156 BRITISH LIFE ASSURANCE, 1914-1918 
the interests of a large number of persons, and the character 
of that population is continually changing. It consists, in 
the rather fine expression of the late Dr. Farr when defining 
a Life Table, of ‘generations passing through time’. The 
members, therefore, who exist at the date of a given valuation 
and distribution have a special claim to enjoy its fullest benefit. 
Profit which they have contributed to earn they have a right 
to receive. Profit hidden away or laid up for future use they 
may never have. Some of them certainly will not, for by the 
time another distribution arrives they will have died." These 
considerations seem to point to something like a just and 
equitable mean ’ in this matter ; especially when the case is of 
those who have already suffered the passing of a bonus. Safety 
for the future, amply secured, must of course be the first essential; 
and subject thereto the Companies may be trusted to give policy- 
holders full consideration, in the interests of their business. 
The following statement is an attempt to show the collective 
effect of the war on profits distributed to policy-holders. The 
periods compared are two, each of six years’ duration, from 
1909 to 1914 inclusive, and from 1915 to 1920 inclusive. The 
inquiry, in this as in other branches of the subject, is inten- 
tionally prolonged to the year 1920, as the effect of the war 
on Life assurance finance undoubtedly lasted throughout that 
year. The figures must be regarded as approximate only, as 
the varying dates of quinquennial valuation have the effect of 
representing profits as divided which may not all have been 
earned within a limit which must be more or less arbitrarily 
selected. Further, the differing methods of distribution make 
the fixing of exact figures impracticable. For the purpose of 
a rough comparison and estimate, however, the work of prepar- 
ing such a statement seemed worth undertaking. It must 
be regarded strictly in the light of the above reservations. 
In the first period (1909-14) the amounts ascertained 
actuarially to consist of divisible surplus by the Companies 
established in the United Kingdom, and making returns to 
1 It is right to mention, however, that this particular case is now largely met 
by the widely increasing practice of allowing Interim Bonuses > on policies ceasing 
to exist, by death or maturity, between two valuations.