisance, in June, 1862, may soon be reprinted. It gives every detail which it is desirable to know.
[191]The operations have not been carried on altogether without fraud. The cases, however, only serve to show how secure the depositors really are from loss. In 1863 the then Postmaster of Beverley embezzled Savings Bank money, when the authorities at once announced to the depositors that it should be made good. This instance, and another in which a clerk was concerned, are, we believe, the only cases of the kind; but if they were constantly occurring,—which it is now next to impossible they should be—it would not matter a pin-head to depositors, who, the moment they pay in their money into the Post Office, and obtain a deposit book, stake that money on the National credit.
[192]The facilities existing for withdrawing accounts from one class of banks and placing them in the other tend also to despatch and convenience. By means of transfer certificates, to be had at any Savings Bank, a depositor may transfer his account without ever seeing his money.
[193]The Secretary of a Workmen's Building Society was examined before Mr. Slaney's Committee (1850) on theInvestments for the Savings of the Middle and Lower Classes, when the following evidence was elicited:—
“I think that one reason why the labouring man does not invest in the Savings Bank is, that the fact of his being able to save money is used as a pretence why his wages should be reduced, and he carefully excludes from the knowledge of his employer that he is able to save. I have found that the workmen of one district go to a distance to find a Savings Bank, and will not go to their own. Their names are called loudly and officially, and it becomes whispered about that so-and-so is a saving man, and may therefore work for less wages.”—Vide Evidence of Mr. W. Cooper.
[194]Videp.59.
ON GOVERNMENT INSURANCE AND GOVERNMENT LIFE ANNUITIES.
“It is difficult to estimate too highly the importance of the tendency of the people to save their earnings, or the duty of removing every obstacle and affording every facility to its operation. It is a matter of deep interest to the State; for the man who has invested a portion of his earnings in securities,—to the permanence and safety of which the peace and good order of society are essential,—must be a tranquil and conservative citizen.”—W. Rathbone Greg.
"Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublimeHas felt the influence of malignant star,And waged with fortune an eternal war!Checked by the scoff of pride and envy's frown,Or poverty's unconquerable bar,In life's low vale remote, has pined aloneAnd dropt into the grave unpitied and unknown."—Beattie.
Proposalsfor a Government Insurance Office, like those for National Savings Banks, are not, as many have been led to think, the product of the thought of the last few years. In 1807, for example, Mr. Whitbread, in bringing forward his Bill for Poor Law Reform, earnestly advocated, that, together with his plan for the investing of their savings, some means should be provided for the poorer classes by which they might insure their lives under the responsibility of Government. Both as regards his plan of Savings Banks and his plan for Government Insurance, Mr. Whitbread was fully half a century before his age. The different schemes for the purchaseof Government Annuities and the Acts under which they were carried out are already familiar to the reader. The Act of 1834 we may repeat, however, was the beginning of legislation on the subject. The principal emendation[195]in the Act 16 and 17 Victoria, c. 45, passed in 1853, was supposed to be in the introduction of a clause providing that a person buying a Government Annuity could also insure the payment of a sum of money at death. Notwithstanding this amendment, the Act was not nearly so productive of good as might have been expected. In the matter of Insurances effected under the arrangements of 1853, the Act has been for all practical purposes quite inoperative; and from 1834 to 1864 the whole of the annual payments in respect to Annuities did not reach 200,000l.In the latter year 6,500 annuities were in force, the amount represented by this number being 140,000l.This is, in brief, an account of how matters stood in 1864; and it is little wonder that it should now begin to be felt that some fresh steps were required; that there should be an entirely new organization for the work; and the abolitionof all unnecessary restrictions, especially that which required that a person must deal perforce both in insurances and annuities. The institution of Post Office Banks, which had been rendered possible by the superior organization consequent on the introduction of postage reform, had already demonstrated how the Post Office machinery could reach every part of the country, and how well it could bear the additional weight put upon it. Nor was this all. From the experience of two or three years, those who were best able to judge of the burden this machinery could bear without difficulty were those who now proposed to add fresh wheels and contrivances to be worked by the already existing motive power.
A few words will suffice to show how the further proposals which we have to describe in this chapter were originated. Government Annuities at this time were, under the authority of an Act spoken of in a previous chapter, allowed to be granted either directly through the National Debt Office or through the medium of the ordinary Savings Banks. To a certain extent many of the Savings Banks had availed themselves of this Act, and granted both Immediate and Deferred Annuities. Among the banks which, as we have already shown, transferred their business to the Post Office Savings Banks soon after the establishment of the latter, were some which had done a little of this business; the question thereupon arose whether the Post Office Banks should not take up the duty which devolved on the old banks, and receive the payments for the Annuities as they fell due. The result of this was, that the gentlemen who in the Post Office had organized and so far directed the machinery of the Postal Banks not only proposed to carry on the business which others had in this way begun, but they advised that the operations themselvesshould be extended, and that this extension would be a legitimate offshoot of their original scheme. Mr. Scudamore and Mr. Chetwynd, the gentlemen in question, held that if the Post Office Banks were to become agencies for the purchase and payment of Annuities, there would be a considerable increase in the number purchased. They then proceeded to sketch the outline of a plan on which it would be possible to undertake the work, and showed how the course of the business in respect to the Annuities would be easy, simple, and comparatively inexpensive. The most important feature of the plan was, that the purchase and payment on account of Government Annuities should have no immediate connexion with the Post Office Savings Banks; and that the purchasers of the former should not necessarily be depositors in the latter.
