AUSTRALIAN AND ORIENTAL MARINE.-This Co. was projected in 1853, and shared the fate which befel most of the other projects with Australian titles put forward during that year-fell through and came to nothing.

AUSTRIA.-This Empire does not figure at all conspicuously in the early hist. of ins. Indeed it is only since Trieste was declared a free port, in 1719, that Marine Ins. has been cultivated; and unquestionably it has since then absorbed a considerable portion of the very large bus. of this class formerly carried on in Venice. With the bus. flowed also the incidents and customs by which the bus. had been regulated, or, as Mr. Reddie very well puts it, "if they did not borrow the Venetian jurisprudence, they must have been guided very much by the maritime usages of the Adriatic, and by the Consolato del Mare." In 1774, the Empress Maria Theresa promulgated an Edict, which forms a tolerably extensive maritime code; and in 1816 there was pub. at Venice, Editto Politico di Navigazione Mercantile Austriaca. Neither of these documents presents any features requiring special comment here. They were simply a reflex of the maritime customs of the Mediterranean States, of which we shall speak at large under CONSOLATO DEL MARE. We propose briefly to survey the progress of ins. in the Austrian empire; noting also the leading features in its pop. and vital statistics. The growth of L. ins. has been slow The native offices are few-but we shall notice them in some detail, because they embody a few special features. Foreign cos. have found many difficulties placed in the way of carrying on a bus. of any magnitude there. There is some expectation of a general law for regulating such matters. It will be a great blessing, and if the measure be a liberal one, a wide field of enterprise will be opened up.

The first ins. co. founded in the Austrian empire appears to have been the Azienda Assicuratrice, estab. in Trieste, in 1822, for fire, transport, marine; and life ins. was added in 1850. Of that Co. we give a brief history under its alphabetical title, as it is transacting bus. in England, and therefore demands a special notice from us.

The

In 1823 there was estab. in Vienna, the General Annuity Fund for Widows and Orphans. Its object is to ins. annu. to the widows and children of the subscribing members who happen to die at least three years after their admission into the so. The widows are pensioned until their death; the children until the age of 20. pensions are divided into three classes; the amount of each pension is dependent on the amount of capital possessed by the so. The maximum pensions, being £60 for 1st class; £30 for 2nd class; and 15 for 3rd class. The subs. can be paid (1) by a single payment at the time of admission, the amount of which is regulated according to the age of the subs., that of his wife, and to the class to which he wishes to belong, in accordance with a scale annexed to the statutes. (2) By an ann. payment, fixed at £3 45. for the 1st class; £1 125. for the 2nd class; and 16s. for the 3rd class. In 1850 the number of subscribers was 1989; the annual pensions granted, 618. The so. had then a capital of £135,506. It had paid in pensions up to that date, £194,562. The amount of pensions for 1851 was fixed at £40, £20, and £10, according to class. The expenses of management were only about £300 p.a.

In 1824 the General Provident Fund of Vienna was founded by the board of management of the Savings Bank of Vienna, by whom it was afterwards conducted, It had for its object the promotion and management of the Mut. Asso. for Life Annu. with partial alienation of the capital, according to a plan set forth in its statutes. The transactions of the asso. down to 1847 were considerable. At that date an exposé of the affairs of the management took place, and changes were instituted. At the close of 1850 a report was pub., which showed that conjointly with the Savings Bank, the total subs had been for the classes for the years 1825-47, £948,457; and for the years 1848-50, £36,465: total, £984,922.

