The Portland daily press., 1892-08-08

izers' W. A. Rice-He Advises Waiting
Until the Receiver is Appointed.
To the Editor of the Press:
BANGOR, Aug 4, 1S92.-The statement
contained in the dispatch published in
the PRESS seems too ridiculous to MEM
beers of the Iron Hall to be seriously de-
Tended.
Every story has two sides, and the
other side of this story is worth hearing.
Your headlines read application Made
to the Courts for Receiver" but your
readers will do well to wait until the
court appoints a receiver. We do not
fear the result.
An application for receiver by some
satisfied member on trumped up
charoes,is no proof Of serious trouble OF
wrong-dding. We have seen other APP
nl;cations for receivers before, but in
vestioation has always INDICATED the
Iron Hall and will in this case.
The aficeirs of the order who have
been assailetl by the old-line insurance
comnanies IN this manner for eleven
years, are use'd 10 tnese Inailclous az
Jacks, and feaF not ihVesIiSaeloH ny Iiie
court of anv state, for there is no organi-
oation whose accounts are so systematic
callv kent and so open to inspection in
detail as those of the Iron Hall.
THE statement that the order is totally
insolvent is absurd. That is proved by
the insunanse commissioners report,
which shows, nat on January l, 1872, all
claims had N paid. and the order had
a surnlns nd of So, 434 069.63, large
mart IF w ! is divided among and held
bv 1aO0< IS, scattered through thirty
Hya stsSe- If insolvent then the United
WorTmen and Royal Arcanum, and the
Conrecticut Mutual Insurance Co., are
all nsolvent.
aug bother misleading statement is made
q oerning the liability to be paid in '92,
- 1894 and '95. Now this is chestnut
obng standing that was originated by
!, Commissioner Merrill, of Massachusetts,
foAr years ago, and presented to the
Massachusetts legislature, but the legis-
lature refused to accept it, and endorsed
the Iron Hall. AS Major Merrill knows
there is great difference between possible
liability, and actual liability.
1.-The considers the total outstanding
insurance of the Iron Hall as actual
liability, the same rule must apply just
as appropriately to the Connecticut Mu-
tual Insurance Co., which had on Janu-
airy l, '92, $155, 100000 to outstanding
insurance, and total assets of 500, 1000, 900,
to pay it with. The New York Equitable
standing insurance, and assests of $780,
100000, to pay it with.
Considered from Major Merrilfs
standpoint the old-line companies are
insolvent, and billions short. Consid-
cred in this way the United Workmen
should close its doors tomorrow, for
their total outstanding insurance exceeds
$500, 000,0 600; they have no accumulated
reserve fund, and yet meet their liability
as it comes due from year to year. The
total outstanding insurance of the Iron
Hall is less than one-tenth that of the
Workmen, or S50,OOO,0O0; we have an
accumulated reserve fund of nearly
100000, aud are adding to it every
month.
The whole dispatch was fabrication
for the purpose of throwing discredit
upon the organization. Another ridicu-
lous statement was that the order had
invested S1,000,000 in real estate. All
assets of the order are in cash with the
exceptions of $38, 900, which is the value
of small and unpretentious building at
indianapolis where our order has it's
home Office.
The charges against Supreme Justice
F. d. Somerby will make excellent
foundation for libel suits in the future. If
he did receive $4,000 per year he would
be far more entitled to it than the presi-
dents of many insurance companies who
receive from SIS, 900 sto 100000 annual
salaries. But the representatives from
our state lodges all over the country at
the last season of the supreme sitting
did vote to pay him the magnificent sum
of $1,000. We would like to pension him
S 1000 per year as the New York pen
stoned Ex-President Beers last year. MI.
Somerby does not handle one dollar of
the orders money for every cent is for
warded direct to Supreme Cashier M. G.
Davis, who is responsible for it and is
under reliable bonds for 100000. Mr..
Somerby is not in charge of any books
of the order, has no opportunity to
''doctor." the accounts, if he so desired.
and is not an officer in any bank at
Philadelphia or elsewhere.
In regard to the charge of extravaganza
in expenses, the Iron Hall will compare
accounts with any organization or COM
pany. By the commissioners report for
1891 we find that the Iron Hall on Janll-
afy. /, 1919, had 65,204 members, and the
total expenses for the entire order were
$50, 266. BY the same report we find the
Conn., Mutual ms. Co., on Jan. l, '92, had
64,794 policy holders Tor members) and
that the total expenses were Sl,070, 404,
or $98S, 900 more than those ofsthe Iron
Hall for the srme membership. From
these facts stated above it is easy to dis
cover the source of the present attack
upon the Iron Hall, but our order has
made it interesting for the old-liners for
eleven years and will continue to SO until
that receiver is appointed.
WALTER \. RICE,
State Deputy, Order of the Iron Hall.