, 1881-02-23

4 Critical Examination Of tho BILL IRe.
ccntty Presented by tic Hpcclnt Com"
IntsBlon-Ila a)eicets I'm llcnrlns upon

MtisBlon-I&a Detcets I'm HcArll:s upon
L,f .Tn.urnncs.
Special Correspondence o} Tae Chicago Tribune.
1Sn1ASArolts, 1ud., Feb. .l.-'rl.e Conf
mtsstoncrs appointed by tic State of Indiana
to drnft general Insurance bill have nude
what Is, OIL tho whole, Il valuable re.,ort. It
Is to be noticed. however, that some of their
most enlightened suggestions aro matto only
to be a6aldunea BY theM lii defcrunco to
what they reyerently consider to be the supe-
rior wisdom Of the Legislature. Far exnlt-
pic, they make n strong argument fl fayorof
nbollstlng tho prescnt tux OF, llfe-lnsnranco
premiums, which Is really a tax OH family
affection and selt.des1al, tax mot imposed
lit any foreign country, Ill matter how heavy
the burden ut taxnti0n may otherwise be, nor
by the foremost States In this country, such
rs New York ami Illinois. They wind up
tho argument by proposing, without roa-
son assigned, 10 leayo tho Tux unchanged.
Ii, several respects, tllu Commissioners seem
to have lacked pluck to carry ont their COLI
yictinns.
Among the new features proposed arc Sec
tlous Intended to modify life-liisurance lh'il-
cles IN regard 10 forfeiture, Suicide mud co1l-
Instability for h,lsstntunents. 1t Is seriously
to bu doubted whether such matters Should
mt be loft To the natural operntlGn Of colnpe-
.titlon botwGcn tho companies. Tho Commits
ternai governments tint these sections look
very. ,n'lcl, out Of plnce.
Of course, II thle form Of policy employed
by my conpally is 50 moi1strous tl,at no ctt
ixu.i Of lutllat!n ought to hu allowed to ir-
surg With 1t, the Stnte has tho power to pro-
l.iblt Hlcll comlNny from doing business
within its bortterJ Presented ln tlls blunt
exercising such paternal prohibition, IN tic
cflse t,f my existing amt reputable cun,pany
fllc Commissioners ito mt put the question
In tint way. Tlluy tto NOT suy that any eosl.-
pany which seeks, to DO business In Indiana
must inscrt such alld such clallses In Its
policies. If they did they |liiow tint few, ii
nny, companies would y!ctd to tho dtctot!nn.
a mutual eu!lnany il Now Ynrk could moi,
incnlbers III Ind,na more favorable contracts
tlun 10 Its members residing elsewhere. 1t
would !iaye to choose between cllunglng its
general puns ct business alnl withdrawing
from !no!aGa. lit, c!lsnged Its policy form
TO suit 1ntlfana this yenr, 1t would have to
clinnge Rgufn ncXt year to suit Arkansas,
| nild 50 OIL. III short, such requirements
would tend to drive the best companies from
III avoiding, this. n,anlfestly unpopular
measure, the Commissioners nlMko a serious
bInndur III another why. Thoir Bill! purports
to override ,poltc!cs !!Ssaed nr to be Issued,
wlthstsnt!ing." AZ applied to existing con-
tracts, this Is unconstitutional ns applied to
neW contraGts, 1t can only aftect tEl3se OF LII
d!ana. u 80 happens that tho policies Of 4 Nrw
York life"Ensarance GotltMny nro New York
contracts. gyen though Issued u residents OF
Indiana. The SECTIONS lit qltestlon will there
fore, 1t enacted. op futile and intellectual, OK
cept rs applying to Indiana colnpantEs.
\ tlre-tiisnr,.ilce pnlicy Issued to 4 resident
Of lh'llana by! locnl ngcnt Of q Now York
co,lpAny Is atl Indiana cultruct, BECAUSE Tho
agent has power to mako It. ,l.ifr.istsnrance
| agents ltlyu no slclI power, tho cnntract be-
| Ing nifde nt the ctnpany's l0nse office. This
IL n legal principle which has been decided
aGalm md ag!in. Will 0ne or two excep-
cunpanies uf other States. For few years
ending In 1877. Il law wils In furce In Massa-
cl,usetts applying the H}-callctl "nnn.forfclt-
Hre INV" to companies Of other States. It
wns ut first doubtful whether thIs was or was
policies Issued durlng tlose years. rio
cnscs IT Desnlazes and Slntt!tct wero do.
clhed Ii, 1875 by Justice Clifford; tlosa OF
WhEtcomt md Aines III 1870 by judge Low
ell; nnd that Of Slltll In 1881 by Judge Mel
soli,--al! IN tho United States Circuit Court,
that The locus con,ractt Of a l!fe-ln:ur-
ance pulley Is ut tto company'a office,
and that the law did not apply. To
quite tho wards Ut Judge Nelsnn ~ his
dectston IN the case lust lnentlonet: "rily
policies were to be governed by the law 0f
corporated mud whoru the contracts were ia
be performed. md the net Of 1919 did mt
l.nye tho eifcct tu oxtHnll to such pnllcles the
NOn-FOrEelturo net ut 1e}l." Considered
eoolly, Nlll IN commo1,-sense light, these
legal decisions aro .oninpntly proper. II
absurd for thu rights Of the several members
Ut a mutual company to vary according to
tho heterogeneous %lilms Of thirty Or forty
lUcal Legislatures.