With regard to Insurances, the following sentence occurs in a report which, referring to Mr. Whitbread's proposals, the same gentlemen presented.“We believe that the time may come when the propriety of attaching to the Post Office Savings Banks a scheme of Life Assurance will again be seriously considered by the Legislature. The frequent appearance and disappearance of bubble insurance companies, which have been productive of very disastrous consequences during the last few years, may probably induce a serious consideration of the subject at no very distant date.”
When the Commissioners of the National Debt came to speak of the former of these proposals, they reported“that in their judgment, the greater the extent to which the system of annuities can be carried, the greater will be the amount of benefit conferred on that class of the community on whose behalf and for whose security it was the pleasure of Parliament to authorize the grant of such Annuities through SavingsBanks and by this department. The machinery of the Post Office will give the opportunity to Lord Stanley largely to extend these benefits, and the Commissioners will gladly unite with him in doing so.”
On the 11th of February, 1864, Mr. Gladstone took up this further scheme—the matter of Insurances and Annuities having been combined in the plan of operations prepared, during the interval. He then moved for leave to bring in a“Bill to amend the laws relating to the purchase of Government Annuities through the medium of Savings Banks.”The Chancellor of the Exchequer briefly explained his object in bringing about the new measure. He wished, without any unnecessary interference with private establishments, to assist in offering increased facilities for the extension of frugal habits among the industrial population. This had been the principle upon which Postal Banks had been founded, and now this new scheme might be regarded as an extension of the principle. Mr. Gladstone wished,“under the altered circumstances of the times and the improved machinery at command, to further other measures intimately connected in their ultimate object with the Savings Banks themselves.”Sums, he explained, could at present be received both for the purchase of annuities, and even for the granting of life insurance policies, but the arrangements were hampered by restrictions so as to render the law almost inoperative. Thus, Deferred Annuities could only be purchased in large amounts, and Insurances could only be effected where the persons had previously purchased these Annuities. He thought it quite possible to alter the system so thatsmallsums at frequent intervals might be received; and not only so, but the restriction as to effecting an Insurance, which was not only inconvenient,but unreasonable in itself, might be done away with. The person who wanted an Insurance was not the most likely person to want an Annuity also; they were, indeed, generally people of different classes, or at any rate different habits of mind. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, after stating that he would give these increased facilities and remove this unnecessary restriction, obtained leave to proceed with the measure.[196]
His simple statement of the scheme was not long in securing ample criticism; some of it was friendly, much more of it adverse. Then a certain class of Insurance Offices and the principal Friendly Society organizations believing their institutions menaced, set to work to get up an agitation. The measure was represented by one class of persons as embodying the very questionable principle of Government interference with private enterprise, and taking as it were the bread out of the mouth of institutions specially got up for such purposes. Others pretended to criticize the proposals disinterestedly; they dwelt on the difficulty the Post Office would find in attempting to do the work, and that, if officers of higher attainments were obtained, they would require proportionately higher remuneration. Savings Bank depositsmightbe managed, though that was not thought likely three years before; but how all the details of Life Insurance proposals and the intricate calculations necessary to the Annuities business could be got through, was above comprehension! It was represented by leading articles in influential papers that there would be but a poor security against fraud; little supervision, and probably that little would not be exerted; and everybody would conspire to defraud the Government.“As it is intended,”said one respectable organ,“to assure the lives of the poorer classeschiefly, all payers of poor-rates and officers of the Poor Law Unions would have a bias,to say the least, in getting those persons assured who would otherwise be likely to leave their families a burden upon the parochial funds.”“It cannot be denied that a few isolated instances of bad faith have occurred among insurance companies, yet as a class there is none to excel them for high and honourable dealing, and there is no pretence for interfering with their operations or invading their privileges. Why should not Government open a drapery or a dry-goods store?”This latter effusion, which appeared in a letter to theTimes, was prominently printed, and headed,“A New Instance of Proposed Paternal Legislation.”[197]A more organized opposition soon, however, showed its face. The actuaries of some of the Insurance Companies met and discussed the measure, and came to the conclusion that, as it might only be the thin end of the wedge, the measure ought to be opposed. The smaller Insurance Companies eagerly fell in with this conclusion. During March petitions were got up in great numbers from Insurance Companies and Benefit Societies, and when they were presented to the House of Commons several voices were raised in support of their prayer.
