that a short and plain abstract will soon be
published for the use of insurers and society
generally.

Every Money Order Office is to be an Annuity
and Insurance Office. That is, under direct
sanction and instruction from the postmaster-
general, every such office is to receive proposals
for annuities and life insurances, and is afterwards
to receive and pay moneys relating thereto.
The postmaster-general may also appoint other
places for this business besides money order
offices. Persons may insure their lives at any of
those offices, and may pay the premiums either
in one sum or by instalments; the instalments
being: yearly, half yearly, quarterly, monthly,
fortnightly, or weekly, at the option of the insurer.
There is another plan the insurer may adopt. He
may say, "I think I can work and earn wages,
or salary, until I am sixty; but it would be a
comfort to know that I shall have no more
premiums to pay after that age." The postmaster-
general will accommodate him; the premium
may be paid by periodical instalments until the
insurer is sixty years old, and then it will cease.
The minimum and maximum ages for insurance,
and the minimum and maximum amounts
insured will be the same as those laid down in the
act. The insurance money will be paid, on proof
of the death of the insurer, to the person entitled
to receive it, under sufficient regulations for the
prevention of fraud or collusion.

The annuity system will be managed with
less trouble to the insured than the life
insurance system, owing to the unavoidable
conditions of the former; but the easier will be
understood best if the more difficult be first
clearly apprehended. Let us suppose, then, that
A. B., a workman, servant, or small tradesman,
wishes to insure his life for any sum between
twenty and one hundred pounds. He applies
at a money order office for a printed form. He
takes it home, and, if not frightened by the
number of questions submitted to him, writes
down the answers to them. It is a sort of game
of twenty questions, for this is about the number
which he has to attend to. His full christian
and surname; his trade or occupation; his
address; the place of his birth; the year, month,
and day of his birth; the amount for which he
wishes to insure; whether the payment for the
insurance is to be in one sum, in instalments
until a certain age, or in instalments throughout
his life; and whether the instalments are to be
payable, yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly,
fortnightly, or weekly. Having settled these
matters, he has to answer a string of questions
in writing. Are you or have you been married?
If your father and mother are alive, state their
present ages; if they are dead, state the age
and cause of death of each. How long have
you followed your present occupation? If you
have ever followed any other occupation, what
was it, and for how long? How many days
have you been away from your usual employment
through illness, within the last two years?
Do you belong to any friendly society, sick club,
or burial club, and which? Have you ever
proposed  to insure your life, and in what office?
Did they accept your proposal, and did they
charge you more than the ordinary rates of
premium? Are you now. and have you always
been, of sober and temperate habits? Have
you been vaccinated? Have you generally
had good health? Have you ever lived
out of the United Kingdom; where, and
for how long? Have you ever suffered
any severe bodily injury; of what kind, and
in what way? Have you ever suffered, and
when, from gout, rheumatism, fever, small-pox,
asthma, spitting of blood, palpitation of the
heart, palsy, delirium tremens, rupture, or
stricture? Have you applied to a medical man
within two years; if so, to whom, and for
what complaint? Have you any relations suffering
from scrofula, asthma, consumption, or
insanity?

It seems to us that this formidable list of
questions will, for some time at least, be a bar
to the spread of the system among the working
classes. Persons of higher education and social
position know that, at the existing insurance
offices, equivalent, questions are put to them in
great number; for it obviously depends on the
constitution and health, as well as on the age
and employment of an insurer, whether the
premium charged for a life insurance shall be
high or low. But a working man has not been
subjected to such minute inquiries in his clubs
and friendly societies; and it will be some time
before he will become reconciled to the writing
down of answers to such detailed interrogatories
—especially when coming, as he may think,
from the "postman."

The proposer must, send, if possible, certificates
of birth or of baptism, with the name
of some person who can verify the identity
of the proposer as the individual mentioned
in the certificate, and the names of two
housekeepers to whom he is known. When the
form has been properly filled up, it is given
to the money office keeper, and by him
transmitted to the postmaster-general. If all seems
right and straight, the postmaster-general applies
to the referees by letter, to answer certain
queries as to what they know of the proposer;
and if this be in its turn satisfactory, the same
functionary directs him to present himself for
medical examination before a legally qualified
medical practitioner to be named by the
authorities. The doctor examines the proposer, puts
to him as many questions as he thinks necessary
for ascertaining the state of his health and
constitution, and writes down the answers; and
the proposer signs his name to a declaration
that he has answered all the questions honestly,
to the best of his knowledge. The doctor sends
in his report, and tells the postmaster-general
whether, in his opinion, the proposer is or is not
a fit person to obtain a life insurance, so far as
health is concerned.

If that all-important person, the postmaster-
general, is satisfied with the general tenor of
these answers and reports, he proceeds to
execute a contract of life insurance, as between