Litchfield enquirer., 1878-04-11
Governor Eubbard's Veto.

On our outside pages will be found three ve- to messages sent in by Governor Hubbard to the legislature on it's reassembling, fortnight since. They are excellent specimens of the Governors style of dealing with the business of legislation, and will commend themselves to every reasonable man of every party.
 It wculdrequire along searchin the archives of Connecticut to find another 30 caustic and so con- elusive state document asthe vetoef ''The Mu- tual Benefit Life.". How such a bill ever got through a pretty careful legislature is great mystery.
 The most important and the most instructive of these messages is the veto of the act amend ing the charter of the Etna Life Insurance Co. The enormous profits of the stockholders of these ''mixed" (part stock and part mutuaD companies here disclosed -seUenty.f0e per cent. per annum on the capital stock actually paid in, and an enormous surplus of six hum dred per cent accumulated besides! By this act (since passed over the governors veto) this surplus becomes stock, adding an amount of ''water" to the small original pool of stock that makes the dilutions of the stocks of tEe Hartford and New Haven, the Danbury and Norwalk, and of the Naugatuck railroad con- panies seem inconsiderable indeed.
 In these ''mixed" insurance companies, it must be observed, it is the stock which con trols the company, and which, it is needless te add, takes the lion share of it's profits. It was their controlling interest in the $200, 900 of the stock of the Charter Oak company which enabled Furber and his predecessors in office to squander the millions brought in by the policy -holdefs on it's mutual side. Cover nor Hubbard denounces this ''mixed" system as 'scandslously unjust," and "vicious clear down to the roots.'' He further says:
 The evils are in the system itself, and bred of it. So long as the stock and mutual inter- ests are suffered to co-exist in the same corpo- rations, and exclusive membership and man. agement is given to the one, SO long that one will continue to eat into the other and grow fat on it.
 The Governor concludes with recommend ation that the ''mixed" system of insurance should be abolished by law, and we believe his dislike is shared by those most familiar with it's workings, always excepting those who profit byit.
 The Governors objections to the Congress sional system of,estimating expenses and fol- lowing up these estimates by specific appropri- tions are very clearly and forcibly stated, yet we are not quite convinced. In these days when every Congress wearsits straight jacket" and every dog it's muzzle, why should legisla- lures go free ?
 AS the active portion of Mr. Hubbard's career as governor has probably closed, we feel it our duty to express our great satisfac- tion with it. Whatever his politics, he has been an excellent governor of Connecticut keen for reform and fearless in denunciation of wrongs and abuses, even those which are most popular. If the Democrats of Connect cut control the legislature of 1878, we hope they will send Richard D. Hubbard to the United States Senate, and we should much prefer such a choice to that of many republi- cans we could mentfon-men by no means unlikely to win the prize in case their party succeeds in this state, next November