Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-03-18


General Gaines to the President of the
New York Life Insurance Company,
which explains itself.
GAINES LANDING, CHIcoT COUNTY, ARK,
February, 1870. J
Morris Franklin, ESQ.,, President of the New
York Life Insurance Company, in the city
of New York:
SIR--lt is not without degree of DIFF
/ fdence that presume to address such a
magnate as yourself boasting, as you do
in flaming capitals, that you are the head
officer of corporation with $ll,O00,O 900
surplus capital Ny excuse is, that |
claim to be member of that corpora
ton, and to have very small interest
in that large surplus. 1 think / have
been badly treated by you (for consider
you responsible for the action of the cor
poration), and feel fully justified in
stating the facts to the public, that they
may judge how far You are entitled to
patronage, especially in this section of
the, Union. Lord Coke, or somebody,
has said that "a corporation has no soul y
| hope you are personally better off; but
my observation, in a tolerably long life,
has led me to the conclusion that the
heads of corporations become, III time,
almost as soulless as the corporations
they manage.
proceed first to give statement of
the facts, after which l shall offer some
conclusions from these facts, which may
or may not be correct in point of law;
and it is a matter Of no importance, to
me personally, whether they are or not,
as it is certain | can never derive any
benefit from the concern
In l847 when your company was
known by the name of the Nautilus, /
resided in the city of Natchez, and took
oHt policy on my life for $4,000, the an
nual premium on which was $2ll so, of
which sixty per cent. was to be paid in
cash and forty per cent by note. The
agency at Natchez was removed to New
Orleans, and it will not be denied that
complied, on my part, with the terms of
the policy until March 1862, when the ex-
istence of war made it morally, physi-
cally and legally impossible to do it.
As soon as possible after the war ended,
| applied to your agent in New Orleans,
who referred me to you, stating, in sub
stance, that you had acted i'll bad faith
towards him and the Southern policy hol-
ders, and authorizing me to refer you to
certain letters of yours to MIN, to estab-
lish the fact | did write to you and
you answered me, stating your willing
ness to settle the Arrears during the war,
provided | would subsc ribe and swear to
an affidavit that | had not sympathized
with the rebellion You sent me prin-
ted form of the affidavit. My pa
pers are not now before me, and |
cannot give the exact language of your
letter or the affidavit but only the sub
stance, from memory. l would not swear
to the affidavit without swearing to
falsehood, and, of course, | didn't do the
abominable thing, and let the matter
rest, intending to ask my executor to set
tie it with you after my deat tn In the
month of June last received very civil
letter from your agent in New Orleans,
inviting me to come forward and settle,
on liberal terms, the arrearages, and con-
tinue the policy, at the original premium.
did so, and when | got to the city, |
was required to submit to medical ex
animation, against which l protested,
but, not being disposed to con ceal any
thing in regard to my health, i let the
doctor examine me, and paid him fee
of s.. | believe his certificate stated
my health to be good, except the asthma,
from which have suffered since 1850 /
am informed by my agent that this was
given as the reason for refusing now to
settle the arrearages. Your agent, in
his letter, gives no particular reason, but
merely states the refusal. At the same
time, he informs me that the surrender
value, as he calls it, of my policy is $40;
but, out of the abundance of the heart Of
a corporation without soul, they offer
me the immense additional sum of $500,
making $40, which have declined. i
believe this is full statement of the
facts, which, / take for granted, will not
be denied in any material point.
Now for my conclusions, or rather the
opinions of plain man who once prac-
ticed law, but who has been out of it so
long that he has forgotten almost all he
ever knew about the science.
l. The existence of the war was suffi-
cient excuse for non-performance on my
part while the war existed. | think the
lawyers will assent to this proposition.
2. The offer, within reasonable time
after the war, to settle up the arrears,
was a full compliance on my part, and
your refusal to allow me to do it, except
upon an illegal and insulting condition,
made you responsible from that time for
the $4,000, and believe could recover it
myself in my lifetime; but, as there
might be some doubt about that, con-
cluded TO leave ittomy executor. There |
is nothing in my policy against my en-
tertaining any political opinions !
pleased (even the heresy Of secession), |
and there is nothing which prohibited my
sympathy in q cause which / considered
the cause Of constitutional liberty. There |
is certainly nothing in the policy which |
authorized you to require me to swear 70 !
a falsehood before giving me my rights
You stand. therefore, in the attitude Of
preventing my performance Of the con
tract, and make yourself responsible TO
me, just as if had performed it l.