On the 4th of March, Mr. Gladstone moved the committal of the bill. Mr. Turner, Mr. Powell, Mr. T. Hankey, Sir Minto Farquhar, and several other members, protested againstgoing on with the bill without an opportunity for full discussion, and most of them expressing great dissatisfaction with the Government proposals relating to Life Insurance, the Chancellor endeavoured to separate the bill into two parts, to pass that having reference to Annuities, and to defer the consideration of the clauses relating to Insurances to a subsequent period. The debate was adjourned.
Three days afterwards Mr. Gladstone made a long and elaborate speech in defence of his proposals, and addressed himself with great earnestness and power to the task of disabusing the public mind of the many erroneous impressions which within a very short time had taken possession of it. The history of his proposals was a short and simple one. In the autumn of the previous year the Registrar of Friendly Societies, in his Report for 1862, had recorded an unusual number of very gross abuses and violations of trust on the part of those Societies. The Report was in fact full of a multitude of complaints from persons in all parts of the country, who called for redress. So important had the facts been regarded that at least two important journals[198]had published several articles calling attention to the scandalous condition of these institutions. It had been suggested to him (Mr. Gladstone) that the subject of small life assurances, having already received in principle the sanction of Parliament, ought, under these circumstances, and the fact of an excellent machinery in connexion with the Post Office being ready for use, to be again considered by the Government. He agreed with this view of the case, and had now proposed to take action upon it. It is almost impossible to give an account in detail of the speech which followed; next tothe Budget speech, it was the longest which Mr. Gladstone made in the session of 1864. We can, however, and ought to describe its principal points. Mr. Gladstone observed that no one considered Savings Banks, Annuities, or Insurances to be, abstractedly, matters desirable for the Government to deal with. But the Post Office Savings Banks which that House had legalized, though interfering distinctly with other interests, had produced great and lasting results; so likewise had the Factory Acts, though they likewise had greatly interfered with the liberty of private action. This bill, however, prohibited nothing whatever.“I do not deny that it is Government interference, or that it requires justification or apology; but I do deny that we are to be frightened and terrified by clamours respecting centralization, or respecting undue assumptions of power by the Executive.”“All that is requisite in such a case is to show that what the Government proposes it can do safely, and likewise that what it proposes it can do justly.”Well, this bill, which was represented as entirely novel in principle, simply offered to such members of the community as chose to avail themselves thereof, certain facilities for self-help. It had not grown out of any consideration of the case of Assurance Societies, but from a consideration of Friendly Societies, and of the wholesale deception, fraud, and swindling perpetrated upon a helpless and defenceless portion of the community.
Mr. Gladstone then referred to some deputations of the largest Friendly Societies that had waited upon him, and begged him not to interfere“with private trade and private enterprise;”and answered that these very societies were virtually and substantially subsidized by the Government. After showing that they were exempted from different duties, and received, like Savings Banks, more interest from the money investedwith Government than the money realized, Mr. Gladstone held that nothing could be more plain than that Parliament was justified in looking to their circumstances. The country was overrun with them, and it was necessary to inquire if they were safe. Instead of finding them safe, he found them promising to pay amounts of interest which it was impossible to pay under fair and honest management. Such were the reasons which had induced him to interfere. He had, however, chosen a very mild form of intervention, and, he thought, a proper time for the remedy. The remedy, indeed, in this case was precisely analogous to that adopted in the case of the Post Office Banks.
“In the case of the Post Office Savings Banks,”said the right hon. gentleman,“we had to deal with Loan Societies offering the most attractive terms to the public, promising them a rate of interest which could not possibly be paid under any sound and honest management, and then ending in disappointment or ruin. We did not attempt the foolish task of prescribing laws by which all Loan Societies should be regulated, and under which alone the poorer classes of the community should be permitted to lend their money. That was utterly impossible. You could not possibly defend the poor man against the abuses and dangers into which he might choose to run head foremost with his eyes open; but what you did was this:—you said, 'It is but just to them, and it is expedient and politic in the highest sense, in discharge of the most sacred duty of the Legislature, that we should give to the poor man, to the owner of small savings, the advantage of a scheme which will possess no meretricious attractions, which will not promise a high rate of interest—on the contrary, the rate will be a low one—but which will offer an absolutely certain security.' That is precisely the basis of the scheme now before the House.”
After describing the success of the Postal Banks, and speaking of those who had taken the principal part in carrying the measure into practical operation, and arguing from their success, their ability, and their judgment, that the same persons were entitled to the confidence of Parliament, Mr. Gladstone went on to rebut many of the objections and arguments which had been advanced against the plan. He showed that thePost Office could, equally with the great majority of existing Insurance Societies, attend to the selection of good lives; that the attitude of the leading Societies in regard to his proposals was either that of neutrality or favour. He said that the smaller Societies had protested loud enough; but, he asked, what cause had they to be afraid of Government competition?“We cannot possibly offer such terms as they can; on the contrary, we must exact such conditions as few private Societies ask.”He offered, however, perfect security; and if that was a thing valued by the people, there was no reason why it should be withheld. Besides, however, this perfect security, Mr. Gladstone pointed to two other considerable advantages which the Government would offer,viz., more favourable terms on the dropping in of policies, and facilities for the migratory portion of the population, similar to those we have seen depositors possess in the case of the Post Office Banks.