In 1830, General Assu. Co. was founded in Trieste-orig. called Assicurazioni Generali Austro-Italiche.-The Co. effects ins. of fixed sums guaranteed by the shareholders against risks by fire, maritime and inland navigation, transfer of merchandize by land; against hail, and also ins. of life. The cap. of the Co. is £200,000, of which 10 p.c. was paid down in cash. Half the said cap. is specially pledged to the L. department. About 1850 various modifications were introduced into the L. branch. (1). Persons under 51 might participate in 75 p.c. of the profits of that branch. (2). The insured having reached 80 years of age are exempted from the payment of all further prems. ; and receive the sum ins, if they live till 85. (3). Half credit of prems. -4 p.c. int. being charged on half not paid. These arrears to be deducted from sum ins. The Co. has undertaken the management of Mut. Ins. Classes (Tontine), guaranteeing int. at 4 p.c. p.a., charging a commission of 5 p.c. on amount of subs. for management. At the close of 1850, the figures of the L. department stood as follows: Sums ins. payable at death (or age 85?) £469,927; L. annu. to be paid to a nominee after the death of another nominee, £9240.; ann. prem. income, £24,855; ins. fund, £51,423; profit reserve fund, 10, 564; ins. of deferred sums, £96,062; prems. receivable, 1932: prems. accumulated, £35,512; profits in reserve, £776. L. annu. (ordinary) payable, 16,962; reserve for the same, £131,542; profits reserved, £5986. On the 31st Dec, 1851, the Co. held subs. for the Tontine classes, £13,872. Regarding the annu. payable, it has been remarked that L. annu. payable were very large in relation to the

sum accumulated to meet them-showing the average rate of annu. to be nearly 12 p.c. p.a.—a rate which would lead to the supposition that the average age of the annuitants was about 70 years; or to another supposition, viz., that the rate of annu. allowed was very large.

In 1839 there was founded in Vienna the Mut. Assu. Co. for Life and Annu. Its bus. consisted of 6 classes: (1). Ins. of sums in case of survivorship. (2). Ditto payable on death. (3). L. annu. immediate or deferred. (4). Ditto payable after death of nominee. (5). Endow. in favour of minors; or L. annu. payable after the death of a nominee until another nominee has attained his 24th year. (6). L. annu. increasing by accumulation of int. with partial alienation of cap. A remarkable feature of this so. was that the sums ins. were only payable in the event of death occurring after 1 year from date of ins. At the close of 1850 the sum ins. in each of the preceding classes was as follows: (1). 5208, (2). 143,984. (3). £1044. (4). 1005; while the prem. fund for each class was: (1.) 2322. (2). £17,521. (3). £8256. (4). £3836. (5). £12,775; which, with reserve funds of £5510, made a total of £49,220.

It is believed that the

one year" limitation above mentioned, combined with great strictness in the selection of lives, constitute the chief reasons for the small bus. of the Co.

Regarding Fire Ins.-there were in 1850 5 proprietary offices and 5 mut. ones. The proprietary offices were-(1). The Azienda, of Trieste, founded 1822. (2). The First Austrian Ins. Co., founded in Vienna in 1824. (3). The Milan Ins. Co. founded 1826and not now belonging to Austria, but included here to explain the F. ins. statistics hereafter given. (4). The General Ins. Co. of Trieste, founded 1830. (5). The Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà, founded in Trieste in 1838. The mutual offices were-(1). The Mut. Fire Ins. Co. of Vienna-for Austria proper and Hungary, founded 1825. (2). Mut. Fire Ins. Co. in Gratz, for the provinces of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniole, founded 1829. (3). Mut. Fire Ins. Co. in Prague, for Bohemia. (4). Mut. Fire Ins. Co. in Inspruck, for the Tyrol, Voralberg, and the principality of Lichtenstein, (5). Mut. Ins. Co. against Fire at Brunn, for the provinces of Moravia and Silesia.

These mut. offices ins. buildings only; and appear to resemble in many respects the Fire Casse of the North German Towns. They are worked upon this plan-each of the members of the so. contributes proportionably to the sum for which he is ins., to the losses and expenses of management, the computation of which is made at the end of each year, In a few the contributions are limited to a certain maximum, which cannot be exceeded. If this maximum be not sufficient to pay the losses and the expenses, the surplus is taken from the reserved fund; or in default thereof, the Board of Management have recourse to a loan repayable in the course of a certain number of years. The reserved fund is formed by means of an admission fee from each member of the so., and by a proportion of the profits set apart in the successful years. These inst. are under high patronage, and are much favoured by the local authorities. The expenses of their management are very small, but their statutes generally are very imperfect, independent of the defects inherent to the mut. system in F. ins. Conditions are enforced which show but little practical knowledge of ins. ; and especially there is a very incomplete classification of risks. The consequence is, or has been, that the proprietors of the worst class of buildings are favoured, at the expense of those who possess better.

