History of Lloyd's and of Marine Insurance in Great Britain e-bog

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The statistical appendix aims at laying a few foundation stones for a scientific basis of marine in surance. Whether this aim is capable of realization, is a question which time only can solve. What is undeniable is that marine insurance, though in exist ence centuries before life insurance was even thought of, is still behind the latter, in not resting, as this does, on the firm ground of mathematical calcula tions, drawing laws of probabilities from the results of experience. At this moment, the business of marine insurance is subject entirely to the exercise of per sonal and individual experience, fallible in its very nature, even when brought to the utmost possible perfection; while life insurance, on the other hand, stands on the solid foundation of mortality tables, and of actuarial computations derived from a vast amount of widely gathered statistics. To construct mortality tables for ships, the same as for human beings, is no doubt a matter of greater complication; still there appears no absolute impossibility for the accomplishment of the task. It will, doubtless, be a gigantic labour to gather the whole of the materials requisite for the work, and there is, probably, but one body of men capable of undertaking it, namely, the Corporation of Lloyd's.