After speaking of the steps which would have to be taken to guard the Government against loss, and to make the measure entirely self-supporting; after referring to what he called the“fugitive character”of many insurance companies, and eloquently denouncing their proceedings; to the failure of numerous Friendly Societies,[199]and the ruin and disappointment entailed on thousands thereby, Mr. Gladstone brought his long and remarkable speech to a conclusion by summing up as follows:[200]—
“I have endeavoured to prove that Parliament by legislation is seriously compromised and responsible for the present state of things, and is bound to do what it believes to be best to mitigate the evils of that state of things. I have endeavoured to show that the plan which I propose, if it does competewith sound institutions, must so compete with them at a disadvantage from the essential conditions under which it is right and proper we must work. I have endeavoured to show that the wide field of the labouring classes is not occupied by sound institutions—nay, that it is not fully occupied even by sound and unsound institutions, such is the enormous breadth of the subject. I have shown, I think, that the present condition of many of these Friendly Societies—indeed, I might go further, and, speaking generally, might say that the present condition of these Societies is more or less unsatisfactory. Some of them we cannot call merely unsatisfactory, but must term them either rotten or fraudulent. It is impossible for the State to assume the direction and regulation of these Societies so as to secure in the management of their affairs a safe method of assurance; and what we propose is, I believe, the most prudent, the safest, and the most satisfactory mode of proceeding that can be adopted. I make my appeal not to any one class, or to any party. I forget that I am a member of the Government, except so far as regards my responsibility as such. I recollect the sacred trust we have in hand, and I entreat honourable members to keep in view the serious nature of that trust, the importance of the object, and the consequences involved; and I am certain they will not be prevented by any sentiment of political or party feeling, or of hostility to the Government, from giving their careful consideration to this question, and from determining in their own minds and hearts how the British Legislature can best acquit itself of this important part of its obligations to the mass of the British people.”
Mr. Sheridan, after replying vehemently to what he called a personal attack on himself on the part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer when dealing with unsound societies, disputed the need for the measure no less than the principle upon which it was founded. As the spokesman of Insurance Offices and Friendly Societies, Mr. Sheridan further contended that the Post Office would never be able to manage all the details of the business, and that, even if it did, the Government must eventually be losers.“They might shut their eyes for a time,”said the member for Dudley,“but Government would ultimately have to come to that House with shame, and with something like humiliation, to confess that their experiment in commerce had failed, and that the result had been to saddle the shareholders with a loss—those shareholders being the already overburdened taxpayers of the country.”
Lord Stanleyavowed his approval of the principles of the bill. He thought it a great experiment, but an experiment which might very possibly result in a reduction of pauperism. He urged the fullest discussion; said it would do the bill no harm, but might on the contrary tend to perfect its provisions. The speech of Mr. Gladstone too, he thought, was a reason why the matter should not be hurried. Mr. Gladstone had made statements which, however true they might be—“and I am afraid that there is a good deal of truth in them—I wish I did not think so,”—might require to be answered, and to give an opportunity to answer them would only be fair play. After pointing out one or two defects in the provisions, Lord Stanley promised his valuable aid by saying, that he should be prepared to go into Committee on the bill with a very sincere hope that it would pass, and that they might find it, or make it, a workable scheme.Mr. HibbertandMr. Roebuckboth warned the House against suffering a“Constitutional Government”to be converted into what was termed a“Paternal Government.”In a characteristic speech, the latter gentleman held that whatever concerned the individual was best left to be done by the individual himself; that the Government was sure to fail, as it had failed before, in interfering in matters of this kind; and that the effect of such measures would be to make the people a set of helpless imbeciles totally incapable of attending to their own interests.Mr. NewdegateandMr. W. E. Forsterapproved the measure, but urged full consideration of it.Mr. Bovillspoke very strongly in favour. He believed, from the facts which had come within his own knowledge and had been elicited in courts of law, that Mr. Gladstone had rather understated than overstated the delinquencies of Friendly Societies and Insurances Companies.One of the effects of the Chancellor's speech, he thought, would be that a cloud of error and prejudice which had been raised against the bill would be dispelled. On the other hand, Sir Minto Farquhar, Mr. Ayrton, Mr. Urquhart, Mr. Henley, Mr. Baines and others, either expressed strong objections to the bill as a whole, or else took exceptions to some of its provisions. The debate was then adjourned.
During the interval, and when the bill was under discussion in the House, a great meeting of the working classes was called in London, and held in Exeter Hall, Mr. Ayrton presiding. The object of the gathering was to petition against the measure; but independent working men—by which is meant those who had no interested motives in opposing the scheme—mustered so strongly on the other side, that the Chairman could not decide on which side the majority lay. There were other public meetings held, some in favour, others in opposition; and although hundreds of petitions were presented from members of Friendly Societies, most of which were got up on one form, there were many others of a far more important character emanating from Corporations and Boards of Guardians, who expressed a hope that the House would not withhold so great a boon to the working classes.
