go into operation, they complaining that it is not sufficient; and strenuous and earnest efforts will be made, in consequence of the injury that will be occasioned by the shortness of time between its publication and the time it is to go into operation, to postpone its action to some future time. My opinion is, that these complaints and efforts will have no effect; but it is not improbable that changes and modifications may yet be made in this new law concerning the customs. any such change should be made I shall apprise the department immediately. I am, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant,

HON. LOUIS CASS, Secretary of State.

ROBERT G. SCOTT, Jr.

MONOPOLY OF SOAP ABOLISHED IN PORTUGAL.

If

The Portuguese government have issued a decree (May, 1857,) abolishing the monopoly hitherto existing on the manufacture of soap, and fixing the duty upon its importation into the kingdom. The following is a translation of so much of the decree as relates to this subject :

Art.

Art. 1. The monopoly of the manufacture of soap is hereby abolished in all the kingdom and adjacent islands, from July 1, 1858, when the present contract expires, and the manufacture and trade of this article will be open to all. 2. Foreign soap imported through any of the custom-houses of the kingdom and adjacent island shall pay the following duties :-common soap, of any quality, one millrea ($1 12) per 100 pounds; fancy soaps, six millreas ($6 72) per 100 pounds. Art. 3. The impost levied for the authorization of the notes of the Bank of Lisbon, by virtue of the laws of July 13, 1848, June 25, 1849, and April 20, 1850, shall henceforth be at the rate of 12 per cent, payable in cash, upon all the duties levied at the custom-houses of the kingdom and islands, with the exception of those levied at the municipal custom-house of Lisbon, which will only be subject to an impost of 10 per cent, and the fishery tax 5 per cent.

THE NOVA SCOTIA TARIFF OF 1857.

The Legislative Assembly at Nova Scotia has passed an act amendatory of the duties upon imports into that province. The first section merely refers to the continuance of former acts:

SECT. 2. All goods, wares, and merchandise, now liable to a duty of six-and-aquarter per cent ad valorem, shall hereafter pay a duty of ten per cent ad valorem, with the exception of cotton yarn, which shall pay two-and-a-half per cent ad valorem.

SECT. 3. Refined sugar shall hereafter pay a duty of ten shillings per cwt., instead of fourteen shillings.

SECT. 4. Madeira, port, and sherry wines, of which the first cost is £30 per pipe and upwards, shall pay a duty of two shillings and sixpence per gallon.

SECT. 5. So much of section 2 of chapter 12 of the Revised Statutes as imposes a duty of six-and-a-quarter per cent ad valorem on good, wares, and merchandise, a duty of fourteen shillings per cwt. on refined sugar, and a duty of two shillings and sixpence per gallon on Madeira, port, and sherry wines, of which the first cost is £20 per pipe and upwards, is repealed.

ABOLISHMENT OF QUARANTINE IN GREECE.

Mr. JONAS KING, United States Vice-Consul at Athens, in a letter to the Department of State at Washington, dated March 12th, 1857, writes that he had received the day previously a communication from the Greek Government, informing him that the King of Greece, desiring to facilitate as much as possible navigation and commerce, had decided to abolish the fifth article of the sanitary regula

tions, together with the royal ordinance of August, 1853, relative to the quarantine of vessels under a foreign flag. The act referred to above reads as follows :—

"Merchant vessels, under a foreign flag, coming from a place not healthy, will, in Greece, be subject to the maximum of quarantine, if their bill of health has not been vised by the Greek consular authorities.”

The royal ordinances of August, 1853, is of the same import. It will be observed that by this action on the part of the Greek Government, the Greek consular vise of bills of health for vessels coming from any port in the Ottoman empire is no longer required, but simply a bill of health or certificate from the sanitary authorities of the place from which they come. The new regulation is considered as applying not only to vessels coming from any port in the Ottoman empire, but from any other port.

JOURNAL OF INSURANCE.

INSURANCE COMPANIES IN MASSACHUSETTS.

We condense from the second annual Report of the Insurance Commissioners. made to the Legislature of Massachusetts, in compliance with the act of 1856, the subjoined abstract of that report in relation to the marine, fire, and life and mixed companies, with specific capital, and mutual :—

COMPANIES WITH SPECIFIC CAPITAL.

The Commissioners report that the stock companies are generally, and perhaps altogether, in a sound and prosperous condition.

The peculations and frauds to which the community has been subjected by insurance companies having no capital in fact, and no character or responsibility on the part of their managers, have induced a more careful examination of their affairs, by those seeking insurance; and our business men are fast becoming convinced, that it is far better to pay fair and even liberal premiums to good officers, rather than, as has been too frequently the practice, for the sake of nominally saving a slight per cent, to take any policy which may be offered as a reliable and valid insurance.