Besides the principal F. cos. above described, there exist in some provinces, and especially in Bohemia, a number of mut. asso., the operations of which only extend to a few districts, and the members of which undertake to assist one another, either in money or materials in case of fire; but their organization is too incomplete, or too little known, to be able to speak with proper knowledge of them.

The proprietary offices have subs. capitals varying from £300,000 down to £100,000; but several of them undertake other classes of bus., as Marine Ins., and Transit or Transport Ins. They also ins. merchandize, and other personal property against fire.

We have some account of the aggregate operations of these Fire Ins. offices in 1850. The risks undertaken by the proprietary offices in that year amounted to £71,570,352; by the mut. offices, £21,504,802-together £93,075, 150. For losses, repairs, and compensations, the proprietary cos. paid in the year £103,417, being equal to '144 p.c. on sum insured; and the mut. cos. £70,441, being equal to 327 p.c. on sum ins. Together they paid £173,858, equal to 187 p.c. We have not the returns of the prems. received by either class of co.; but we have some returns of the per-centage of contributions paid to the mut. offices in various districts. Thus the contributions amounted, in lower Austria, to 366 p.c.; in Upper Austria, 15 p.c. ; in Steirmark, Carinthia, and Krain, 25 p.c.; in Tyrol, 3 p.c. ; in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, 48 p.c.

In 1850 there were 30 Marine Ins. Cos. carrying on bus. in the Austrian Empire, chiefly at Trieste; but a few of them in Vienna. Their aggregate cap. was £505,500the largest being £60,000; the smallest, £10,000; the others intermediate. Trieste is the only town in Austria where marine ins, can be carried out on a large scale. Some of these cos. have agencies in Venice. The marine cos. which carry on that bus. solely do not make the state of their affairs public.

There is an Accident Ins. Co.-the Conservator of Vienna. Also a Plate-Glass Ins. -the First Vienna Plate-Glass Ins. Co.; various CATTLE Ins. Cos. ; a Mortgage Ins.

Bank; several Re-insurance Cos. ; and at least two offices, the Austria and the Janus, which undertake the ins. of stocks. We hope to give an entire list of the Austrian Ins. Cos., with their dates of estab. and objects, in our Supplement.

In 1852 there was read before the Inst. of Act. a paper: An Account of the Ins. Cos. of Austria; prepared by Herr S. Alessandro Daninos, Sec.-Gen. of the Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà, in Trieste. The paper was printed in vol. iii. of Assu. Mag.; and from it we have drawn some of the facts here presented.

It appears from this paper that the prems. for Life Ins. are but a trifle above those charged in this country; while they confer the great advantage of terminating at 80, and of securing the sum ins. at 85. The annu. rates are more favourable to purchasers than ours. Thus the rate allowed p. 100 for ordinary L. annu., by 4 of the cos. named, were respectively, at age 50: 7'67, 7'94, 7 35, 7.86. Regarding Fire ins., his estimate of the total ins. in force at the close of 1850 was 172 millions sterling-concerning which he remarks:

This sum is indeed of not much importance, if the amount in other countries of Europe and their respective pop. be compared. But if we consider that in Austria the landed property is in a great measure concentrated in the hands of a small number of individuals-that trade and even agriculture are still so little advanced-that the rural pop. is for the most part in the greatest poverty-it will be easy to perceive that it is not disproportioned to the state of the country, and it would be impossible to obtain a considerable increase unless this situation be sensibly improved.

It is, however, fair to state that the Austrian cos. fulfil in the most honourable manner the engagements which they contract with the insured; and their integrity and stability give them a just title to public confidence.

In 1828 a statistical department was estab. by order of the Emperor Francis, with the special view of aiding the different branches of superior administration in the State. In 1844 the scope of the department was enlarged, and the pub. of the statistical returns was authorized, including what was purely administrative. So that the most ample information is within the reach of all who desire it; but there is very little bearing upon our subject to be obtained from these.