On the 17th of March,Sir Minto Farquhar, in a long speech, moved that the bill should be referred to a Select Committee.Mr. Horsfallseconded the motion. Both members replied to Mr. Gladstone's attack on Friendly Societies, though with little effect. Several members warmly supported Mr. Gladstone, and thought no cause had been shown for delay.Mr. Estcourt, while approving the principles of the measure, saw great difficulties about it, and thought it ought to be referred to a Committee.Mr. Göschen, in an able speech, which showedthat he had mastered the subject in all its bearings, answered the objections which had been raised to the bill, and said that though he represented in that House more insurance managers and directors than any other member, he was not afraid to say that the opposition to the bill was entirely owing to the efforts of those who fancied it would deal a blow at their private interests. He was convinced of the wisdom and policy of the measure, which was well worthy of the character of the right honourable gentleman who had proposed it, and which would without doubt leave a mark on the history of the session. The debate was again adjourned.
A month afterwards the debate was resumed byMr. Ayrtonin a very long speech, during which he attacked the Post Office Savings Bank system; stated that just when they were most prosperous, 1859 and 1860, Government had brought out their scheme, which was working and would continue to work with telling effect upon the old banks. So with the present proposals; they would interfere with safe private agencies.“The Government would pursue a much better plan,”continued Mr. Ayrton,“if they were to encourage the establishment of associations among the people themselves; for it was through the exercise of local administration that a nation became most fitted for the enjoyment of political rights.”In place of this,“they proposed to place a stipendiary of the Crown in every parish and hamlet to institute an examination into the private affairs of individuals.”Mr. Hubbardthought the proposed measure one which they ought and might very well entertain. He looked upon it simply as an extension of the principle of the Post Office Savings Banks, which had now received the sanction of the entire country.
Mr. Gladstonethen replied. After referring to some of theobjections that had been made to the measure itself, he said he would not object to submit it to a Select Committee; but he could not consent to refer the whole subject-matter to a Committee, as that would indefinitely postpone legislation on it. He believed that the public were growing more and more in favour of the plan, and that this feeling would be increased as its objects and provisions became better understood. He also stated that, during his long public life, he himself had never received so many letters as he had upon this measure from all classes of the community, and all expressing approval and gratitude for it. A few days afterwards a Committee was appointed, to consist of Mr. Gladstone, Mr. S. Estcourt, Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Henley, Sir M. Farquhar, Sir S. Northcote, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Göschen, Mr. Charles Turner, Mr. H. Herbert, Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Ayrton, Mr. Hodgkinson, and Mr. Paget.[201]After an ineffectual attempt to enlarge the scope of the inquiry, which partook of the nature almost of a party struggle,—104 members voting with Sir M. Farquhar, and 127 with the Government—the Committee commenced its sittings.
The bill as amended by the Committee was passed on the 20th of June. On this occasion many of its members described the benefit which the bill had received from the inquiry, and none now complained of the limited nature of that inquiry. It originally consisted of three clauses; it came out with seventeen, sixteen of which were new. It provided that no policy of Life Assurance should be granted for more than 100l.; and, not to interfere unnecessarily with Friendly Societies, that none should be granted for less than 20l.Mr. Estcourt, especially, warmly espoused the measure.“No one now more desired to see it passed than he did. If a master or employerwished to make a provision by way of annuity for a faithful servant in his old age, he could do so with perfect security under the bill.”He also thought,“that if the working classes of this country did not derive great advantage from the measure, it would be their own fault.”Sir M. Farquharwas equally hearty in his praise of the scheme, and speaking of Mr. Gladstone said,“The country had every reason to thank him.”Mr. Gladstone observed, that it was a matter of great satisfaction to him that as the bill entered the House in peace and quietness, so it was likely to quit it with general expressions of good will.
The bill was carried through the Lords under the charge of Lord Stanley of Alderley, and, passing through its several stages without discussion, received the Royal Assent July 14, 1864, and arrangements were ordered to be made to carry its various clauses into practical operation.
During the long recess the Tables were prepared under the eye of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt; and, working in harmony with the Commissioners and with a common purpose, the Post Office authorities at the same time arranged the Regulations under which, and the organization by means of which, the whole of the plans should be carried out. The Regulations themselves were, we understand, arranged under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Scudamore, one of the two gentlemen who organized the Post Office Banks; the machinery chosen for the purpose was that of the Receiver and Accountant-General's department. At the commencement of the session of 1865 both the Tables and the Regulations were laid before Parliament and received the proper sanction. The Tables, like all ordinary Insurance Tables, show the various kinds of benefit which Governmentcan now offer to the community, and the price at which these benefits may be purchased. The Regulations, on the other hand, describe the means to be used to obtain these benefits, and give in full the conditions under which any kind of purchase may be made.[202]
The principal features of the new measures taken together may be stated, simply, to consist in a person now being able to insure his life for any sum between 20l.and 100l.; that he does this on Government security; that he may do it without buying an annuity; that he may pay his premiums of insurance in almost any amount, and at almost any period that will best suit his convenience; and lastly, that, attended with the same facilities and advantages which only an institution like the Post Office can offer, a person may now purchase a Government Annuity, either immediate or deferred, of not more than 50l.a year, either with or without the proviso of“money being returnable”in the event of death before the annuity falls due.