As a natural consequence of this change of feeling and increased attention, insurance in companies with specific capital paid up and securely invested, and whose management is intrusted to men challenging and commanding the respect and confidence of the community, is becoming more sought after and better paid. There are now thirty-three stock insurance companies chartered by this State, doing business. Nineteen located in Boston, and fourteen in other cities and towns of the Commonwealth.

The amount at risk on the first day of November, 1856, was, in Boston offices, $169,128,889; in country offices, $48,016,220; total, $217,145,109; of this amount, on fire risks, $129,171,426; on marine risks, $87,973,683.

MARINE INSURANCE COMPANIES.

The two or three years last past have been exceedingly trying to marine insurers, and some few companies have been compelled to close up their affairs. Disasters, almost without number, have followed each other with fearful rapidity, swallowing up millions of treasure, and worse than all, hundreds and thousands of lives.

An increased and constantly increasing trade with all parts of the world, has demanded and developed many new and valuable inventions in naval architecture, by which a great desideratum, extra speed, has been attained; but may it not be a question, whether, with the desired speed, a recklessness of management has not

been acquired which has turned the blessing into a curse? Our steamers and fastsailing clippers are unquestionably great improvements upon the past, but in the race for the trade of the world, is there not something else than speed to be desired?

It may be the best way sometimes for a shipper to dispose of a cargo of goods, to run his ship upon the rocks, or run her down in a storm, as a fire sometimes makes the best market for an unsaleable stock, or proves the readiest way of filling a bankrupt's depleted pockets; but is it safe or prudent for the underwriter to hazard the reputation, and perhaps the very existence of his company, upon the bare fact that the ship he insures is an A 1 clipper?

If speed is desirable, it is desirable because it pays. For the same reason therefore that the shipper seeks a fast captain; and for the same reason, a small and a cheap crew; and then with a vessel built too much for speed, and too little for strength and safety, with a reckless captain, a small and perhaps desperate crew, he seeks to protect himself against an almost certain loss by insurance.

The Commissioners are convinced that there is one remedy for this disastrous condition of affairs, and only one, and that is in the hands of the underwriters. Let the underwriter require proof of the character and capacity of the captain and the crew, as full and explicit as he does of the soundness and strength of the ship, and a double good will be gained.

'The insurer will be comparatively secure, and our commercial marine will gradually but surely become what it should be, the pride and the blessing of our land.

Since the last report of the Commissioners, the act of June 3d, 1856, has gone into operation, by which some very important alterations are made in the management of mutual marine companies.

The amount of subscription notes required for the commencement of business by a company chartered in any city or town, except Boston, has been increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

The subscription notes are, by the provisions of the new law, to be made payable on time not exceeding twelve months, and must be paid at maturity or other notes substituted therefor, so that the original fund shall not be diminished; and it is also provided, that the subscriptions shall not be applied to pay the premiums for insurance effected by the subscribers.

The marine companies have very readily and cheerfully complied with the changes in the law, their business is generally well managed, and with a few unfortunate exceptions, they have stood up with great energy under the terrible losses which have fallen upon them, maintaining their well-earned claim to the confidence and support of the community.

There are sixteen mutual marine, and mutual fire and marine companies now doing business. Seven located in Boston, and nine located in other cities and towns. Amount at risk November 1st, 1856:-in Boston offices, $44,425,582; in country offices, $17,851,347; total, $62,276,929; of this amount, on marine risks, $50,093,665, on fire risks, $12,237,264.

The Commissioners express the opinion, that there is not a sufficient amount of insurance capital in the State to meet the wants of commerce.

The Commissioners suggest the propriety of chartering one or two responsible companies with large capitals, and relieved of some of the requirements in regard to the amount of paid-up capital, which now exist in that State.

MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES.

For a large class of property, such for instance as farm-houses and their out buildings, residences in small open villages, &c., this method of insurance has always been considered the cheapest and the best.

Originally mutual companies confined themselves exclusively to this kind of business, and to the immediate vicinity in which they were located. And it is worthy of remark, that all the companies which have adhered to that policy are now, as they always have been, healthy and prosperous. More recently, however, this wise plan has been changed. Now all kinds of property, even the most

hazardous, are taken, and the whole State, and all New England has become the field of their operations.

That the result of this extension of business has been unwise and disastrous, no one at all acquainted with the facts can doubt, and that the popular feeling should be now strongly enlisted against the system cannot seem at all strange.

The idea of mutual insurance is not to build up a large moneyed corporation, giving place and large salaries to a few favored individuals, but by association, to afford mutual protection to all the individuals associated. Consequently little money is required beyond the amount necessary to defray the actual expenses of the company, as each associate is contingently liable to pay his proportion of his fellow's loss whenever it shall occur.

Under the new plan which has been extensively practiced for a few years past, the Commissioners find many companies doing little or no business at home, while, by means of agencies, in many cases wholly irresponsible and untrustworthy, in distant parts of Massachusetts and other States, a large amount of risks are taken, premium notes recieved, and cash premiums collected; losses are unpaid, and finally the whole business of the office resolves itself into a series of litigations at the expense of the members, and to the great pecuniary advantage of the officers and a few hungry lawyers.