The earliest returns we find of the number of marriages are in 1837, and these are not official. In that year they were 132,080, giving as "people married" 264, 160; but this does not include those of Lombardy, Venice, Hungary, Transylvania, and the military frontier. With these the marriages were 285,712-the people married of course just double that number. In 1840, the marriages, as shown by the official returns, were in Austria proper 132,253-the numbers for the districts named as excluded in the first mentioned returns are not given.

The pop. of Austria in 1857 was 35,018,988. In 1866 this was reduced to 32,530,002 by the loss of Venetia, etc. The density of the pop. was then 152 per square mile, being slightly below that of Prussia.

The marriage rate in 1862 was 1826, the birth rate 3'945, and the death rate 3'020. Our Reg.-Gen., reviewing these figures in his 25th Report, 1864, said :—

Austria is evidently advancing rapidly, and the increase of marriages implies the increasing prosperity of the empire.... The measures tried successfully in England will diminish the high mort. there, which is referable to causes evident to all travellers in Germany, and which have attracted the attention of Dr. Helm, Dr. Haller, Dr. Glatter, and other patriotic Austrian physicians. In the mean time Dr. Flacker's tables exhibit, in a trustworthy form, an immense series of facts of universal interest.

Between Italy and Russia, on the Danube, extending from the Carpathians to the Adriatic, lies the Austrian empire, full of natural resources, and pervaded to a considerable extent by the industry and science of Germany; yet the death toll of Austria is high. It was 30 p. 1000 for the 8 years, from 1857 to 1864.-Dr. Farr, 1866.

No life tables have been constructed for the pop. of Austria; but the data exist, and have, to a certain extent, been pub., though in forms which present considerable obstacles to the calculation. We shall give a Mort. T. for Vienna. [VIENNA.]

AUSTRIAN LLOYD'S.—This is simply a steam navigation co., and bears no analogy to our own Lloyd's, either in its conception or uses.

AUTHENTIC, AUTHENTICATED.-Vouched for; warranted; resting upon proper authority; properly attended; genuine; real; true. As an authentic copy of pol., or any

other document.

AUTHORITIES QUOTED IN THIS WORK.-In the course of these pages most of the leading authorities on the questions of which it treats will be found quoted. The rule we have followed is, to take the best authority we could call to mind on the particular point under discussion. On some undetermined questions, as the Value of FEMALE LIFE from an ins. point of view; LAW of MORT., etc., we have given the views of all who have in our opinion said anything worthy of permanent record. Of course we shall have made some errors of commission and omission, of which we shall never hear the last. Any palpable error we shall seek to rectify. [INS. AUTHORS.] AUTHORIZED CAPITAL.-It will be observed that in speaking of the capitals of the various ins. offices we use the expression "authorized capital. We do so for this reason that while an office may be authorized by its constitution to issue capital to the extent of £100,000 or £1,000,000, or any other amount; it may, as a matter of fact,

have only issued £1000 or less; and it should be remembered that it is only the portion issued that is actually subscribed-which has become available for the purposes of the co. AUTHORS, LONGEVITY OF.-This subject we shall refer to under influence of occupation upon the duration of human life.

AUXILIARY (From Latin auxilium, aid).—Helping; assisting; a helper; an assistant. AUXILIARY TABLES.—In 1785 Prof. Tetens, of Kiel, pub. at Leipzig, a work in German, the translated title of which is An Introduction to the Computation of L. Annu. and Rev. which depend on the life or death of one or more persons, with Tables for practical use. The author described his method as follows:

By means of a new auxiliary table, which can be made in accordance with the tale of mort., by which it is to be reckoned, and at the rate of int. proposed for its foundation, the wh labour as well for life annu. as for the mean duration of life, may be reduced to one division. The preparation of that table requires nothing more than an easy addition, when regard is had to the duration of life only; but demands somewhat more trouble if it be extended to the calculation of life annu. It would not be desirable therefore to make it for one single ann. of the kind. But then it gives simultaneously all values of life annu., as well as all durations for every age at once.

It is contended that in the method which he proceeds not only to describe, but to illustrate, he really invented the Columnar method, which will be fully spoken of under that title.

The first paper which appeared in the first No. of the Assu. Mag. (1850) was one by Mr. Frederick Hendriks-Memoir of the Early Hist. of Auxiliary Tables for the Computation of Life Contingencies. The production was one worthy of the name and fame of its distinguished author.

