Report on alcohol and longevity / by E. MacDowel Cosgrave.

  • Ephraim MacDowel Cosgrave
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on alcohol and longevity / by E. MacDowel Cosgrave. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Table, and 3J per cent, rate of interest.” I take the following from Mr. Manly’s Report:— “ The Board has requested me to apportion the share belonging to the policy-holders between the 4 General ’ and4 Temperance ’ section, according to their separate contributions to it. “ In order to arrive at a fair division on the present occasion, I have compared the actual claims in each section during the past five years with the claims that might have been expected according to the Institute of Actuaries’ H.M. Table. The result is as follows, and will, no doubt, prove interesting:— 44 Mortality Experience, 1884-88.—General Section—Expected, 466 ; actual, 368 ; percentage, 79. Temperance Section—Ex¬ pected, 195 ; actual, 110 ; percentage, 56. “Adding in 1889, the experience for the six years was :— “ General Section—Expected, 569 ; actual, 434 ; percentage, 76. Temperance Section—Expected, 249 ; actual, 143; percentage, 57. “ Out of the 3,338 policies issued during 1886-89, 1,928 were on the lives of total abstainers, or nearly 58 per cent. “ The actual deaths are very low in both sections. The Com¬ pany explain it thus :— “4 This highly favourable result is traceable to the fact that, through the special connections of the Association, by far the largest portion of the business is obtained from persons who are members of some Christian Church, and, if not total abstainers, are very abstemious and regular in their habits.’” The result of Mr. Manly’s investigation aroused general interest. One quotation may be made :— 44 Once again, the 4 Temperance Section ’ wins. And it certainly does appear singular that, in regard to the single factor of the use or non-use of intoxicating liquor, so marked a difference should arise, and especially in an association where the great bulk of the assured belong to the religious class, and among whom, therefore, it may be presumed, if intoxicants are used at all, their use will be strictly within the limits of moderation.” a By the kindness of Mr. Bingham, I am able to give some figures which throw light upon Dr. Isambard Owens’ figures. Mr. Bingham has given me the age at which insurers died during the five years covered by Mr. Manley’s valuation, dividing them into the two sections. By these figures I find that the average age at death in the general section was 51*3, and in the temperance a The Commercial World, March 15th, 1889.
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