Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-20
LIFE INSURANCE..
GOOD WORK DONE BY FRATER-
NAL ORGANIZATIONS.
Something About the Death Rate-wild
Promises Made by Certain So-CalIed
Fraternal Institutions.

All field workers in life insurance know,
or soon realize, that there are difficulties TO
| contend with. Many of these have been
| treated in more or less detail in The Ga
| ZETTE. Two there are that have not been
| touched upon, to the writer's knOwledge,a
i'll the insurar ce column of this paper, and
| while one is a mere sentimental objection,
| an alluSion to it is pardonable. for it opens
| up way to an explanation of why local or
! sectional life insurance companies are not
| successful This sentiment, growing less
and less all the while, is an objection to the
| companies because they are Northern com
! panieS.
The other difficulty. and it is more SER
| louS, Is fraternal, or So-called endowment,
| Ii. e. the mutual assessment plan) insurance
| in cuntradistinction to legitimate or old
| line life insurance, and its many mOdifca-
! tons. This style of insurance has but one
merit cheapress, and it has not always
| that for long.
Upon the first point no one, be he but
| tyro in the field, but has had thrown up to
| him the evil experience of the solicited,
| with Southern or Western companies, and
| yet a reference to the vital statistics of the
whole country will show that, taking the
| several Southern cities, the death rate is
| fully % per cent higher than the average
| Tor the whole United States, CHASING as
! Southern such cities as Baltimore, Charles
| ton, New Orleans, Louisville, Richmond.
| Washington, Nashville, etc. This would
mean, of necessity, q rate about 25 per
cent higher, and this would at once destroy
competition, for the objection is made with
much force that even ordinary life insur-
ance rates are too high now, a fact some
companies have recognized by providing
| for a term rate about so per cent below the
average ordinary whole life rate.
II is true, you can take certain cities in
either section aud make contrast much IN
favor of the South. For instance Pensa-
cola, Fla, has death rate of 1916; Boston,
Mass, 22.9; Newark, n. j., 25.1; Galveston,
Tex, 20.4, but it is a fact that if we take
the vital statistics of about fifty cities of
the United States, The death rate is shown
to be 20.3, while using for the comparison
the cities of the same group south of the
Mason and Dixon line, the death rate is
25.1. The death rate determines the cost
of life protection, as many in the fraternity
are learning to their sorrow, and SO those
in the companies whose business was re-
stricted to the territory south of the given
line, the Life association, the Southern
Life, the Mobile Life, etc, found that the
higher death rate in the South meant
higher cost of premiums or bankruptcy.
The greater cost was impracticable, and
the result we all know. Hence the compa-
MES that have their business distributed
over all of the United States enjoy the adj
vantaees of the lower death rate, and by
charging enough for the average are ena-
bled to live with profit to themselves and
protection to our loved ones who are de-
pendent upon US.
For the insurance features OF the true
fraternities no life insurance man has an
adverse criticism, for they have done much
good, though they have some disadvantages
that at once manifest themselves to anyone
who studies the subject, for they sacrifice
everything to cheaDness, but so long as
they fill this object they are good. This Is
not true of that kind of pretended fraternal
life insurance that is the scheme Of associa-
tions that have nothing of the fraternal
character, are purely mutual life insurance
organizations, and yet are SO organized they
are not amenable to even the slight restric-
tionS our state insurance laws throw about
the business.
Where we are often met with the objec-
ton of high cost, we can show the business
man that the cost is not higher than the
benefits given in return demand. 1t is a
good business axiom that you cannot hon
eStly get something for nothing, and this is
specially true in life insurance, and if the
business man and others who display but
little business acumen would apply this
rule to some of the delusiye promises of
some of the endowment societies or aSsocia-
tons, they would find the promise was
almost something for nothing. Take the
many endowment associations, happily now
"
example, you are told you can pay in Sl.50
a mouth for seven years and draw out
$1,000. Well, let US see. That would be at
the rate of SIS per year for seven years.
Total, 1926 plus interest. Could all of you
get $1,000 out of that scheme2 No, indeed;
some of you may, but at best it can be one
out OF eleven, for expenses would eat up the
balance and above the $1,000 paid out rs an
endowment. There are other so-called fra
terDities. very new, but a few years old,
which promise by their agents and organ
izers that the cost of life protection will
not be more than 50 or 81 per year per $1,000
The actual cost of life protection at the
age of thirty is Ss.42, and some
thing must be added for contin-
gencies, for this 'iactual COST
is only determined by the experience with
many lives extending over period of
years and the least practicable rate for in
surance or life protection is about so per
cent more than actual cost. How absurd,
or if we think OF the disappointment that
may come when the increased cost forces a
withdrawal, how criminal is statement of
that kindi ENSURE your life for s. per
year on $1,000" When a man has gone into
scheme Of this kind he is in for cheap
ness. Rarely does he get even this; and
again when his payments are ended by
withdrawal he may then be in such physi-
cal condition that he cannot get any life in
surance. If not, his payments are hope
lessly sunk Suppose ne had taken policy
in some reputable company2 He would
have paid only what it was worth. little
more than the actual cost" that is the
cost and the expense and reserve elements,
and then under the laws of some of the
states, had he carried his insurance for two
or three years, as the case might be. he
would be entitled to sum in paid-up insur-
ance that would more than equal the sum
paid in, and thus he would have carried his
protection on his life for three years at
loss of only the interest on the premiums
paid. Contrast this with fraternity insur-
ance to- its disadvantage. q