The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-03-01

as delasive = not imnesal. OF life insurance
our contemporary repasks:
Very much Of tho tent talk about ne. &C.,.
rance, ~ the grand panacea for all possible evi-
a. the main reianee Of all men who live on
or nxed incomesis calculated to encoura ue rs,;
snce upon something besides economy and ind,s-
Try, and y lead accordingly to the relaxation md
| aecay OF those cardinal virtues of society Iife
insurance companies are rapidly multnv;ng
Hsery one OF them requires corps of officers acc.
e'..ies' agsass &c, &C., for the management
y iu Ahairs All these men are to be paid
,owe VAN large and some with small salaries
AND VINO furnishes the money to make tbeoo 80
ments? OF course those who hnv 49,. pay
The PEI sons insured, therefore. must IN
pay not only what shall turn out to no ~
risk incurred, they must pay mt on,,, 49, e',
catus OF the chance they purchase. fbecans. !, -
than this we're paid the company would ;nsy;,sh,,-
fail (but also large amounts as commissions go
ries, &C., &c, for the officers EMPLOYED and :.
very little 10 known of the management ~. ,ho,.
institutions, as they are wholly and excyu.;ve,, -
| the hands OF the officers who arc interested -
keeping them up, and as the principles upon which
| alone their honest conduct can be based are still
| less understood, the chances always are very
largely against those who employ them.
We have yet to learn that any intelligent
friend OF life assurance recommends ii Gas the
grand panacea for all possible evi.' No man
acquainted with the meaning of words would
so describe it. But that it is calculated to avert
much evil--that it is calculated to be specially
beneficial to families who are dependant upon
the lives of individuals-and that the practice
OF 1t is calculated to foster habits of economy
and self denial, are points not to be easily
galnsald. men were certain to live so lone
as they have others dependant upon them, the
savings bank would deserve the praise which
the Times awards to it as substitute for in
surance; but inasmuch as individual life is under
all circumstances uncertain, though susceptible
OF the incest estimates in the aggregate, the
substitute is of little value.
A man may intend to save annually sum.
and to invest it; but there is no certainty that
he will survive to fulfil his intention. He NAV
die ere he has we'll commenced his task, and
his family are then wrecked on good Intentions
Families are SO wrecked yearly Does the
Times desire that families shall continue to
be thus exposed, lest by insurance they
serve to fatten fraudulent companies2 There
Is danger Of fraud, of course, in this as in all
other matters, but it is fraud that NAV be to
a large extent guarded against. The yearly
exhibit of balance sheets and reports, and the
trlennial OF septennial investigation of affairs
by competent actuaries, afford the means of
judging of the solvency of any company;
the insurers have, or ought to have, the power
OF expressing an opinion concerning it, and of
electing officers to direct the business: in re-
gard to subordinate officers, it is surely not
more difficult to obtain men of character for
this pursuit than for banks or railways. 1t is
the duty Of every man before insuring to In
vestigate these points. 1t is his duty to shun a
company whose affairs are not periodically ex
posed to scrutiny, in whose concerns he can
have no voice, and whose business is increased
tactitiously by large per centages or deIusive
bonuses.
The Times is yet more severe on health in
surance:
lf this is the case with risks upon Iife concern.
ing which probabilities can be calculated how
which no facts exist as the basis of any reliable
calculations whatever? The whole thing is guess
work Nobody can calculate or conjecture the
probabilities of sickness; nobody moreover. can
define the point at which sickness shall entitle
policy holders to receive the sums for which thew
are insured. No matter, therefore, how honest or
how benevolent the managers of such COMPANY
may be- its operations must of necessity be neither
more nor less than gambling; and that too, of the
worst and loosest kind Betting at horse-races
buying lottery Understanding money on the turn
OF dice-al of them offer quite as good chances of
profit as does the purchase of policies in any thing
claiming to be health insurance company ~
We submit that our contemporary is in error
on the most material averment of the above,
1t is toerably well known that facts do exist
as the basis of reliable calculations in regard to
sickness as well as mortality; though it is
equally notorious that they have been disre-
garded by the Health Insurance Companies in
operation in this country. The works of
ANsELL and NELSON are known to every
student of vital statistics, and they furnish the
precise data which the Times says does not
exist. Mr.. NEIsoN's Contributions to Vital
Statistics" were subjected to the severest ex-
by the ablest statists of Britain, be-
fore publication, and received their unouaT
fed endorsement. His calculations are based
upon the experience of above 4 ZOO socie
Ties in England and Scotland, comprehending
,2l7 ,685 years Of life, and representing 2,41s,
693 weeks Of sickness; and their accuracy has
been verified in a remarkable manner in the
experience of the Order of Odd Fell
lows. So far as the calculations furnished by
actuaries are concerned, then. there is no more
''guess- work" in sound system of health in
surance than-in life, fire, or marine insurance.
We repeat, however, that all the health insur-
ance companies which have been organized in
the United States set science, facts, and cacu-
lation at defiance. They make no provision
for graduated premiums, adapted to varying
ages, but charge all alike, notwithstanding
the obvious fact that the liability to sickness
increases with advancing years. Of these
companies it may justly be said that they are
otteries-if nothing worse. But their I'M
l,,o u, q