Ld., was inaugurated on Monday by 'a reception held in the offices of the company on the ground floor of the Masonic Hall. The Board of Directors is composed almost entirely of men who took & prominent part in the Revolution, and one of their objects is to initiate the accumulation of capital, in order to further the general advancement of the financial system of the country. The whole of the capital will be native, the amount of it being Tls. 1,000,000 nominal and $250,000 gold. Among those present at the reception were Mr. Chu Pao-san, General Wang Tieang, newly appointed Governor of Kuangsi, Gen. Hsu Ko-ching, Wang Chai-chun, ex-viceroy of Szechuan, Mr. Wang Chun-fu, director of the Tungninghui Society, Mr. Kao Di-san, Mr. A. J, Hughes, and Mr. F. Defries, all of whom are directors of the company, Dr. Wu Ting-fang, Yao Vu-bing, Major General of Cantonese troops, Mr. Chen Kuang-fu, manager of the Kiangsu Bank, and Sung Han-sang, manager of the Chinese Government bank.
Dr. Wu Ting-fang said he believed that this was the first Chinese company of the kind started im China, although there were similar institutions in Shanghai under foreign eu-
Those companies were paying very well and there was no reason why the Chinese company should not do as well. One company now had magnificent buildings snd, being started in a emall way fourteen years ago, it now had assets amounting to seven millions of dollars. If the China United were properly founded and carried on, there was no reagan why it should not be an equal success. The company he had referred to depended a good deal on the patronage of the Chinese people, and friendly rivalry would be good for them both. Life insurance was a new thing in China, a recent growth. It was something which the Chinese could not understand a few years ago. The idea had spread, and with such a large population to draw upon, the China United would be a pioneer company and one with a great future before it. (Applause)., Good management and properly audited accounts would ensure success.
Mr. A.J. Hughes, Manager of the Company, in the course of a brief address said that they hoped to do valuable work for China in giving a technical training to some clever Chinese gentlemen who would in time become members of the actuarial profession. A good deal of educational work had already been done by the Equitable Life, the Standard Life, the China Mutual, and other foreign companies, but very little was yet known in China as to the importance of large capitalistic companies in the economic welfare of a nation. The promoters had been inspired by the immense power to be derived from big accumulations of capital, aa in foreign countries. With regard to the name of the company, the old Wah An—a part of the name of which they were using—was still in existence and would be continued as an entirely separate concern as long as any of its policies were in force, though no new business would be written. The company had been placed under their management.
Speeches were also made by General Hsu Ko-ching snd Mr. Wong Chai-chun.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.