* * * * *
It only remains for us to seek to draw the attention of our readers to the special inducements which the Government now holds out to the practice of a wise economy and frugality, prefacing our account with the remark that a careful study of the“Regulations”from which we glean it, will well repay any time or thought which the masters of workmen, as well as working men themselves, may give to them.
And first as toInsurances. In the course of a short period,—forthe offices for the transaction of both kinds of business are being opened rapidly,—every one of the three thousand and odd money-order offices of the United Kingdom, embracing, as is well known, every large village as well as the numerous receiving offices of our large towns, will be formed into an Insurance Agency. When this is the case,—and to a great extent it is so already,—any person, whether male or female, andbothif man and wife, of not less than sixteen years of age and not more than sixty, will be able to propose for an insurance on his or her life in a sum of not less than 20l.and not more than 100l.The steps which a person proposing to insure must take in those places already on the list, and the steps which must universally be taken when the whole of the agencies are arranged, may be easily comprehended, and need but few words. If he wants to insure on the security of Government, he must go to the nearest Post Office and apply for the proper printed form. With this form, to which is attached every necessary instruction for his guidance, almost all his trouble begins and ends. It is true that the questions propounded are many, and that they are most minute, and may be thought by the poorer classes who are unused to this sort of thing unnecessarily precise and tantalizing. Any one, however, familiar with the routine of the ordinary Insurance Societies, will not fail to see that the Government are scarcely more rigid than they are, and that, if there are more questions to be answered, it is simply because of the varied modes and unique facilities now first offered to the choice of the insurer. The insurer must fill up this form, and must further produce certificates of age or baptism, and furnish the names and addresses of two householders who know him and can speak as to his identity. What follows,and indeed a great part of the foregoing, is simply the course followed by all well-managed Insurance Offices in the kingdom. The proposal is forwarded to London, the referees are corresponded with, and, if all seems right and straightforward, the person seeking an insurance policy is desired to present himself before the appointed medical referee in order to go through the indispensable examination. The doctor examines the proposer, questions him to the extent he thinks proper, takes down his answers, and then gets the person to sign his name to what may be called his deposition. If nothing unsatisfactory occurs, the policy is made out in the way the proposer originally desired.
The contract being duly drawn up, the insurer may pay his recurring premiums at any of the Offices which have been opened, or which may be opened, as shall at any time be most convenient to him. As in the case of Savings Bank depositors, the life insurer will be furnished with a“Premium Receipt-book,”and whenever he makes a payment he must produce this book, when the clerk or postmaster will enter the amount, sign his name in the way of receipt for the payment, and stamp the date of the transaction and the place of payment with the ordinary official dated stamp. With regard to the time at which the insured must pay his premiums as agreed upon, whether yearly, quarterly, monthly, or fortnightly, the arrangements are necessarily strict; but every means will be, or at least ought to be taken, to make him understand his agreement. If he should fail, say through forgetfulness, to make his payment, he will not be hardly dealt with; for, on an application that the contract may be renewed and the production of evidence of good health, the Postmaster-General will renew the contract, only fining theperson in the sum of four shillings if he is insured for 60l., and eight shillings if he is insured for more than that sum.
Once more: should the insured wish to surrender his policy, he will be allowed to do so after the expiration of five years from the date of it, and will receive at least one-third of all the sums he may have paid during the time he has held it. The authorities have not as yet, we believe, stated exactly how much they will be able to offer for surrender policies; but this is scarcely a matter which can be considered pressing, as no policy will acquire a surrender value till 1870.
Then there are thekindsof payment under which a person may now purchase the benefits of Life Insurance through the medium of the Post Office. And certainly the most important arrangement, associated as it is with several novel features, is that of paying down the premium in one sum. Not that this need be the whole transaction of a proposed insurer. He may make his policy, if we may employ such a term,cumulative. Thus, if a person doubts whether he will be able to pay regular premiums for a number of years, he may perhaps be able to effect a small insurance, say of the lowest sum allowable, 20l., by the payment of a single premium. He may afterwards find himself able at subsequent periods to effect another small insurance,—and this he will be allowed to do, even if it only be to the extent of five pounds,—and may thus, whenever he has the money to spare, at regular or irregular intervals, go on increasing the original amount in transactions which, while complete in themselves, continually augment the sum to be received at death.[203]We are notinformed inPlain Ruleswhether the insurer will in each case have to pass a medical examination, or produce certificates of health; but there can scarcely be a doubt that he will be required to do one or the other. The proof of age, however, and other particulars which the insurer furnished in the first instance, will doubtless suffice for all subsequent negotiations.
