-3i, 



such i question. Yet a certain section of our people have 

 their misgivings, and sometimes succeed in imbuing 

 visitors from other lands with their pessimism. A Mel- 

 bourne newspaper, only a month or so ago, adverted to the 

 climatic conditions of ?s 

 of a " very remarkable 

 capacity in the native born, owing to the mild winters in 

 that State; the result being that "by the time the Aus- 

 tralian native in New South Wales has reached manhood, 

 he has quietly dropped out about a sixth part of the lung 

 accommodation that the Briton and American naturally 

 provide." Now on this question of racial stability we h;i ve 

 at hand tolerably good evidence in the successul operations 

 of the life offices of Australia during the past sixty years. 



Life Assurance Results.— One of the most important 

 investigations in Australia into the mortality of assured 

 lives is contained in the " Mortality Experience of the 

 A.M.P. Society " (1849 - 1888). In this report, Mr. Teece 

 stated on p. 34, that— 



"The experience of the A.M.P. Society has been more favourable 

 than that of either of the American offices, or of the 20 British 

 offices represented in the H M " table," and it seems to "conclusively 

 prove the superiority of our lives owr those embraced in the 

 experience of the 20 British offices," whilst in future it is "equally 

 clear that it will not be more favourable than that of the best old 

 British offices." 



This favourable result does not however necessarily ensue 

 when we compare the death rates of the general population. 

 One important feature of the mortality of a general popula- 

 tion is the rate experienced during the first Ave years of 

 life. The following table, published in a paper read by me 

 in 1891" institutes a comparison which results favourably 

 inthe case of the populations of Sydney and Melbourne:— 



