DEVELOPMENT OF BANKING BUSINESS. 369 Governments. One feature of the crisis was the prompt action of the Govern- Action of the ment of New South Wales-first, in framing and passing through the Legislature a measure giving the Executive power to declare the notes of the banks of issue legal tenders; and, further, in obtaining authority for the issue of Treasury notes to the extent of half the amount standing to the credit of current accounts in suspended banks. Relief measures were also adopted by the Government of Queensland. DEVELOPMENT OF BANKING. ing operations. Considering the population of these colonies the banking opera- Extent of banktions of Australasia have attained enormous development. The following table from Mulhall's Dictionary shows the capital employed in banking, and the amount of deposits in some of the principal countries. The figures regarding Australasia are brought down to the latest date : 370 THE SAVINGS OF THE PEOPLE. Australasian SAVINGS BANKS. In all the colonies Savings Banks are in existence, either directly or indirectly under the control of the State, to enable the working classes to securely invest their surplus earnings. These banks have been developed to a larger extent in Victoria than any other province, and from the number of deposits it would appear that twenty-six persons out of every hundred in that colony have accounts standing in their names in the Savings Banks. The highest average amount per depositor is in Queensland, while the amount of deposits as compared with population is greatest in South Australia : Savings Banks in other countries. The following table shows the like information for some of the principal countries of the world, compiled from the latest available TOTAL DEPOSITS IN BANKS. 371 The figures for the United States are given on the authority of the official Statistical Abstract, and are, to all appearances, correct. The Comptroller of Currency, in his report for the year 1892, gives the total deposits in Banks making returns as over 320 millions sterling. If to the amounts deposited in Savings Banks as shown above Total deposits. be added the deposits in Chartered Banks it will be seen that the total sum on deposit in these institutions is equal to nearly £33 for each inhabitant of Australasia. The largest amount on deposit as compared with population is found in Victoria with £39 11s. 10d., or more than £6 above the average of all the colonies. The particulars for each will be found below: ment Societies. Large sums are also deposited with various Building and Other InvestInvestment Societies, but the returns are deficient. The latest available returns show that the amounts so invested were, in New South Wales £2,082,223, Victoria £4,439,695, New Zealand £258,346. LIFE ASSURANCE. Assurance. The law in some of the colonies does not provide for the pub- Law relating to lishing of sworn returns by Life Assurance Companies, and 372 Analysis of assurance business. New policies. Premiums received. LIFE ASSURANCE BUSINESS. although valuable and interesting reports are made annually by some companies, it has been found quite impossible to distinguish the progress of assurance in each individual colony. Most of the companies have extended their business beyond the Colony in which their chief office is established; the following figures therefore refer to Australasia generally, though only to those offices whose head-quarters are in the colonies. The assets of eleven societies amount to £19,181,179, of which £10,618,052 are invested in mortgage, £3,359,053 in loans on policies and personal security, £1,459,348 in Government securities, £124,018 in shares, £1,999,405 in freehold and leasehold property, cash, principally at fixed deposit, £1,040,364, and sundry debts, £580,939. The interest earned during the year amounted to £1,021,451, being at the rate of 5.80 per cent.; the net increase in the accumulated funds was £1,464,811. On analysing the accounts of these societies, as published, it is seen that the total number of outstanding policies, and the amount they represent, are not given. With regard to new business it will be found that in 1892 there were 30,876 policies issued, to the value of £8,677,055, or an average amount upon each policy of £281. This means an increase of 100 policies, but a decrease in value amounting to £442,860 as compared with the transactions of the previous year, and a decline in the average value of the policies of £16. Since the end of the year 1880 the societies in question issued altogether no less than 361,835 new policies, representing an assurance of £100,974,698, but there is nothing in the published accounts to show how many of these policies have lapsed, and how many still remain in force. The new annual premiums, which amount to £282,629, bear an average rate of £3.257 per cent. to the total amount of new assurance. The amount of premiums received in 1892 was £2,453,435, of which sum £266,888 was income from new premiums, and £2,186,547 was for renewals. The amount just given was £92,211 in excess of the income of the previous year. The total EXTENSION OF ASSURANCE. 373 receipts, obtained by adding to the premium income the items "consideration for annuities granted," "interest," and other receipts, came to £3,530,946, as against the sum of £3,361,613 in the year 1891, being an increase of £169,333. The average rate of interest realised by the ten offices from which this could be ascertained, as already stated, was 5.80 per cent. ; some of the purely mutual offices, however, realised considerably over 6 per cent. surrenders. Claims and surrenders during the year amounted to £1,420,275, Claims and of which sum £917,356 was for claims with bonus additions, £159,614 for endowments and endowment assurances matured, and £343,305 for surrenders, &c. The total amount paid to policyholders in 1892 was £1,524,964, as against £1,273,340 in 1891. The expenses of the year exceeded those of the previous year by £13,798. This is equivalent to an increase of 2.74 per cent. on the expenditure of 1891, while the increase in the premium income was 3.90 per cent., and in the gross income 5.04 per cent. surance business If comparison be made between the years 1881 and 1892, an Increase of asincrease of 141 per cent. is shown in premium income and of 169 per cent. in gross income, while the amount paid for claims and surrenders increased in the same period by no less than 344 per cent. In 1881 claims and surrenders absorbed 31.42 per cent. of the premium income, while in 1892 this ratio had risen to 57.89 per cent. This increase is mainly due to the growth in age of the offices, but partly also to the small proportion of new business permanently retained. The total income for the twelve years was £29,167,144, of which amount £21,573,173 was contributed by policy-holders as premiums, and consideration for annuities granted, and £7,593,971 was from interest and other sources. Of the total income £10,188,405, or 34.93 per cent. was returned to policy-holders, and £4,817,069, or 16.52 per cent. was absorbed by expenses, while £14,161,670, or 48.55 per cent. has been saved, and added to the funds of the societies to meet future liabilities. |