The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1881-06-08
Life Insurance Run Mad.

Just after the war life insurance
companies did big business, But
many of the insured, after paying
premiums for several years, grew
tired of it and let their policies
lapse. And in many other cases
the companies failed. For some
years past life insurance companies
s on the old plan have not done much,
in this section of the world at least
They have been in great measure
superseded by what is known as
the mutual insurance plan, which
claims the advantage Of being less
expensive and perfectly safe. In
this plan there are no large salaries
to be paid to Presidents, Secrets
ries, Agents and others. Instead
of being insured BY companies, the
members of the new mutual insur-
ance Organizations insure each 9th
er. Instead of paying annual pre-
niums, the members, upon the
{ death of one of their number, pay
in only sufficient to make up the
amount of the insurance on the de-
ceased. There is no investment
OF capital; so while there is no
chance to make anything on the
money by way Of interest, or by
speculation, there is the advantage
that there is no danger of it's being
lost by bad investments, BY rnwise
specu!ations, Or By defalcations.
The plan is extremely simple, and
may be thus Illustrated: 4 number
OF men, say one hundred, agree
that when one of their number shall
die the others shall pay to his
widow, or children, Or to whomso-
ever else he may designate, a GER
tain sum, say $4,000. There are
in addition some other slight pay
ments in the way Of dues, which
go to provide for the current e1.
penses.
These mutual life insurance So
cieties have become quite popular,
AMI have spread very rapidly with
in the past four or five years.
They are are all based on the same
principle.
Now, without any reflection on
any of these societies, or their mem
bers, We propose few general
thoughts on thesubject. We think
it will not be denied that the chief,
underlying principle Of all life in.
surance is, the expectation Of get
ting something for nothing. It is
simply speculation-and a specu-
lation on the most uncertain Of all
things; human life. There seems
10 be in the huulan mind generally
love for speculation. We see it
exemplifed in lotteries, in rataes,
and in every species Of games Of
chance. It is the foundation Of
gambiing-whatever that is: we
do not undertake to say sometimes
it is one thing, sometimes another
so styled, at least. For instance:
A party gives an obligation to
receive. or to deliver, a hundred
bales of cotton at some fixed future
time at fixed price, not knowing,
and it being impossible for him to
know, or to conjecture with any
reasonable certainty, whether the
price of cotton will be higher OF
lower st the fixed time than the
price agreed upon. Further, the
delicery of the cotton is a mere
myth: one party simply forks
over" to the other the money that
represents the difference in value
between the agreed price and the
actual price at the date fixed for
delivery. Each party takes the
chances of making or losing this
difference. This is called buying
and selling futures.
Twenty persons pay FIVE dollars
each for the chance of throwing the
highest die and thereby getting
hundred dollar watch. Each takes
the chance of losing i've dollars or
of making ninety.tive. THIS is
called "rafHirg."
Take the example already stated
in regard to mutual insurance
Each member takes the chance OF
getting, or Of his family's getting,
$4,000 for less, or for more, than
he has paid for it. He may die
within a year in that case his lam.
ily gets $4,000 for which only $40
has been paid-they get 1850 for
nothing. This is fortunate"
On the other hand,
I,a may not die for TWENTY-FIVE