Since the loss occasioned by the reassurance varies with the mode of operation, it becomes interesting to inquire in which way the loss may be made the least possible. B is in the situation of a merchant who possesses a commodity not quite in a marketable state, and who seeks to bring it into a condition for sale at the least expense. A little reflection will show that the longer the borrowing is deferred, the less loss will B sustain, on account of the difference at interest; hence we must seek to diminish as much as possible the early payments, and to throw the weight of the premiums to a distant time—a scale of ascending premiums is thus the more advantageous for B.