The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-07-28

cup of coffee for breakfast, and an infinitesi-
NAL piece of chicken and modicum of pie
| for her dinner but that she does mot call
that anything II is owing to this difficulty
| of being exact that the female mind expert
| ences overwhelming obstacles in the study Of
| mathematics"
An officer of the New York Life Insur-
ance Company, who, in the absence OF Nor
| ris Franklin, acts as president OF that COM
pany, was asked yesterday whether 1t is true
that life insurance companies decline to is
sue policies to women because of the inex-
actness of their statements respecting them
selves.
sit is not true,' he replied.
"Why, then, do life insurance companies
decline to issue policies to womenp'
"They don't decline. We issued couple
Of such polices last week"
"But the companies do not consider wom-
en- to be good risks, do then%'
"Undoubtedly not" replied the acting
president.
"Why notpo
because of the difficulty of making an
exhaustive physical examination of them.
When men apply to have their lives insured,
we examine their bodies thoroughly. But
in the case of women, considerations of del
icacy prevail, and il is difficult-perhaps l
might say impossible-to obtain a compre-
hensive knowledge of their physical condi-
ton. This difficulty, however, arises not
from the inexactness of their statements but
from the inexactness of our knowledge re-
specting the state of their bodies"
"Are women less exac. in their statements
than men are?''
81 do not think so. Nor do think that
any man who has good general knowledge
of women will maintain such proposition.
"My observation and experience are that
-. t...~ ..N A farr
days ago we saw in the papers the names Of
two Western men who had signed certii
Gates to the effect that certain qnack medi
cine had cured them entirely OF kidney dis
ease. As these men had only recently de-
clared to us, in their applications for life
insurance, that they had nothing the matter
with their kidneys and never had had, we
were enough interested in the matter to
cause some inquiries to be made. We found
that they had signed the quack medicine
certificates without much thought of what
they were doing, and that really their kid
neys had not given them any trouble. They
probably supposed that the quack medicine
had done them some good, but they were in
exact enough to say that 1t was their kidneys
that had received be 1efit. l think men are
just as. liable to such inexactness as are
women. There are few men whose state
ments you can take without qualifications"
"Then it is not because of women's mex
acsness concerning their ages, their diseases,
or their mode of life, that life insurance
companies do not consider them good
risks?'
mot at all. 1t is, as have said, because
of the difficulty of obtaining thorough
physical examination. Moreover, since most
women are liable to the perils incident to
um when we insure their lives. if they are
less than forty-6ve years of age"
"But if they are forty-five, or older?'
in that caSe, the premium IL the same as
is charged for men,"
"Why not employ female medical examin-
ers to examine the women applicants~
swell, all en- say is that in New York
we have never tried it. In the average
town or villaye it would be impracticable. A
female medical examiner possessing the re-
quisite qualifications could not be found.
AT the Office of the Equitable Life Assur-
ance Society one Of the agents, to whom DR..
Hammond's statement had been repeated,
said:
''The doctor is mist-ken about life insur-
ance companies declining to issue policies to
women. The Equitable Life Assurance So
ciety is constantly issuing s1ch policies, and
it makes no discrimination against women
as such. 1t charges them, when between
the ages of sixteen and forty-eight, one-haf
of / per cent. more than it charges most
men; but conductors ON railway trains pay |
similar additional premium, and for the |
same reason, namely, that they are extraor-
dinary risks?'
'sWhy are women considered to be extra
ordinary risks?"
''Soely for one reason; because of the per-
lis incident to child-bearing. To these per-
lis American women are peculiarly exposed.
Whether 1t is the climate, or their sedentary
habits, or their tight-lacing that is at fault,
/ don't know, but statistics show that the
percentage of deaths in hild-bearing is
greater in America than in any other coun-
try. French women, least of all, seem ex-
posed to these perils. But the mortality
among American women is Irlghtfu."
"You receive applications from women,
then, as freely as from men?'
"Just as freely. If woman is healthy,
she is just as likely to be insured. We have
thousands of women whose lives we have
insured. Only yesterday Spanish woman |
insured her life here for $20,Cco. She is |
thirty years of age. The actress Lotta in
sured her life a good while ago for large
amount-I think it was SS0,0O0. You bring
to this Office woman whoee heart and kid |
neys and lungs are all right, and see if DIR. |
Lambert, the medical examiner, does not |
pass her,
$50 the company does not t..ke into con-
sideration any alleged inexactness of state
ment on the part of women@'
mot at all. 1t insurer them if they pass
satisfactory examination, just as it in
sures men,
"Are women, then, considered to be good
risks?'
mo, they are not, because it is not be-
lieved that the additional premium of one
half of per cent. covers the extra liability.
For the same reason, conductors on rail-
roads are not considered TO be good risks.
We do not care much to insure their lives,
yet we do so when their examinations prove
satisfactory. Our attitude toward women is
a similar oDe.
SIS it especially difficult, for reasons of
delicacy, to ascertain preciselyiwhat the ply
sical condition of female applicant lisp"
ITO certain extent, yes; but a compe->
tent medical examiner understands how to
ask his questions. There are questions re-
lating exclusively to women. 1t is rule of
the company not to insure an unmarried
woman, nor a married woman until she has
had one child, unless she is more than forty
years of age. But if she is satisfactory in
other respects, this rule may be disregard
ed"
"Inexactness Of statement, then, has ref
erence no more to women than to men,
when an insurance is contemplated"
''Not a whit more. The woman's declara-
tion is taken Just as the mans is, and if, af-
ter three years, no untruths are discovered
in it, her policy, like the mans, is incor-
testable. And if she is more than forty
eight years of age, the premium she has to
pay on policy of life insurance is precisely
that which a man of the same age has to
pay. The only discrimination made with
reference to women is the additional premi-
um of one-half of oue-half of per cent .Sor
five dollars thousand, and this is due sole
ly to the perils incident to maternity, and
relates to those women only who are between
the ages of sixteen and forty-eight."