JOURNAL OF INSURANCE.

OF FOREIGN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN VIRGINIA.

We are indebted to J. C. SHIELDS, Esq., of the Richmond Whig, for a correct copy of the following act of the Legislature of Virginia, passed March 5, 1856, and now in force :

ACT FOR REGULATING FOREIGN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN VIRGINIA.

1. That no life insurance company, unless incorporated by the Legislature of this Commonwealth, shall make any contracts of life insurance within this State, until such insurance company shall have complied with the provisions of this act. 2. Every such insurance company shall, by a written power of attorney, appoint some citizen of this Commonwealth, resident therein, its agent or attorney, who shall accept service of all lawful processes against such company in this Commonwealth, and cause an appearance to be entered in any action, in like manner as if such corporation had existed and been duly served with process within this State.

3. A copy of such power of attorney, duly certified and authenticated, shall be filed with the Auditor of public accounts of this Commonwealth, and copies thereof, duly certified by said Auditor, shall be received in evidence in all courts of this Commonwealth.

4. If any such agent or attorney shall die or resign, or be removed, it shall be the duty of such corporation to make a new appointment as aforesaid, and file a copy with the said Auditor of public accounts, as above prescribed, so that at all times, and while any liability remains outstanding on such insurance, there shall be within this State an attorney authorized as aforesaid; and no such power of attorney shall be revoked until after a like power shall have been given to some competent person, and a copy thereof filed as aforesaid.

5. Service of process upon such attorney shall be deemed to be sufficient service upon his principals.

6. If any such insurance company shall make insurance as aforesaid without complying with the requisitions of this act, the contract shall be valid, but the agent or attorney of such company acting within this State respecting the effecting of any policy of insurance, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding $1,000, nor less than $300, for such offense; and every person shall be deemed an agent of such company who shall receive or transmit proposals for insurance, or receive for delivery policies founded on proposals forwarded from this State, or otherwise to procure insurance to be effected by such insurance company for persons residing in this State, or who shall receive payment for such policies, and shall be subject to the restrictions and liable to penalties specified in this act.

7. Every person acting as agent in this State for any life insurance company not incorporated by the Legislature of this Commonwealth, shall, on the first Monday of October and May in every year during the continuance of his agency, make a return on oath to the Auditor of public accounts of the amount of premiums received and assessments collected during the said period, and shall at the same time pay into the treasury such tax as may be imposed by law on the amount of such premiums and assessments; and the whole sum received for policies, whe ther paid in money or in other obligations, shall be deemed to be premiums for the purposes of this section.

8. If any such company, through their attorney, shall neglect to make such returns and payments as are required in the preceding section, or they shall make the same fraudulently or falsely, they shall for every such offense forfeit a sum not exceeding $1,000.

9. Every such company, through their agent or attorney shall, before making or procuring to be made any contract of insurance as aforesaid, give bond to the Auditor of public accounts, with two or more securities to be approved by him, in the sum of not less than $1,000, nor more than $5,000, at the discretion of the

Auditor of public accounts, with conditions to make the semi-annual returns before required, and to pay the tax.

10. If any person shall act otherwise than as provided by the second section of this act, as agent for any such company, to make or renew, directly or indirectly, any contract of insurance within this State, and with any persons resident therein, without having complied with the requisitions of this act, or in any way contrary to the true intent and meaning thereof, he shall forfeit and pay for every such offense the sum of $500.

11. It shall be the duty of the Attorney-General and Commonwealth's attorneys of this Commonwealth to cause the provisions of this act to be enforced.

12. All penalties recovered for violations of the provisions of this act shall go -one-half to the persons giving information of such violations, and one-half to the Literary Fund.

13. The tax to be paid by the agents of foreign life insurance companies, according to the provisions of this act, shall be in lieu of the tax prescribed by law to be paid by them before the passage of this act.

14. This act shall take effect from its passage.

LAW OF KENTUCKY REGULATING AGENCIES OF FOREIGN INSURANCE COMPANIES. The following bill, passed at the last session of the Legislature of Kentucky, goes into effect on and after the 1st of July, 1856.

A BILL TO REGULATE AGENCIES OF FOREIGN INSURANCE COMPANIES.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That it shall not be lawful, after the 1st day of July, 1856, for any agent of any insurance company, not incorporated by the laws of this Commonwealth, to take risks or transact any business of insurance in this State, without first obtaining a license from the Auditor of public accounts to carry on such business.

SEC. 2. Before the Auditor shall issue such license to any agent of any company incorporated by any State of the United States, there shall be filed in his office a copy of the charter of such company, and a statement made under the oath of its President or Secretary, showing its assets and liabilities, and distinctly showing the amount of its capital stock, and how the same has been paid, and of what the assets of the company consist, the amount of losses due and unpaid, losses adjusted and not due, losses in suspense and waiting for further proof, and losses, the payment of which is resisted, and for what cause, and all other claims against the company or other indebtedness, whether due or not due. And such statement shall show that the company is possessed of an actual capital of at least one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, either in cash or in safe investments, exclusive of stock notes. Upon the filing of the statement above provided, and furnishing the Auditor with satisfactory evidence of such capital, it shall be his duty to issue license to such agent or agents as the company may direct to carry on the business of insurance in this State.

