The New York herald., 1876-12-15
LIFE INSURANCE SMASHES.
A Glance at the COntinental'S Glaringly
FaISifed Accounts.
SOME SUGGESTIVE FIGURES.
The "Seeurity" That Was lnsecurc-WhO
Shall Insure the Insurers!
INTERESTING TO POLICY HOLDERS

In tho absence Of any effort the part Of the re-
ccver OF the Continental to satisfy public inquiry the
results Of u careful examination of the published
ports OF that company gwen below for the benefit
OF our readers II should bc remembered that all cal
culatons based upon tho company's 6gures, which
many good authorities claim 10 be unreliable. Still,
upon this basis ever, enough is shown to point out
cross iasincations and msstntcmcnts.
A leading insurance journal, issued at Boston.
Mass, recently published a series OF tables purportng
to show the condition OF tho company December
81 in each year from 1890 to 1878, inclusive A COM
parison OF these tables with tho detailed annual saic
ments OF ehc onccrs OF the company, furnished under
oath to the Insurance Department OF this State,
show but few differences, and all OF them favor
of tho company. The annual statements afford the
cearest evidence OF system OF bookkeeping SO CON-
plicatcd as TO almost defy tho skill OF tho
most experienced accountant to unravel n. A
we'll known insurance actuary told the HERALD
that II useless to try to determine
the of the companys affairs, as there wcrc
at present no reliable data upon which TO proceed
Another gentleman, who is thoroughly verscd IN tho
intricacics ana wilfui complication OF accounts by
officers OF corporations, pronounccs tho bookkeeping
Of this company tho worst no has over examined In
fact this opinion Is general among insurance experts
ana thero are not icw who boldly affirm that tho
counts OF tho Continental havo been grossly falsined
from its organization fow examples VIII suffice to
demonstrate the correctness of this assertion.
Tho company began business in 1866 with capital
IL. It's income to Dec 81 Of that year was
Cash premiums. ...$oo,4W
Note epremiums........ oe, o3o
Other income. A...... 7,S20- lS3934
Total $a3a, 9a4
DISBURSEMENTS.
Expenses, cash. $780, Zos
Policy hOdcrs cash. l,UUO 04. 10Y
Baiancc .$l,9675
Totnl assets December .$27G 9os
1t will be observed that tho "outstanding premi-
ums" were estimated worth their faco in cash, worry
improbable supposton. But even this did not satisfy
the cupdity the officers for they their
q, the dato named $295,sis or sls,S50 more than
by any possibility they could be made
The annual statement OF December 81, 1874,
shows that the company then held pre-
MUM notes 70 the extent of... $2,Y4O,l43
At that date an error existed IN favor OF the
company OIL. 40
correc, balance. 81 lsa, 727
THIS amount increased In 1878 by...... 670,S73
Total. 81 $40, GOO
Deduct premium notes cancelled January,
1870. ous,oSI
Balance remaining December 81 1875 . ;. So 200, 2is
Amount claimed by tho company us on hand
on that dae. LoS7,7 100
To be accounted for. SECS. .5ia
II deficiency OF s20s, 900 possible in ono
item OF alone It is clearly impossible to form
nm opinion, even approximately correct, as TO tho
real condition Of tho company upon such data It's
officers have gwen 10 tho public.
RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS.
The following brief statement shows tho entire
ceips and disbursements from 1860, TO 1875, inon-
sivc:--
Policy holders cash, ten years. 50 050 246
Policy holdcrs' notes, ten ycars........ 3l5p, 33s
Balance December 81, 1875 5sii,oea
Total. slo67a, 100
AssErsL
Capital. ................ 500, 900
Cash premiums ten years. L. 243 S54
Note premiums, ten years. $685., 55l
other receipts. ...................... 1870, 1858
Total. $40 079 100
The balance OF assets at tho close of 1875 np-
pcarcd to be. SIS sll, ,oo2
The amount then claimed by the Company
s22e, ASS
ovcrcstima,e. ......................... $4is, 423
Add TO this the deficiency in premium notes
ut samo date. Observation-Disclosures. 2es, ,513
Also for errors in dcduc,ing Disbursements
in 1872. .......................... 10000
Total ovcrestimatc OF assets........... sese, ,oae
Against this sum tho company would proba-
bly, claim as an Offset tho ''outstapding
premiums alleged. to bo due December
81, ........................ 69e, ,222
Difference unexplained. ............... STA
Tho next table shows IN detail tho income dis
burscmcrts, yearly, from tho date OF the company's
organization 10 December 81, 1875 and tho assets
the close OF each year. Following the advice or the
actuary previously referred TO, the outstanding pre-
miuns have been excluded. ms, In his opinion their
ynlue Ia too obscure and ipabc 10 as