Of this class, the Appleton Mutual Insurance Company of Boston is a fair specimen. A brief sketch of its history and present position is given in the Commissioners' report.

In their first report, the commissioners recommended the enactment of a general form of policy for all mutual fire insurance companies, and fully set forth their reason therefor. The experience of the past year has confirmed their impressions of the expedience and utility of such a law.

There are sixty-four mutual fire companies, ten of which are located in Boston. The amount at risk the 1st of November was :-in Boston offices, $50,187,213 ; in country offices, $142,938,794; total, $193,126,007.

FOREIGN INSURANCE COMPANIES.

The Commissioners regret that, while their own companies have so readily complied with the laws of the State, and while also there is a demand for more insurance capital then the Commonwealth affords, thus offering so many inducements to foreign companies to establish responsible agencies here, there should have been manifested so much reluctance on the part of some companies heretofore doing business in this State, and intending still to continue so to do, to comply with the law.

This very reluctance, in our judgment, evinces on the part of such companies some fear, if not indeed positive knowledge of unsoundness, and requires on the part of the Commissioners, careful watching and strict and thorough examination.

When we remember the vast amount of property insured, and how many of our citizens are dependent entirely upon the security of their property guarantied by insurance, for which they have paid and upon which, therefore, they have a right to rely, it is certainly of the greatest importance that parties insuring should be responsible, and that the insured should have a prompt and sure remedy in case of a failure to pay any loss. It connot be considered unjust or unfair for Massachusetts to require that foreign companies soliciting business should be able to satisfy any reasonable man that they have an actual capital equal to that required of our own companies.

If experience has proved that for the safety and protection of the public, $100,000 of capital paid up in cash, and invested in specified kinds of property, is necessary for companies of our own citizens directly under the eye of, and amenable to, our laws, can it be deemed a hardship for companies beyond our jurisdiction, and which cannot be reached, except through a long and expensive course of law, to be required as a condition upon which they may prosecute business here to satisfy the Insurance Commissioners that they have $100,000 of capital actually paid in, in cash, and invested in property which bears at home at least par value?

By the returns which have been made to the State Treasurer, it appears that $24,903,715 of fire and marine insurance has been effected by agents during the past year in Massachusetts.

The Commissioners have reason to believe, however, that this amount is not equal to the whole risk taken, as some parties procuring risks deny agency, and therefore make no returns.

The law which defines the term "agent," though almost identical with the law of many other States, is claimed by some parties to be unconstitutional, and under this plea they carry on a sort of Guerrilla operation, in which we regret to say too many of our people support them by taking their policies, and then they meet with a loss, then the law or its execution is blamed because they have no remedy. The Commissioners believe the law relating to agents to be sufficiently stringent and entirely constitutional, and measures are now being taken to test the question. By the law creating the Board of Insurance Commissioners, it is made the duty of the Board to keep a record of their proceedings, and also of the standing of all companies doing business in this State, which shall at all times be open for the inspection of the public.

This provision of the law has been fully complied with, and the Commissioners suggest that it would be for the interest of all parties proposing to deal with foreign companies, to consult the records of the Commissioners before effecting insurance.

LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES.

To this important branch of insurance, the Commissioners have given such attention as has been in their power, and in their opinion, ample protection is now furnished by law to the public, so far as this department of insurance is concerned.

The basis of life insurance seems to be rather that of an eleemosynary, than a regular business institution, and therefore its claims for support are made rather to the prudent and the charitable, than to the shrewd and busy world.

From the fact that for the most part the customers of life insurance companies, are careful, prudent men, who, while seeking an investment for the benefit of friends or relatives who may survive them, are led to examine cautiously the character of the men to whom they intrust their investments, less legislation is required for these than for most other branches of insurance.

Believing, as they do, that however well a company may at first invest its capital, yet for ultimate prosperity and success, the business of life insurance must be managed by men who have a thorough knowledge of this branch of business, and who will with honesty, sagacity, and persistent energy, devote themselves to the permanent interests of the company they represent, the Commissioners have endeavored in their examination, to ascertain the character and capacity of the officers and agents, who are now managing this large and increasing line of insur

ance.

The funds of these companies seem to be securely invested and prudently managed.

The officers and agents appear to be gaining a fuller and better knowledge of the working of such institutions year by year, and a uniformity of system is being secured by all.

The whole amount at risk in home life insurance companies, as near as can be ascertained, was, on the 1st of November last, $13,944,300; insured by agents of foreign offices in this State during the last year, about $7,500,000.

The Commissioners have omitted giving an abstract of the returns of the insurance companies doing business in the State, and they excuse themselves by saying that any abstract could present but a partial view of the actual condition of their assets and liabilities. An abstract would have cost the committee some labor, but it would have been more satisfactory, as it would have shown at a glance the condition of the different companies.