, 1880-04-15
THE DEAD PROTECTION.
a Notorious Cooperative Life-1nsur.
anoe Company and the Causes
of It's Collapse.
The Ruin ouB Achievements Of Dis
honest Managers and
Faulty System.

honest ManaEet8 and O
Faulty System.
II the Etffor NJ 1Ax Cateaao Tribune.
C1tIcA0o, Aprit 13.-I was insured In botl,
departments Of the Protection Company,-the
Irregular !" mil the 3" Commercial League"
a,ratclses,- ,-aml would l1kn To know II | am
III any way liable to be assessed for death
claims tint cah,n due before the concern
went to pieces. Iias tho Receiver any power
tOnsake inc pay toward meeting those OF nny
other claims against the Company
II ynu ltavn tho time Or disposition to MI
sts.r the atmvc question, perhaps ynli will be
willing tn oblige still further and tell me, rs
well III tl,ousanfsof nther Interested persots,
just why the Prntection smashed. 1 think l
nil mt asserting too mucl, when say that
anything YOU may i,nye to present concern
Ing that Company, a,li similar organizations,
will be read with ns m,,cl, Interest as any
subject that could possibly be discussed in
your yaluabl0 PAPER. b. +. II.
ASsHElt-Tllis correspondent may rest his
Botll from nll fear Ut assessments, present or
future. Judge B1ndgctt, of the United States
Court, Inns quite recently decided IN this city,
oil n test case, that no pnticy-l1nIder it, the
I'rotection could by my legal possibility bc
held linb1u for claims against the concern.
lie touk occnsiun, also, I'll the course Of Ills
decision, tn show tho utter folly of the plan
upon wlilch the concern WIS organized, nnd
stated that lta pol[cy-lolders, had they used
ordinary judgment, "1nigist eastly have fore
seen the contingency which arose-viz !: the
collapse df the organization. lie pro-
nounccd 1t to tiayo been from the beginning
ian experiment" outside the wcIl.beate1l
ai'a SAFE paths OF iee1iihlate Hfe-insnrance,
md gave ITO comfort To tlie holliers of claims
against the Coulpuny other than might be
gathered from their having a chanre
Int the latter are either bankrupt
OF fugftives from Justice, or both, and all
hopes Of obtnlnlng anything frotl, them might
NJ well bu !at' in tlg grave Alongside IT their
Company.
The correspondents second and mnin In
Quiry Is fruitful In its suggestions. lie wishes
nily diseased constitution or Of vilialnonsiy
dishonest management The fnets tre that
1t suffered from botl, 10 mn extraordinary d.
gree, anti TINT 1t even lived so long US It did
VI as stfk,nE s,1 W. Proo6 that tpet n fSgusry
er could infuse prolonged yitaiity into m Or
gantzatiOu bnsci neither ,5por1 Gootl business
experience nor ordinary common sense.
=. Thc Protection was d "coUpcratiye" llfc-
insurance company from the outset, a scheme
then comparatively new to this Western
country, hut of proved fnllncy in the Enyt for
some time before, and shown to be worthless
fl repeated trials In England for more than
half century.
Tho ''pian was that every person taking n
potfey IN It should agree, whichever Nt1y MEM
Scr iiIei, to pay a ccr.aili % assessiaent, tic
money thus collected 10 he given 10 the
widow, children, OF other beneficiary OF tlie
n FTh}p In ri, ufo,s ns *t,o
"plnn,' as it Is Of nil tl,e various coiJpcr-
attyc companies which have sprung up snoe,
except That the Protection schema included
sv ss,I Il ~ sa'poss saites"ss at % II few L
existence even claim to POSSESS For III
stance, the Protection stockholders anI ofii-
GERS pledged themselves to pay 4 certuin tleti-
nit sim, such rs $4,000 or s5O00, on thotlcntl,
of member, 10 f,Is benp1ciary: whereas the
c00perntlvcs Of to-day only akreo to pay
whatever may tc thrown In wl,el, tho kat
goes around nfter the lccense Of my mem
Der. The Projection also caimcl to lnye d.
statutes with the Stats Auditor ~ security
for the PROMPT ilcrtInc Of tiieIr death cinit,,s:
bMtthe cooperative concerns now In existence
nll ,ovcr tic West, do not even profess to
"rs A s gs nstatjys" 'et and sae onI{ tG
therefore to tm njtnwtll Ia In n 1ift-tIs,irnnrn
business without being hn,nperctl hy ItiWa Of
i.ily sort. Tho Protection. tao, rpo,1ireri 4
holders towarti Creating reserve flntt' s,tch
rs rcal life-lns,Irn,lcc Companies accrnlujate.
and It also chargetl cacll u,Iicy-hoi,ler tel,
cents for pycrv nsscssl,lcnt il collected fronl
l,iN whrl, i, tlc,.tl, occurred, ills charge
hcing neccssitatcti In ortlrr to have money 10
pnv its officcrn' salaries md other rnntiinp
eXnenses. e ''''>' -"'''''''e
III fnct. It was bonestIy intended. when
tho COMPANY was stnrtei. To introtl,ra avery
nussibio snfeR1,nrti whfci, might nrevent
this ORGANIZATION, fran. goIns to ruin as
nil e1i,iMratiyrs Ind dnna ln.fnre fm t,is
cnl,ntrr antI Enrn,se @ c Va com,,omv fnr,n"i 1i
on the co1pcrntiye ninn. lie pia,. of trusting
10 the Willingness Of % sufyiyfnE III members Is L,
soetats.. nyer hefaro Ind as @ ,nnMv nr'.raMttM,s
taken tr insttrn 1,rr,nanemca ' t,f 'orrnnizatir,,
~ wrrt, tnitei, y liz fnt,',.icrs nj liz srotec.
tjn,, f,nt % tf,o sysien, VIVA faiiacinuIs. AMI
although very lnrsu ,,,lmbcr Of 1mlicIcs
Me1p NJ Ssea y @ 0tiy t. 1eW yenss D., ngtgFe re-
c"ilans,s was 1u"rely " Ina,tsr nf tine 1T It Ind
6h 6eer, honcstiy co1itluci.,i' ani iiliGyed Tia
cn,,ti,3..tn" r. thn r,i3c % t..rv ~ ttarsv tV
extnrt. h,,t ~ ~ 1sTa i"ss - i,,nn t,rn" vnnrs