"It is painful to reflect how much sickness must be caused by the small, close, and ill-ventilated houses or rooms in which many of these officers reside; an amount of sickness much beyond anything that can depend on the regulations of the department itself."[166] A hope was expressed that, as the department had stated its readiness, in case of suitable abodes being provided, to give a guarantee against loss from arrears of rent, provision would be made by commercial enterprise;[167] but this hope still remains unfulfilled; and it must be admitted that no small part of the difficulty rests with the men themselves. _Insurance._ Another measure for the benefit of the staff, and more especially its humbler members, that is to say most of its number, consisted in arrangements for facilitating life insurance, and for placing the security of such investment beyond all doubt; an improvement of considerable advantage to the public, as it tends to retain in its service a number of careful provident men. At an earlier period, a mutual insurance society had been formed in the London office, but owing to errors in the scale of premiums and payments, this society had fallen into difficulties, such as to show that it would, at no distant period, be unable to meet its liabilities. Attempts had been made from time to time to obtain assistance from the Treasury; thus, in the year 1849, at Mr. Tilley's request, I spoke urgently on the subject to Mr. Hayter; a recent application having been refused. Amidst the labour and anxiety that weighed upon me during the period of the Sunday Observance agitation, I had no spare attention for the furtherance of this useful measure, nor was it until the beginning of the year 1851 that I was able to take the next step. Then, however, I spoke to Sir George Cornewall Lewis on the subject. I proposed that Government should give up to the fund the proceeds of the unclaimed money orders, which I estimated at about, £1,100 a year, and I explained to him a plan which I had in view for extending the utility of the association, by including not only life insurance, but also guarantees for the conduct of the insured. He agreed in the opinion that the association should be helped in its present difficulties, but, objecting to anything in the shape of charity, was not inclined to go further; and in this position matters remained for the time. On my brother's appointment, however, later in the same year, I directed his attention to the matter, and, in a short time, he produced a plan which, satisfying the Treasury, procured for the society its required assistance.