The principal objection to insurance effected by a single payment, at any rate among the poorer classes, is apparent. It is not that they can make better use of their money; as a security against an early death or reduced circumstances no better investment could be found for a working man who is in possession of a sufficient sum with no pressing need for it. The real difficulty is the one of keeping his savings until they amount to a sum sufficient for any object of this kind. Here, however, the institution of Post Office Savings Banks may be of service; and this has not been lost sight of by the authorities, who offer them as a medium for the collection and keeping of such fugitive sums as may be most easily spared with a view to taking a Life Insurance premium. Thus, all a workman has to do is to put his savings into the Post Office Banks in such amounts and at such times as will best suit him; and when he has saved a sufficient sum for the purpose, the Postmaster-General will direct that the transfer of the amount shall be made from the Bank to the Insurance Officewithout the necessity of the depositor seeing the money. Of the general plan of paying the premium in one sum we cannot speak too highly. Those whose wages or salaries are not fixed and regular, or those who are liable to be thrown out of work—and few are not—could not do better than employ their savings in securing such a provision; and the younger the better, seeing how young and old are alike taken in the grip of the Destroyer. Not the least of the advantages following from this kind of insurance are the absolute freedom from all risk of lapses, from either carelessness or more serious causes, and the fact that the policies on this principle will have the highest surrender value.
Should the person wishing to insure not like, or liking not be able, to take out a policy after this fashion, he may choose one of several other methods. If he thinks he can more conveniently pay a small premium every year, he is at liberty to do this in different ways. If at thirty years of age he will pay a pound a year, he may secure for his friends forty-three pounds at his death; if he prefers to pay two shillings a month, he will secure forty-six pounds; and for an annual payment of two pounds six and sevenpence, he may secure payment of 100l.to his nearest relatives,immediately on proof of death. Again, if a person thinks, as many do think, that his payments should cease at a certain age, he may insure on that principle. Commencing at thirty years of age, and paying two pounds thirteen and tenpence a year till he is sixty, he may secure 100l.; by paying two shillings a month, between the ages of thirty and sixty, he may effect an insurance of forty pounds at death. It will be understood that these are only a few specimens of the working of these Tables, given more especially to show the characteristic features ofthe plan. By consulting the Tables themselves, any person may plainly see how it will affect him to insure by any of the above methods; and he may calculate his payments either at the times we have given, or at other times, such as half-yearly, quarterly, fortnightly, or weekly, with great nicety.
We will only refer at any length to another very important provision made for the carrying out of this useful and important public measure. It has to do, as indeed almost all the provisions have, to a great extent, with the wants and necessities of working men, especially such as must pay their premiums by small and frequent instalments. Seeing that working men are proverbially slow to look the distant future in the face, we urge, in the strongest terms, the claims of the provision in question on the attention and study of all large employers of labour. In no way could masters better fulfil the heavy moral responsibilities under which they lie to the less educated portions of society whose energies they employ, than by co-operating with them in the way of advice and assistance, in such a plan as that which remains to be described. The arrangement in question has doubtless been suggested by a scheme which, for several years, has been in full and excellent working order in the Post Office itself. We think it was in 1859 that Mr. Scudamore of the Post Office devised a plan, which was approved by the then Postmaster-General, by means of which and the concurrence of a large number of first-class Insurance Companies a considerable number of Post Officeemployéswere enabled to make suitable provision for their families. In connexion with this plan, substantial assistance was given, to those who took this rational and necessary step,out of the Void Money-order Account. Under the arrangements then made, the Insurance Companies give the required policies to any officer of the Post Office, without anydirector preliminary payment, looking to the Post Office authorities entirely for the collection of the premiums as they become due; the latter, on their part, deducting the payments at such times as are agreed upon from the regular salary or wages of the assured persons. Thousands of Post Office officials, from the highest to the lowest grades, have insured their lives on this principle; they are not only assisted to do so, but secured from all risk of default, while the deductions are so small as to be scarcely perceptible.[204]The success of the plan has led to its partial adoption by the proprietors of large private mercantile establishments, where it works well; and this again has doubtless led to the extension of the plan, by means of the Act and the machinery we are considering.
It is now perfectly easy for any of the other Government departments, for railway companies, merchants, manufacturers, and other large employers of labour, to make arrangements under the 32d clause of the Regulations, to do for their workmen (and we are at a loss to understand why this has not been done before) what the Post Office authorities have done for their servants. The clause to which we have alluded provides, that if boards of management or masters of workmen will undertake to collect the sums by means of deductions from the wages of their officers or servants, with a view to paying the premiums over to the officers of the Postmaster-General, then the lattershall,“if he think fit, make arrangements with the said employers for such purpose, and shall constitute the departments, offices, or places of business of such employers, offices for the receipt of proposals, and for the receipt of premiums and instalments; and shall pay to such employers such remuneration for the work done by them, or their officers or servants, as shall be agreed upon between him and them.”
