I venture to indulge in the hope that my experience of
insurance in merchants' and shipowners' business may have
enabled me to appreciate those wants of the Assured which
underwriters are sometimes thought unduly to neglect.
I desire to acknowledge with thanks the permission
given to me by Mr. Reginald G. Marsden and his pub-
lishers, Messrs. W. Clowes and Sons, Limited, to reproduce
some of the documents given in the Appendix; the
suggestions made by Mr. T. A. Bellew, Secretary of the
Liverpool Underwriters' Association; and the constant
assistance of my friend and deputy, Mr. Cyril A. Prescott,
who has given me much help in correcting the text and
checking the case-references, and has drawn up the Index
of Cases. To the unfailing kindness and invaluable advice
of another friend I owe if possible even more, but without
his permission I cannot take the liberty of placing his
name on this page and of so conferring on it a distinction
not mine to bestow.
Corrected to 16th May 1896.--W. G.