122 Mr W. P'raser on the p/esent Erroneous and 



mortality, from profitable investments of capital, or from for- 

 feitures, it is obvious that no part of such surplus can in equity- 

 belong to any member till such time as his premiums, with the 

 accumulation of interest, exceed the sum to be paid at his death. 

 All those who die previous to this period evidently create a loss 

 to those who live beyond it ; and as it is from the contributions 

 of the latter class that a surplus has actually arisen, it is only 

 but fair that they should have the benefit of it, instead of shar- 

 ing it with the representatives of those who may have died be- 

 fore paying perhaps one-fourth of the specific sums assured by 

 their policies. 



In short, it is now universally admitted, that the awkward and 

 expensive system of superfluous exaction and subsequent increase 

 of policies is highly objectionable, and wholly unnecessary in the 

 present improved state of the science of Life Assurance. " My 

 view in all cases is," said the very eminent mathematician Mr 

 Babbage, in his evidence before a Select Committee of the House 

 of Commons, " let us get as nearly as we can the law of morta- 

 lity of the class for which we want to calculate, and add to the 

 prices computed from it some proportional part, sufficient to in- 

 sure the safety of the establishment which uses them. I strong- 

 ly object to using tables giving a greater mortality than is ex- 

 pected to take place, a course which has sometimes been defend- 

 ed on the ground of safety to the establishment. Safety is much 

 more certainly secured by judging as nearly as possible the true 

 risk, and adding an additional sum for security. If tables not 

 representing the mortality of the class for whom they are de- 

 signed are employed, every step in the reasonings which are de- 

 duced from them is liable to increased error ; and if the calcu- 

 lations are at all complicated, the errors so introduced may not 

 improbably act on the opposite side to that which they were in- 

 troduced to favour." 



The primary object of every class of life assurers should be 

 to ascertain — from the most accurate tables of mortality, and 

 from the best authorities as to the probable rate of interest that 

 will be obtained for capital — the lowest premiums at which any 

 specified benefit at death can be safely secured, at the same time 

 adding a sufficient sum to the premium for safety and manage- 

 ment. As the Northampton Table of mortality is now univer- 