SEC. 3. Before the Auditor shall issue license to any agent of any insurance company incorporated by any foreign government, or any association or partnership acting under the laws of any foreign government, there shall be filed in his office a statement setting forth the act of incorporation or charter or the articles of association or by-laws, under which they act, and setting forth the matters required by the preceding section of this act, to be specified, and satisfactory evidence shall be furnished to the Auditor that such company has on deposit in the United States, or has invested in the stocks of some one or more of the States of the United States, or in some safe dividend-paying stocks in the United States, the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars: which statement shall be verified by the oath of the President of such company, its general agent in the United States, or the agent applying for such license; and upon due filing of such statement, and furnishing the Auditor with satisfactory evidence of such deposit or investment, it shall be his duty to issue license to the agent or agents applying for the same.

SEC. 4. The statements required by the foregoing sections shall be renewed in

each year thereafter, either in the month of January or July, and the Auditor, on being satisfied that the capital or deposit consisting of cash, securities, or investments, as approved in this act, remain secure to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, shall renew such license.

SEC. 5. Every agent obtaining such license or renewal thereof, as required by this act shall, before transacting any business of insurance in this State, file in the office of the clerk of the county court, in which he or they may desire to carry on the business of the agency, a copy of the statement required to be filed with the Auditor, and a copy of the license, which shall be carefully provided by the clerk, for public inspection, and such agent or agents shall also cause such statement or license to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in the county, for at least two successive weeks, and in case of a renewal shall, in like manner, file in the office of the clerk of the county court a copy of such renewal statement and license, and cause the same to be published within thirty days after it shall be filed with the Auditor.

SEC. 6. The statements required by the foregoing sections shall be made up to a period within six months preceding the filing of the same with the Auditor. SEC. If at any time after the filing of the statements by this act required it shall be made to appear to the Auditor that the available capital of any such company has been reduced by misfortune or otherwise, below the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, it shall be his duty to revoke the license or licenses granted to any agent or agents of such company.

SEC. 8. Any person who shall deliver any policy of insurance, or collect any promise of insurance, or transact any business of insurance in this State for any company not incorporated by the law of this State, without having obtained license as by this act required, or who shall in any way violate the provisions of this act, shall be fined for every such offense, not less than one hundred, nor more than five hundred dollars, at the discretion of a jury. Provided further, that it shall and may be lawful for any person who has sustained loss of property in this State which was insured, to sue any such insurance company in any county in this State, where its agent may be found, upon his refusal to pay for the property so insured, and which was destroyed, and every judgment so recovered shall be conclusive evidence of the indebtedness of the company. And, provided further, that nothing contained in this section shall release any such company or companies upon any policy issued or delivered by it to them.

SEC. 9. For any license issued by the Auditor under this act and for such renewal thereof, he shall be paid by the company taking out such license or renewal the sum of two dollars and fifty cents.

POSTAL DEPARTMENT.

REGISTRATION OF LETTERS BETWEEN THE U. STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. The following additional articles have been agreed upon between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Post-Office Department of the United States of America. These articles were signed by HORATIO KING and ROLAND HILL, and approved by JAMES CAMPBELL and ARGYLE, for their respective governments :—

In pursuance of the power granted to the two post-offices by article twenty-one of the convention of December 15, 1848, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America, to settle the matters of detail, which are to be arranged by mutual consent, for insuring the execution of the stipulations contained in the said convention, the undersigned, duly authorized for that purpose by their respective officers, have agreed upon the following articles :

ARTICLE 1. Letters posted in the United Kingdom addressed to the United States, or posted in the United States addressed to the United Kingdom, and intended to be forwarded between the United Kingdom and the United States by British or United States packets, may be registered on the application of the persons posting the same, but such registration shall not render the post-office departments of the United Kingdom or the United States liable for the loss of such letters or the contents thereof.

It is understood that this regulation applies equally to letters between the United Kingdom and California or Oregon, whether conveyed via New York, Boston, or Panama.

ART. 2. The conditions under which registered letters shall be received and delivered, and the forms to be observed in their transmission from the place at which they are posted to the office of exchange, or from the office of exchange to the place of their destination, shall be regulated by the rules in force in the two countries respectively.

ART. 3. The postage upon registered letters shall invariably be paid in advance, including not only the ordinary postage to the place of their destination, but also any registration fee to which letters of this class may be liable, according to the regulations of the country from which they are sent.

