The sun., 1891-06-16
" ANTICIPATION" IT'S CALLED
THIS MAY THROW SOME LIGHT ON
TIE NEW YORK LIFE PUEzLE

-
THIS NAY THROW SOME LIGHT ON
THE NEW PORE LIFE PUzzLE
Curious Proposition Oaee Made sy the
President or . Life 1nsurancc Coapany
60 . Rustilng Agent - snperiatensent
Fierce Drops In on the New York Lsfe.
TIE SUNS cable despatch from London say
ing that President Beers OF the New York Life.
and the Dinkelspiels. the London agents. de-
MED that Julio Merzbacher was a defaulter.
and that they maintained their friendly rela-
tions with him puzzles people when taken In
connection with tho statements OF tho COM
panys officials here. Perhaps the hitch is on
the word defalcation."
A man who Is we'll known among insurance
men IS q very successful agent for one OF the
largest OF the old time companies. said yester-
day afternoon that Merzbacher not only was
not defaulter. and had done nothing crim-
inal oven II he was thousands OF dollars
behind in his remittanoes to his homo office.
but that his position was easily explained. and
that II Is a common one In which to find the
more successful agents OF old limo companies
"It 10 due" said this man, =" 10 tho system OF
bookkeeping which is used BY the company"
According to his explanation OF this system
the agent is charged with the premiums on
oil the business he writes in year. Az the
premiums arc paid annually. the charges
against tho agent continues to increase
yearly. The agent is credited with his
commissions. with his remittances and
with the insurance notes which
he takes in lieu OF payment OF premiums. 1t
II customary. also. to give thirty. sixty. and
even ninety days grace on premiums. charg-
ingG Ter cent interest for the accommodation.
Then In IN agency SO far away as the
Spanish American Agency It takes another
thity days for Communication with the
home Office. Through all those compli-
cations 1t will be seen that II Is easy for the
agent who is doing very largo business ~
Sanchez i Merzbscher were. to " anticipate
their own commissions" According to the in
eurance man who was talking about It yestei.
day that is exactly what Merzbacher did.
The business which he was doing was most
ly what is known as tontins business. and
consists OF n specified number OF payments.
usually twenty: but tontines arc also writ.
ten for ton ard flftoen years. Besides his
FIRST comm sson for writing the insurance. the
agent receiving II commission ON the yearly
premiums. so that IL the agency is fairly in
dustrious the agent soon becomes tho DOS.
SCISSOR Of q regular income. 1t was this in
come which 1t Is said Merzbacher an
ticipoted." II that Is true. he merely
took what would have belonged to him
but did not walt until he had earned it." She
did this. II he did it. BY not making REMIT
tances to the home ofi1ce OF the premiums col
lected at his agency. Singularly enough. tho
New York life docs not seem to require any bond
from its agents, and now its recourse is .
stoppage OF commissions until the defalcation
or T" anticipation is made good.
There arc some methods OF life insurance
men which, to say the least. are peculiar. It
10 well known that the salaries paid by some Of
the old line companies are enormous. aud
. nrst-class lie insurance agent can
earn an income out Of all proportion to
that secured by a similar expenditure Of on
ergy In other professions. This fact assists In
the DEVELOPMENT OF life insurance agents. who
are phenomenal in their powers OF speech and
persuasion. It also brings about Rharp COM
petition At times between tho managers Of tho
old line companies for tho services of agents
who have boon particularly successful.
1t is a fact that not . thousand years aso the
old line life Insurance company sent for
an agent In the employ OF Q power
full rival and offered him . bonus
Of a good many thousand dollars II hs would
leave the company for which be was then work.
ing aud take an agency In tho Presidents
company. In addition to this bonus the
President offered to guarantee to tho agent
. sum in c mmsslons one-half larger
than tho bonus he offered. To this remsrka-
Oly tdulU'iuG olHt iHoIo "oo oltuCuco JuSt OuO
condition. That condition was that the agent
should turn over to the President one-third OF
all his commis ous.
1t has been suggested that II a President
who had made such an arrangement with an
agent do M n large besiness should discover
that the agent was discounting his commits
de"t WG tho assnt as far az
1t might haplrr uncer such circumstances
that ,hrre Won q h, those in the management
who did hot desire share from tho profits Of
the a"enc, nd u!d have no interest in the
wHHitewSshnE pi hu ,yn .l.rss- =, -. N.-vo-.,v.
all that he had said about Merzbachers dsfal-
.Rre4rdrg report that one Of the Dinkes-
Piels ia also ov,' drawn on the books Of the
paiter en:ir.Iy iIy rsinovs% irHm his depsrtmsat
President Bear. has charge OF all that work."
III eodore Ranta tho cashier Of the COMPANY:
punishment last night than to discuss Merz.
- 'Nr.. Ba ta wa" asked II !. was . fact that
.Ss more
psrtnss sa sarns % we. ali 81. esopsrs9. sssn e
%s e eS IL sseui @ @ tsss
be had scrared together: and that those sums.
hs nneaased tho s' baanss da. so
,hsSs nohine to say on that subject"
When Merzbacher's defalcations were dis.
covered In Decemte'. was he brought to the
Esny every evening under guard and put
IL he WAS" said Dir. BantR, II never heard
ofit. Had Merzbacher been arrested at that
time 9F PLACED place nnd @ su,Sysiilanee should
Mr.. Bnntn said that he had once seen Merz-
baoher with fashinnably dressed woman who
Ga. sss nam sno s0f
she was Mrs. Miles. .she lived In fashion,
able nstGnSorho9d II MsE York on ono OF tho
Have President Beers and Merzbaohsr been
Engaged In o. eculations together2"
specuistions togsthor.". replied Nj Bantn.
Has Samuel Dinkelspiel. the London agent.
SSsTSr'vD SSc his account to tho extent Of $780,
. In the first place" replied Mr.. xBants.
agent. He was a canvasser for the Now York
is Insurance OomPsny y this country Until
zona a 1andon MhArA ha XAs acfins aa fhA