Gentlemen, on the present occasion I propose to submit to you a few remarks upon the business aspects of our work, and some of the circumstances on which the prosperity of a life insurance office depends. In the first instance, it may be useful to examine what is the real importance of life insurance to the country; and for this purpose I will take some of the figures which are now available by means of the returns made in pursuance of the Act of 1870, and compare them with other figures relating to the position and progress of the country. It appears from the Board of Trade returns that the income and assets of the life offices are steadily, not to say rapidly, increasing; the total income of the British life offices having increast from nearly 14½ millions sterling in 1871 to over 22 millions in 1884. The total life funds of the same companies now amount to about 140 millions, the increase of the funds since 1871 having been over 52 millions. These are very large figures, and they prove that the business in which we are engaged is a very important one. If, however, we confine our attention to them, we shall perhaps conceive an exaggerated idea of the importance of our business; and I will therefore compare them with the figures relating to some other industries. Thus I find it stated in the Statesman's Year-Book that the value of the total imports into the United Kingdom in the year 1883, was nearly 427 millions sterling; and the value of the exports of British produce about 240 millions; the largest articles of import being corn and flour of the value of about 67½ millions, and the largest item of export being cotton manufactures of the value of about 76½ millions.