In the second No. of the same Mag. there appeared: Supplementary Remarks, by Mr. Frederick Hendriks, On Auxiliary Tables for Life Contingencies, including notice of a recent Table by W. T. Thomson, Esq.

All the preceding pub. will be spoken of more in detail under COLUMNAR METHOD, and LIFE CONTINGENCIES.

AVENS, WILLIAM, was Sec. of People's Provident in 1853.

AVENTURE.-A mischance causing the death of a man, as where a person is suddenly drowned, or killed by any accident, without felony. This is now sometimes called adventure, but more generally misadventure: as the finding of a coroner's jury, “died by misadventure."

AVERAGE.-The word "average," as used in common parlance, is synonymous with mean, or medium, and signifies a rate or result, derived from several quantities. It has the same form, whether used as an adjective or a noun. We speak of the average time, or the mean time; of the average price, or the medium price; an average of several years, or the mean of many obs.-Hopkins.

But the word has another meaning, in relation to maritime commerce-a meaning of very extended application. In this relation it always includes the idea of contribution, in addition to that of common ratio or result. There is no exception to this. It is in this latter sense that we shall have to treat of it in some detail under its appropriate heads. AVERAGE-ADJUSTERS (frequently called average-staters).-These are persons who, in the event of damage to cargo, apportion the loss in its proper degree amongst the several persons interested. It is a recognized profession, but of limited numbers; according to the City of Lond. Directory, 1871, there are but 17 persons so engaged here. These form an asso., "having for its object the promotion of correct principles in the adjustment of averages, and uniformity of practice among average-adjusters.' There are other average-staters in Liverpool, Glasgow, and other outports; and many of these gentlemen are members of the asso. ; while others residing abroad are associates thereof. Averageadjusters stand in the position of administering even-handed justice between the underwriters and the insured. They make out claims against the underwriters or co. from materials supplied by the insured. In 1870 a discussion was raised as to whether it was just that the underwriters should continue to pay the entire fee for "stating" the claim; but we believe no change was made. Mr. Hopkins (himself an average-adjuster), in his Hand-Book of Average, speaks of the importance of always defining the class of average, in respect of which a contribution has to be made. In support of this necessity he cites the case of Oppenheim v. Fry, finally disposed of in the Exchequer Chamber in 1864.

In some of the MARINE INS. CLUBS it is provided by the rules that all claims shall be made up by a "professional average-stater"; in others that the claims must be stated by a "Lloyd's average-adjuster": thus implying two grades in the profession, but we believe there is only one body. [GENERAL AVERAGE.] [SETTLEMENTS.] AVERAGE CLAUSE-It is by means of what is usually called the "average clause" that the principle of average contribution is incorporated into fire ins. policies in Gt. Brit. The expression is not happily chosen, because it is not distinctive; and for this reason, that an "average clause" and "average clauses" is and are introduced into marine pol. under a variety of circumstances to be presently explained. We propose, therefore, to speak of average in F. ins. under the head of AVERAGE POLICIES. AVERAGE CLAUSES (MARINE).-There are various special clauses, technically called "occasional clauses," introduced into marine ins. pol. in practice, with a view to modify the risk, or rather with the view of causing the pol. correctly to define the risk actually

agreed upon and undertaken. The necessity for these arises mainly in the circumstance of one uniform blank pol. only being provided for the use of underwriters. A uniform pol. unquestionably has many advantages: the chief being this, that the risk will be the usual one unless some specific agreement has been made for altering it. These special clauses are of two classes: 1. Those limiting the underwriter's liability. 2. Those extending it. In Law these are termed "WARRANTIES," and under that head we shall discuss them fully. AVERAGE, MARITIME.-Average in this sense properly means, a contribution made by all the parties concerned in a sea adventure; to make good a specific loss or expense incurred by one or more of them for the general benefit.

The custom is of very ancient date, possibly originating in a rude form with the first disaster to a vessel laden on joint account; and developing itself with that promptitude pertaining to all matters associated with the rights and obligations of commerce. It must however be remembered that in the very earliest periods of commerce vessels were of small size, and that the owner, as a rule, embarked with his goods.