Surely, with all such facilities, and with such inducements to the workman to make provision for those who are nearest and dearest to him,—this provision to be payable at once, on the security of the nation, when he is no longer able to contribute to their support,—little persuasion should be needed to make him do that which is now one of the first duties of a man who has a wife or family dependent upon his exertions. It is only too true that workmen and the less educated portions of the lower middle classes may be blinded and cajoled into believing that those institutions will serve their interests best which, depending upon all kinds of meretricious attractions, promise immediate benefits for little payment, but only end in disappointing, if not in swindling them. It seems to us, however, that those who, like the majority of large employers, have both the capacity and the opportunity for directing these classes aright, are not only warranted, but, in all fairness, are expected to attempt to do so.
We must now speak of the Regulations for the purchase ofGovernment Annuities. It is well to make provision for our families after we have left them; it is no less wise to make some provision for old age, or for the misfortunes of life. Many a working man, taking the expression in its widest significance, sees little before him in the future buta life of hard, unyielding work. There is a time, however, after which bodily strength must rapidly fail, even supposing that nothing has occurred during his years of toil to break him down prematurely: many a hard worker lives on long after the grasshopper has become a burden, and is little cared for, it may be, if he has never cared for himself. Let philosophers inveigh as they will on the selfishness of such conduct, that man has acted wisely who, under some such circumstances, has taken care to relieve himself of thought and much anxiety by having something in the shape of an Annuity to look forward to in his declining years.“Most men, as old age comes on, find themselves every year less and less able to procure by their labour those comforts which every year become more and more necessary to them. A man, by paying small sums out of his earnings while he is strong and active and in full work, may purchase an Annuity to commence as old age comes on him, and which will take the place of his salary or wages when he can no longer earn a livelihood.”In these words the Postmaster-General introduces his new Annuities' scheme, and offers to sell these Annuities through his department to any one who will comply with the Regulations.
The commencement of an Annuity transaction must be exactly similar to that described in connexion with an Insurance. After obtaining a form of application, the person must reply to the questions which it is deemed necessary to ask, and then return the paper to the Post Office for transmission to the Postmaster-General. For obvious reasons, he will not be required to say anything about his health, nor to pass any medical examination. The Government must take care, in insuring a person, thathe is in good health; on buying an Annuity, the person himself should take care that he is not in bad health, or otherwise he might rush into a bad bargain. Almost the only preliminaries gone through in the case of Annuities are, a satisfactory proof of age, and answers necessary to identification. If the authorities in London are satisfied with the answers and the references given, a policy or contract is entered into by the Post Office on behalf of the Commissioners of the National Debt, setting forth, that, in consideration of certain payments made at certain periods, the payment of a certain sum is guaranteed to him as an Annuity on the security of Government.
As in the case of Insurances, the person seeking to purchase an Annuity has the choice of several kinds of annuity, and of annuities of any amount up to 50l.a year. He may purchase anImmediateAnnuity, though in this case the purchase-money must always be paid in one sum. Thus, if he be twenty years of age and will pay down the sum of 198l.3s.4d., he can begin to receive an Annuity of ten pounds a year for life, however long that life may extend. Women, we must add, seeing that they are usually longer livers than men, must pay more than men. He may purchase also aDeferredAnnuity; that is, an annuity payable after a given term of years from the commencement of the purchase. This Deferred Annuity may either be purchased in one sum, or by a yearly payment over that given term. If the former, it may be for any amount between one pound and fifty pounds per annum, to begin at a certain period; in the latter case, the amount may range between four pounds and fifty pounds, to begin immediately after he has completed his payments. Deferred Annuities may also be purchasedgradually, or on the same cumulative principle spoken of in connexion with Assurances, and just according as a person finds himself able to spare the money; or they may be purchased by annual payments in the same manner, beginning on a small annuity, and increasing it from time to time as he finds himself able to increase his annual payments. Once more, by making payments half-yearly, quarterly, monthly, fortnightly, or weekly, during a certain number of years, he may purchase a monthly allowance of any amount from four shillings to four pounds a month, immediately after that term of years.
The first Tables which were ready in time for the operations for the purchase of Deferred Annuities were those known as the“Non-returnable Tables,”under which money paid was not returnable in the event of premature death, but“altogether sunk and lost.”Soon afterwards, however, the“Returnable Tables,”which had been under preparation from the first, were brought out. Now, therefore, if the annuitant chooses, he may purchase a Deferred Annuity with the proviso, that if death occurs before he should have reaped any benefit all the premiums shall be returned to his representatives; and also, that, at any time during his life before his Annuity is due, he may have his payments returned to him, subject of course to some deductions should he choose to close his account.
In all the above cases it is difficult to explain the method of working without giving examples; but the interested reader may receive, as he will doubtless seek, every information from the popular Abstract which will be presented to him free, on application, and from the Official Tables which may be seen at any Post Office. It only remainsto add, as regards the payment of Annuities or Monthly Allowances, that they will be made half-yearly or monthly, as the case may be, at any of the offices opened for this business,i.e.eventually every Money Order Office; and that if a person be prevented by age, infirmity, or illness, from going to a Post Office to receive this allowance, it will be taken to him by an officer of the department.