The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-05-14

The ingenuity which Avarice exhibits
in devising methods to rob the poor is GER
tainly worthy of better cause. Taking
advantage of the wholesome and wide
spread sentiment in favor of insurance.
sharpers have turned their attention i'm
this direction. As result all sorts of
novel, intricate and misleading insurance
schemes are ''iioated," and the unsus.
pecting, instead of trusting to old and
rich and reliable companies that do bust
ness on fair basis, are often persuaded
to invest In Massachusetts, the subject
has been the matter of special investiga-
tiOn, and the results are einstructively sum
married. by the Springfield Union, which
says:
THE insurance commissioners report
Of the endowment corporations in
Massachusetts, shows that fifty-one
companies authorized to do business in
this state collected for expenses last year
81, PSI, ,S24, and paid out in benefits S463,-
79l. AT this rate, it will cost Sl40,OOO,-
600 to pay the S52, $50, 19j benefit certii-
Gates outstanding. Ont of Sl93, 900, 900
which beneficiaries are to pay into
the endowment corporations, they will
get back S53,0O0,0O0, and the philan.
thrOpic promoters will pocket $40, ,OOO,-
600. Col. Sellers never imagined a
greater scheme for amasslng wealth.
These concerns collected from the people
OF the state last year 80, ,6j1, 7l6 and had
on January 1, little over 5000, 600 This
is taken out of the savings of poor people
mostly and withdrawn from trade, and
these fifty-one companies reported are
not One-tifth the total number of So
called endowment and investment con-
Germs that are operating in the state.
On the same scale all these concerns
must all be holding from four to five
millions of money, collected mainly from
the working people of the state. Is it
any wonder that the savings banks de-
pOsits have fallen off? Is it strange that
business men complain that it is hard to
collect their bills and that trade in the
necessaries of life is dull? These lot
teries are robbing the people of the state
at tremenpous rate, and for the COM
mon good the legislature should root
them out and put an end to the evil as
soon as possible"
People who read first-class newspapers
carefully, and remember the advice and
warnings impaired, are not apt to be
fooled by lotteries of the character indi-
Gated; but the figures given show to
what an enormous extent the earnings
OF the masses are swallowed by insur-
ance sharks. The speculative features
of insurance are to be deprecated; it is
designed as policy of protection, and
should not be perverted into a scheme of
speculation. The report shows that
only one of every three or four dollars
taken out of the pockets OF the people is
returned to them. This is the nearest
approach to the swindling Louisiana
lottery that we have noticed in the
north.
1t is an excellent plan for poor men to
carry moderate life insurance for the
benefit of their families in the event of
death. 1t is foolish to try to carry too
much, as reverses may make 1t impOssi-
bic to keep up the premiums and all may
be lost. Insurance gambling, ike other
forms, benefits the companies and
agents, not the investors. When men
expect to get fortune all in lump by
giving an insurance company few dol
lars annually for fifteen or twenty years,
they are reckoning wrOngfully. For
tunes are not won that way.
Age, prominence, assets, liabilities,
suplus and general reputation are feat
ures of company that man should
investigate before securing a policy.
Brilliant promises count for nothing
compared with solidity and security.
In making provision for his family in the
hour of loss and affliction, man should
exercise the greatest caution and his
best Judgment.
When you embark in life insurance,
be sure the craft is strong and seaworthy.
Troy Press,