There has been a good deal of speculation, naturally, as to which were the first people to settle the principles of maritime average in the form in which they have been handed down from nation to nation, for say something like 3000 years. We find nothing approaching the subject of average in the ancient Hindoo Laws. The Koran (admittedly of much more modern date) is silent thereon. The Sidonians, great in commerce, leave no trace of having understood maritime average. The Athenians do leave some traces; but all that we really do know, or have ground for believing, is that the rules which fixed the reciprocal obligations of the owners of the cargo of a vessel to contribute towards the reparation of sacrifices made for the common safety in a storm, were the same as those of the Rhodians, who next succeeded them in the greatness of commercial enterprise. The Rhodian practice of maritime average has happily been preserved to us in an authentic form; but this only from the circumstance of the Romans having fallen back upon it for guidance in the formation of their mercantile code. While this is a testimony to the perfection of the Rhodian custom, it has also been the means of extending the practice of maritime average to every civilized country. The doctrine of average, and also that of salvage, are expounded in the chapter of the Digest-De Lege Rhodia de Factu (Dig. xiv. 2). We propose very briefly to state that doctrine, and for this purpose we fall back upon Gravina's Summary of the Doctrine of Mercantile Average of the Rhodian Laws-furnishing the very best translation thereof we can command. We have the assurance of the compiler of this summary, "that of all the laws of Rhodes, the purport of this chapter has alone come down to us in its entirety":

If by the force of winds or storms a tempest should arise, which should bring the ship into danger, and to set it free from such danger it should be necessary to lighten it, and to relieve it by jettison of the cargo, the loss to the owner of the wares so jettisoned shall be made up by all the owners of the wares saved, by an equable contribution-the chief sailor [ie. captain or owner] himself, too, contributing his proportion.

But into the calculation of the contribution also comes the proportion of wares thrown overboard [jettisoned]: so that the owner of them can exact so much less from the rest in proportion as he suffers in respect of the wares thrown overboard.

Wherefore, if two men should each of them own a hundred [parts] in the cargo, and Caius, the owner of the goods thrown overboard, shall own two hundred, Caius on a loss of the cargo should receive fifty from each of them: losing his other hundred by shipwreck-because he had just as large a stake in the wares lost as they together had in the wares preserved.

Hence as the share of Caius, which represented 200, was in excess of the share of each of them, which represented [respectively] 100, in the same proportion after the disaster, the share of Caius, which represents 100, will be in excess of the share of each which is represented by 50, just as both before and after the disaster, the share of Caius exceeds by a half the share of each of the others. On the other hand, if Caius should throw over wares to the value of 50, but each [of his partners] shall have kept his own, estimated as 100, Caius shall suffer a loss of 1o; but these other two shall contribute double each, namely, 20; so that just as his 50 answered to the 100 of each of his partners, in like manner his 40 may answer to the 80 a piece that each of them retains.

It has been justly said that the wisdom and equity of the rule will do honour to the memory of the state from whose code it has been derived as long as maritime commerce shall endure.

We do not intend to follow here those writers who have assumed to discover in this principle of average the origin of the contract of mutual marine ins. There was indeed the germ of the principle of mut. contribution: but only as a means of adjusting the rights of the shipowner and the merchant. As a matter of fact, the apportionment for the general contribution is--or, as Stevens has pointed out, ought to be made-without reference to any pol. being effected; and if the practice of marine ins. were discontinued to-day, the principle of average, which in this sense is average contribution, would continue until maritime commerce itself became extinct.

This custom of the Rhodians becoming, as we have seen, incorporated into the Roman Civil Law as embodied in the Pandects-and the Civil Law being adopted by nearly all the Admiralty Courts of Europe-and especially so by our own, its spirit is embodied in many of the decisions of our Courts even down to the present day.

The connecting link, so far as England is concerned, is directly obtained in the fact that William the Conqueror made, and Henry I. ratified, a law concerning goods cast overboard by mariners in a storm founded upon, or, as Molloy says, "in imitation of," the ancient Rhodian Law. [JETTISON.]