The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-12-23

During 1879 the same company re.
ports 8,6l6 of its policies as terminal
ed; tho company is thirty-seven years
old, and yet only 1856 of these poll
clos werc terminated by deathl Dur
Ing tho year 1873 the plumber of poll
cies terminated in the New York bust
ness was 1929. Of these only H..
347 terminated by death aud cxpiry;
while 1886 were terminated by lapse
and surrender, representing the failure
Of $l5l 100000 ofinsurancc. The pre-.
miums paid upon these policies, and
tho profits nccruing thereon, remain
,, for the most part rs profits to tho COM
ranics. From these statements, it Is
easy to understand what vast sums OF
money have gonc into tho companies
eoffcrs, with no benefit whatever to
those who have paid it.
1t is Of course Interesting to inquire
where all this money has gonc-it be-
ing worry plain that little of it has ever
reached the pockets Of the policy-hold-
crs. The tracts issued by the compa-
mics promise tho payment Of large
sums to the insured. There is indeed
moro spent for printing these little
books than is paid to policy-holdcrs-.
one concern alone paving, in 1876, the
snug little sum Of $4,000 for "print-
ing and stationery" But let lis look
at some Of the figures. The New York
companies reported $SO,000,O0O i'll
come for 1873 and $72, 100000 cxpen-
diturc. a considerable part Of this
sum was doubtless paid to widows
and orphans; how much tho report
docs not make clear. 1t is estimated
that of 800, ,ooO, 900 paid annually
premiums to all American co npanics
about onc-fourth is annually returned
to the bencficiarics. In the New York
business Of 1878, rs reported by the
companies themselves, 50, 900, 900 were
paid to agents; $3,oo0,000 moro went
for salaries, medical fees, "and other
charges of employees" and lump
sum Of $5,0o0,0oO is reported, without
any explanation, under tho heading,
"All Other Expenditures" This
makes $11, 900, 900 per annum for rum
ming the business in New York State.
Several different channels of cxpcn-
diture combine to absorb these i'm
mcnsc sums. First, VIC have tho fees
of agents, technically termed the "cost
of getting the business" During the
years 1876, 1877 and 1879 a single New
York company paid to agents nearly
two millions Of dollars. In five years,
1867-71, the authorized companies of
New York State paid to agents forty
millions of dollars-whilc only scvcn-
ty-tivc millions were paid for losses in
the same period.
~ second item Of expense is the "cost
of conducting the busincss'-madc up
Of salaries and bonuses. In 1879 ten
New York companies paid for salaries
and "othcr compensation" to employees
in their homo Offices only, $05S, 900;
this docs not include medical fees.
And single president admitted, at
the State examination of 1877, that he
had -rncaiuna. ~ah2G- -A05 30 from tho
funds OF his company during eighteen
years, i'll salaries and "cXtra comDcn-
sation."
a third item in this "cxpcnsc &C
count" may be appropriately termed
Miscellaneous Extravaganza. Under
the convenient head of "All other cx-
penditurcs," the New York compa-
nics, in 1877, reported an item of So
800, ,O00-lcaving tho public to guess
how they spent the money. Some Of
it went for tho erection Of buildings,
but good deal went in ways decided
ly less legitimate. For example, a
vicc-prcsidcnt of leading New York
company testified in 1877 that The cost
of "lunchcons" given to III officers
and clerks in the New York office
was about $4,000 per year; and lie
"could not say" that the cost of lunch
cons and wine dinners (thc wine dim
ners were stopped in 1870 did not cx-
cccd $4,000 pcrycar.
Another source Of loss is in bad in
vestmcnts and spcculalions. These of
course arc too varied t. be enumerated.
1t is enough to know that they have
swallowed npimmcnsc sums of money
and collapsed large numbers of oom-
panics.
Such arc some Of the features of life
insurance, as conducted in the United
States for the past fifteen; years. Ills
no wonder that the thing itself has be-
come unpopular, and that people arc
looking about for some systems at once
cheaper and moro trustworthy. These
arc beginning to be found in the
different associations now operating,
The single danger to these is that in
The desirc.to "sprcad out" they may
split on the same rock that has ruined
so many companies and so many inno-
| cent people.
TIE COMPTROLLER RESyCNs.