An essay on the means of insurance against the casualties of sickness, decrepitude, and mortality: comprising an article reprinted from the Westminster Review (No. XVIII) for April 1828, with additional notes and corrections / [Anon].

  • Chadwick, Edwin, 1800-1890
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the means of insurance against the casualties of sickness, decrepitude, and mortality: comprising an article reprinted from the Westminster Review (No. XVIII) for April 1828, with additional notes and corrections / [Anon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/68 (page 8)
    into practice. A minority of witnesses, wlio, as actuaries, prac¬ tically conversant with the tables of mortality, came under the denomination of practical men,” being of opinion that there was no foundation for the theory, their evidence held the Com- mitte in dubio during the first year of its sitting. Before we give any specimens of the opinions received from these witnesses, and treated as evidence by the Committee, we shall offer a few general observations on the value of the opinions of average “ practical men,” on all questions of change or improvement. The common reliance on the testimonv of this class of wit- nesses is founded upon an assumption, that those who have been long engaged in a particular pursuit must necessarily have ob¬ tained, or at least are most likely to possess, the whole of the existing knowledge relative to that pursuit, and must, therefore, be the most competent to form a correct estimate of it, in all its bearings. This assumption of completeness of information, as predicated of the whole class of practical men, is untenable. By nothing are they so much distinguished, as by their indifference to the progress and result of any investigations which may be carried on relative to that pursuit, and to the utility of any new facts that may be elicited with respect to it. Thus the chief prac¬ tical man examined as a witness before the Committee was asked, ‘ Do you know of any actual observation or collection of facts subsequent to the final adoption of the Northampton tables by Dr. Price, whereby those tables have been confirmed?—To w'hich he answered, “ I know of none since the year 1791, that was the time in which he died. He proved the tables made at Holy Cross, and at Chester, and at Warrington, and compared them with those of Breslaw. Chester is the best town for making observations, for it is a town where the inhabitants, at the time Dr. Price formed his tables, neither decreased nor increased much.’ He was then examined in the following manner :— ^ Are you acquainted with the table published by Mr. Francis Baily, shewing the number of persons living at the several ages according to the observations at London, Stockholm, Chester, and other places ?-—No ; I know nothing of the table.’ ‘ Are you acquainted with a table published by Corbaux of the same nature?—I never heard of him : there was a Swedish table published by Mr. Baily, but that, 1 believe,” is nearly the same with that given by Dr. Price for males and females.’ Ask, in like manner, the practical agi’iculturist, the practical merchant, or the practical tradesman, about any book relating