Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-09-14
LIFE INSURANCE.
The Success Of the System Founded on
Statistical Facts.

| The Success of the System Founded o.,
| Statistical Facts.
Our experience of hua. lie hes
| taught us that every nan il sure to
die some time or other a:id that Tie
insurable or productive money valle OF
his life beyond the age OF 100 years is
considerable and beyond the age OF Is
is hardly worth mentioning.
The insurable part Of mans life
lies almost wholly between the ages Of
20 and Is. if. by reason of its useful
ness to some other individual, it is IL
surable at all
AS to the individual man, if we know
nothing about him but his age, nothing
can be more uncertain than when he will
die. If we know about his health, we
can better guess; if about his parent
age, still better; but, after all, our
guess will be nothing like certainty.
After all possible care in select
ing good risks, and avoiding fraud,
the best risk may prove the worst.
Yet there are institutions that not
only guess like good prophets, but
fairly insure or answer the purpose of
wise providence, to mitigate the sad
dest calamity that befalls man. They
willagr to pay mans heirs or de-
pendents, to whom it is to be presumed
his life is both valuable and dear,
certain sum Of money if he
dies before reaching certain age.
Surely the utility of the business to
the heirs of the man whose fate it is to
die before he can have provided against
their poverty or starvation is not to be
denied. The utmost care Of his health,
or the best possible physicians,
cannot make it certain that he will
not die before that provision can be
made.
Even on a very crude, and only half
scientific basis, life insurance, for the
last 200 years, has been of vast benefit
to society, and has been, in spite of
frequent failures, constantly improving
in its method and popularity.
The success of life insurance is
founded on the facts, observed by care
full statisticians, that out of large
number of men of given age
certain number will die within one
year. AS, for example, out of 10000
men, al aged 81, very nearly eighty
will be sure to die within one year, and
out of 10000 at the age of so twice as
many.
If they we're all apparently in good
health at the beginning Of the year the
mortality would be considerably less.
But, as an average fact, the probability
of dying within one year is determined
very nearly by the figures of NOR
tality table, and for all practical pur-
poses the mortality.tables now in COM
mon use substantially agree.
The most commonly used is founded
on the experience of the seventeen
largest offices in Englan :, and was
prepared in 1913. 1t has since been
confirmed by larger experience Of
English Offices as we'll as American.
As to the risk or probability OF dying,
if a company acquires at moderate
expense-and it ought to be much
more moderate than it often is we'll
selected and sufficient number of risks,
well spread as to locality, it may
safely trust either of the mortality
tables.
A company consisting Of too few
members needs to have its own lie in
sured. 1t must be subject to fa.,rre
unless guarantee capital supplies the
place of numbers TIL it has acquired
them. = EliZur Wright in Contempor-
airy Review.