ART. 4. The post-office of the United Kingdom shall be at liberty to fix the amount of the registration fee to be levied upon all registered letters forwarded from the United Kingdom to the United States; and, in like manner, the postoffice of the United States shall be at liberty to fix the amount of the registration fee to be levied upon all registered letters forwarded from the United States to the United Kingdom.

These amounts may be altered from time to time by the respective post-offices, if an alteration be deemed expedient.

No charge, whether for registration or other service, shall, under any pretext whatever, be made in the United Kingdom or the United States, on the delivery of registered letters.

ART. 5. Upon every registered letter forwarded from the United Kingdom to the United States, the post-office, of the United Kingdom shall account to the post-office of the United States for one-half of the amount of the registration fee levied upon the posting of such registered letter in the United Kingdom; and, in like manner, upon every registered letter forwarded from the United States to the United Kingdom, the post-office of the United States shall account to the postoffice of the United Kingdom for one-half of the amount of the registration fee levied upon the posting of such registered letter in the United States.

ART. 6. All registered letters forwarded from the United Kingdom to the United States, or from the United States to the United Kingdom, shall be made up at the respective offices of exchange in a parcel separate from the unregistered let ters, which parcel shall be tied in the usual manner, and securely sealed by the dispatching officer.

The name of the person to whom each registered letter is addressed, the place of its destination, and the amount to be credited to the office to which the letters are forwarded shall be entered at the respective offices of exchange in a separate letter-bill, which shall be made out in the form annexed to these articles. Such letter-bill shall not be inclosed in the parcel containing the registered letters, but shall be forwarded in a separate wrapper or envelope, sealed and addressed to the postmaster of the corresponding office of exchange.

ART. 7. Upon the arrival at an office of exchange in the United Kingdom of registered letters from the United States, and upon the arrival at an office of exchange in the United States of registered letters from the United Kingdom, the postmaster of such office of exchange shall compare the letters with the letter-bill, and if they agree, he shall write at the foot of the letter-bill the word “correct," and affix his signature and official stamp.

The letter-bill thus certified must be returned by the first mail to the office of exchange from which the registered letters were received.

If any error be observed, the postmaster shall report the circumstance to the general post-office, in London or Washington, as the case may be, in order that the error may be investigated through the ordinary channel.

ART. 8. The letter-bills and acknowledgments of receipt for the mails exchanged between the two countries shall be made out according to the amended forms annexed to the present articles, in lieu of the forms (F and G) as originally adopted.

ART. 9. The present articles shall be considered as additional to those agreed upon between the two offices for carrying into execution the convention of December 15, 1848, signed at Washington the 14th of May, 1849, and shall come into operation on the 1st of May, 1856.

Done in duplicate, and signed at Washington on the 20th of March, and at London on the 9th of April, 1856.

The registration fee on letters to Great Britain is five cents, the same as on registered letters from one point to another in the United States; therefore, on a single letter to Great Britain the postage and registration fee combined will be 29 cents. Prepayment required.

LETTERS FOR CALIFORNIA AND TERRITORIES OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

The following notice is published under the head of the Post Office Department in the Union, prefaced with a note signed by the Senators and Representatives in Congress from California, and the Delegates from Oregon and Washington Territories, requesting journals throughout the United States to publish the same in their respective columns. Appended to the circular is a certificate from Hon. James Campbell, the Postmaster-General, authorizing Mr. Woods to put his plan, as set forth in the following circular, in operation; but no responsibility is assumed by the department, and all correspondence in regard to this arrangement must, the Postmaster-General says, be addressed to the "Pacific Mail List," New York. That the public may avail itself of the advantages thus offered, postmasters are requested by the Postmaster-General to give the circular a conspicuous place in their respective offices:

To Persons Mailing Letters for California and the Territories of Oregon and Washington:

Thousands of letters sent to the Pacific coast become dead letters. To remedy this evil, the Post Office Department, under the authority of Congress, has adopted, as an auxilliary to its operations, the following plan for simultaneously publishing at each and every post office in the Pacific region, in a list called the "Pacific Mail List," the names of persons to whom letters have been sent by mail to post offices in California and the Territories of Oregon and Washington. By this system a letter may be sent to any post office in the Pacific region for a person whose location is unknown save the mere fact that he is somewhere in California or the Territories of Oregon and Washington; yet, if the letter be published in the "Paciffc Mail List," its ultimate reception by the person for whom it is in'tended will be rendered highly probable. To enable those who may desire to extend to their Pacific correspondents the advantages thus offered, the following illustration is given :

Suppose it is wished to send to the Sacramento post office a letter for George Wilson, who emigrated to California from Pike County, Missouri, but it is feared that he may have changed his location, and hence may not receive the letter. In this case direct the letter to George Wilson, (late of Pike County, Missouri,) Sacramento, California. Then, in order to publish the letter in the "Pacific Mail List," copy the address of the letter upon a piece of paper or card, and inclose the card, together with a three-cent postage stamp, in an envelope, and direct the