New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-08-24
DE1TH-BED INSURANCE.

There have been many strange manias of
speculation in the worlds hstory-the tulip
craze, the John Law schemes, the English
railroad mania, the pctrolc am craze, the Cali
fornia mining stock speculation when even the
servant girls and the little school children
bought and sold stocks and others too numer-
Gus To mention-but none, we venture To saw
SO remarkable and at the same time 80 revolt
ing rs the speculative fever known rs the Grave
yard or Death Bed Insurance business Nocom-
plete disclosure of this Infamous traffic seems
ever to have been made, but the mcagrc details
which have crept into the newspapers from time
to time are sufficient to show moral condition
in the spectators which seems hardly possible
! in IA civilized country. The mania has reached
its highest development, apparently, in the
good old State of Pennsylvania, although il
has become prominent in Maryland also, and
perhaps in other States. In the former State
things have come To such pass that the Gov
ernOr and several State officers were publicly
accused the other day of being interested in
this nelarlous business and of using their
official positions to further it. No one, of
| course, for IL moment credited the charge, but
the fact that such an accusation could be made.
and obtain any hearing at all in the news
papers, proves that the stories respecting the
extent of this speculation, while perhaps much
exaggerated, have Il substantial basis of truth.
The mode of death-bed insurance appears TO
be rs follows: A company formed for the pur
pose, or IA dccayed life insurance company.
| adopts the assessment principle of life insur-
ance. All the policy holders are assessed nj n
| certain fixed rate upon the death of any person
whose lie has been insured. For example,
whenever death occurs, every person owning
| policy OF thousand dollars usually upon the
life of some other person, is assessed n dollar
| and quarter, and larger policy holders in pro-
portion. a. is farmer who has a neghbor.
b., generally believed TO be at the point of
death. Now if A. can take out in some accom-
modating company policy of 81 900 on BIS
life and Is. dies after, say only ten deaths have
occurred in the company, A. will have paid
$l2 80 in assessments, and can collect 81 900.
getting IA very handsome return ON his invest
ment This is the whole story of death bed
neutrality-suspicious. upon the chances of
death among ones ncighbors and acquaintances.
| and among strangers well. Ii is probable
that the number of o-caled respectable pconIe
who have resortcd to this method of making
money by gambling in cOrpScS is small but the
fact that the business itself should grow To tbe
proportions it seems to have reached, even
among the brutal and ignorant, is matter for
serious reflection. The stories that are told of
the amounts for which lives are insured, and of
the suspicious attaching to the deaths of some
! of the insured are almost incredible. II is said
that doctors, base enough to do so, are bribed
to disclose the condition of their patients. or
even employed to gain information respecting
the probability of death. Men go about from
place to place, spying out the weak and sick,
and either take out policies themselves or fur
nish the information to principals. Policies
amounting to enormous sums are taken out
upon the lives of insignificant and worthless
persons, probably because at one time the sir
nature of the insured was necessary, and such
persons could either be easily deceived or
bribed with triae. Iniirm men and women.
without dollar in the world, are said to have
been insured for sums running up into hun
dreds OF thousands OF dollars. In some of these
] cases death has been followed by suspicious of