Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

518 HISTORY OF THE BANKof a pension scheme doubtless tends to increase efficiency byremoving cause for worry and thus adding to contentment.Very early in the history of The Canadian Bank ofCommerce the establishment of a pension scheme was mootedamong those members of its staff most deeply interestedin the success of the bank. The desirability of establishingsuch a fund was brought to the attention of the generalmanager as early as 1885 by one of the senior managers, thelate Mr. William Smith. In describing the establishment ofthe Officers' Guarantee Fund, reference has been made to thehope then latent in the breasts of those who advocated thatstep, that it would some day pave the way for the larger andmore important scheme. Many years were to elapse beforethe way seemed clear, but in November, 1891, the Board ofDirectors approved the proposal that the management of thebank should enter into correspondence with Mr. ArchibaldHewat, F.F.A., F.S.S., F.I.A., actuary of the Edinburgh LifeAssurance Company, Edinburgh, Scotland, with a view toevolving some plan for the establishment of a pension fund.Mr. Hewat had been recommended for this purpose by theauthorities of the Bank of Scotland, the British correspondentof The Canadian Bank of Commerce.No time was lost in commencing the correspondence, butthe task of devising a feasible and reasonably satisfactoryscheme proved more difficult than anticipated, and it was notuntil May, 1894, or three and a half years later, that the fundwas established. The reason for the delay will be familiar toall who have studied the subject. The available funds arealways limited in amount, while the benefits which it isdesired to confer, even when reduced to what is seemingly thelowest possible limit, are found to require much larger sumsthan can readily be made available. The uninitiated layman isapt to conclude that the actuary is ultra-conservative, and tobe willing to proceed on a basis which the latter considersunsound, satisfied that the experience of the particular fund inwhich he is interested will prove conclusively that the actuary