The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1883-05-10
MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE.


plan, has become quite prominent sub
ject of discussion within the last few
so much SO that a. Published In
our telegraph columns . few days ago.
the Iowa state auditor felt called upon
to revoke the certificates Of several asso-
Citations of this character incorporated
under the laws of the state. Two OF
the companies, the Home Life and Gen.
tennial Mutual, of Burlington, had ex-
tended their business 70 other states.
When we consider the history
of this class OF insurance
institutions we cannot wonder at the
action of the Iowa officer, even though
the companies were seemingly in the
best shape possible. During the last
i've years the number of these associa-
lions has increased at q wonderful rate,
which II kept up, will locate a company
in every town or city Of Importance in
the country in very short time. 1t is,
then, a very proper time to study the
history Of associations at present exist
ing. In speaking on the subject the
Chronicle, an insurance journal of New
York, a recognized authority, well
says:
"The proveIbial rcpugnance OF Satan to
holy water Is no more Intense nor better
grounded in the nature OF things than the an
tlPe.hE o. so-2ps,raiiys RE.onossr. 3ad nan nan
! inss havs everywhere Snd always encOun-
cone COZ laws in ! isw q the states only AFTER
hard contests and in spite OF the most deter
mined efforts Of the co-5Pcratiyes 70 defeat
them"
why thiS is 90 is obvious from the
illustEations which we give below. A
stronger foothold has been gained by as
sociations OF this class in New York,
Pennsylvania and Ohio than in any 9th
er states. Taking the latter state we
find:
Sixty.tWO assessment or mutual aid
associations pretending TO furnish life
insurance were authorized TO do bust
ness last year and are still In the held.
Formerly there was no check upon the
managers of these concerns, but recent
| ly they were compelled TO keep an au-
thentic record OF transactions open to
public inspection. Bold assertion
will no longer avail. They
are compelled to face facts Of their own
showing, and stand or fall by the result.
| The oldest Ohio company in existence
then, the Citizens Mutual Of Yelling
| ton, at the beginning of 1882 had 9,226
| policies IN force, but at the end Of the
| year the membership showed . net loss
of 1862. 1t is on its last legs. The
Columbus Mutual is already dead, its
demise being caused by call on It for
| payment of seventeen 81, 900 policies.
By the system of scaling employed by
| all of these companies, dividing the
| amount IN the treasures among the pol
| icy holders as deaths occur, one $4,000
| policy was paid with SAC. 40; the highest
amount paid was $752.e0. The actual
| beneficiary Of this association was the
officer or agent, who received forty nine
cents for handling each dollar Of this
money. It costs the Home Mutual OF
1 GAINESVILLE forty-two cents on each dol
lar paid out to managecits very intricate
business. This company began the
| present year with q decrease of PAT pol
icy holders from the beginning of 1882
Il has 1 POT $4,000 policies in force, and
/ as q reserve fund has laid aside the enor'
nous sum of 81 1894. or nearly $500 foI
each possible %. 500 of liability The
| Holloway Mutual paid $24 900 in losses
Il
l down in its pocket the very modest
sum of sixty cents as the cost of hand
| ling each dollar. 1t is little wonder
that 1t closed the year with net loss &c
its membership by death, lapses, ETC., Oi
434. The Mahoning Mutual officers
have little more conscience than thost
| of any other company in the state, and
only charged tWenty-seven cents on the
dollar psid out. It paid fifteen $2,OO(
policies, only one OF which, however
received the face value, while the Others
ranged. down TO $8464. The Mutua
Endowment Relief, of Cardington, made
long stride toward the valley of the
shadow of death" by soaring of 1853
of its members, paying twenty nine
death policies of $4,000 each will
sums ranging from $3.50 to $1,1OO
The cost on handling this money wa
thirty one cents on each dollar. TIT
Ohio Mutual Relief of Urbana paiC
eighty-nine death claims at thirty-fou
cents on the dollar, is now fighting NJ
less than fifteen, lost ten per cent OF it
| membership, and is row almost readI
for the solemn offices of the undertaken
The Steuben Mutual Protective OF Steu
benvllle, paid nine policies, allows it
creditors fourteen cents on the dollar
while its officers receive fifty -one cent
for the labor of paying 1t out. 1t mad
, a net loss of one-third of its member
ship. Its president and one of its orig
majors Is the present lieutenant cover
nor Of the state and among its manager
and directors are found some OF tn
most prominent men Of Eastern Ohio.
We might go on indefinitely and Civ
similar statistics from each of the sixty
two associations, but it is not necessary
OF the entire lot only nineteen are ovel
the age of three years; or in other word
only nineteen have lived long enough I
make anything like test. And wha
Is the result9 One of the nineteen Il
dead and thirteen of the remaining eigf
teen are in a rapid state of decompOsi
: ton. Taking the entire sixty-two az
} sociations, fourteen of them made NJ
report as to loss payments. OF the re
naming foFty-eight companies, on
company paid 108 per cent Of the fac,
: value of Its policies, an inexplicabl
, transaction; but let the statement stanC
( IS fact TO the cooperative credit
One paid 100 per cent, but only on
single claim. Three paid 81, % and
! cent. Two paid 81 and 81 per cent II
spectively. One paid 43 per cent. Min
paid 80 to 80 per cent. Three paid froI
] % to % per cent. Eleven paid from
f to 10 per cent. Three paid o, Z and 5 pc
[ cent. Three paid 2 per cent. An,
three per cent. The average rate pc
, cent paid by the whole was II. That
: to say, the certificates which mature
!, called for 81, 800, 100 as the maximum
!. be paid, and the actual amount paid wa
$568, 597.
> Peering further into the mysteries {
}, the mutual insurance associations of til
/ Buckeye state, we md an aggregai
n | membership Of 81 ,025. These over ha
hundred thousand men and wome
paid into the treasures of the comps
mics the sum of 1851, 900, or $1739 eacl
making their assurances cost them s.
e thousand.
We give these figures for the beneI
l. of the people of Kansas. There is foo
1 IN them for more than an hours though
1 AS a mass, measured by any commerce
e standard, these sixty-two companies q
|. perfectly insolvent; and the history
J. mutual ard" is the same in New YoI
;: as in Ohio, the same in Pennsylvanl
!. the same in any other state.