The Republican journal., 1892-09-08
The Iron Hall Matter.
WHAT STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS
SAY.

Merrill, OF New hampshire anu MdSSdcHu-
sets, express their opinions touching the
Iron Hall situation in language that is
plain and unvarnished, SO that ''he who
runs may read'' and understand that they
believe the Iron Hall and other kindred
enterprises are unsafe and unsound. Mr..
Linehan says:
The present outlook for the assessment
endowment corporations is not promising.
The developments Of the past week are
but the shadows of coming events, and if
the petition for the appointment of re-
ceiver for the Iron Hall is granted, and
appearances indicate that it may be, there
will be an end to the most heartless, de-
moralzing scheme the country has ever
been cursed with.
1t was heartless. because the managers
accepted the hard earnings of tens of
thousands who could i'll afford to lose
them, knowing full well, when the money
was taken, that only a few could realize
any benefit from the investment. 1t was
demoralizin@ for the reason that 50 many
men, standing well i'll their own commun-
ity, allowed their names to be used as de-
coys to entrap the unwary, and because in
some States politicians worked the scheme
for all it was worth either to advance their
own interests OF those of their party.
1t has been claimed by the members of
the Iron Hall that their order was an eX-
ception to the average endowment associ-
alton. being founded on sounder prnci-
pies and conducted with ability, and hon
estly managed. 1t is hard for a man not
in the secrets of the business to under
stand why it is not as easy for one order
to pay 500 in a year on an estimate of
S35. as for another to pay 81, 600 in seven
SIS l, ;c;
what the short and long Term orders
promised. TO be sure, payment was not
guaranteed for the amounts named, but
the estimates of the cost. the managers
claimed, were carefully made. and there
was no doubt that the certificates matur-
ing could be paid in full, at a cost not ex-
ceeding the figures given. This was the
bait that attracted the gambling spirits in
so many, the hope to receive large returns
for a small investment. Accompyng this
feeling of hope was a lingering fear that
somebody would get left. but each one
fondly anticipated it would not be him,
but the other fellow
''If the Iron Hall cannot stand, all of
the others must fall is an expression
frequently heard. Present appearances
indicate the propriety of the statement.
Now that the end is drawing near, legsla-
ton preventing repetition of such rep
rehensible schemes ought to be enacted in
every State in the Union. Mrs. Howe
bank has not been repeated in New Eng
land, and it would be discreditable to the
reputation OF American legislators if wise
laws forbidding the incorporation of such
miserable. dishonest enterprises We're not
speedily enacted and the country saved
from the repetition of a scheme that has
been anything but creditable to the States
in which it was legaiIed.
New Hampshire has done this already.
No endowment corporation. domestic. or
OF other States, has had legal authority to
transact business i'll that State since May
II, 1891. Every corporation. association.
society or order. domestic or foreign.
must receive license before the first step
is taken for the transaction Of business. and
tested by New Hampshire laws, not one
of them could comply with the require
ments, consequently all We're driven out.
The passage OF this law, as well as its
enforcement. was endorsed by the State
press, and by every man having at heart
the good name of the State. Its effect
was to protect the wage earners' pocket
and the merchants credit. 1t most sum-
marily cut off from further operations a
business founded on deception. corruption
and fraud. and made it impossible. under
present enactments. for such organiZa-
lions to be Incorporated under the general
laws.
That the end which is fast drawing near.
was expected 10y every person Of common
sense goes without saying.
For right is right, since God is Cod
And right the day must Win,
t. doubt would be tlisluyalty
IT, talter would be sin.
Major Merrill stands shoulder to Shout
der with Major Linehan. This is his view:
AS to the recent revelations in regard to
the Iron Hail. personally | shall very
much regret if through incompetency.
msmana4ement, or. accepting the state
ments made by MI. Somerhy himself.
what is pretty close to downright embez-
element, disaster comes to the order of the
Iron Hall. 50 many people have been led
to believe that the moonshine theories of
this organization are pure gold, that it
We're better that the problem should have
been permitted to work itself out to the
end fall through its own weakness. and
demonstrate for the future the folly of at
tempting TO turn the multiplication table
upside down.
But one lesson, perhaps equally impor-
ciering is quite as much a science OF a pro-
fession as that of law on medicine and
one of the bits of foolishness in all this en-
dowment business has been the entrusting
of hundreds of thousands, nay, millions
of dollars to the care and keeping Of men
without the slightest previous training in
that direction. This is not only a sadden-
ing fact in relation to the Iron Hall. but
in connection with nearly, or quite, every
other one of the assessment endowment
corporations. And while not necessarily
a weakness inherent in the system, is prac-
tically one of the most complete illustra-
lions of the foolishness of its carrying out
That the blow which has come to the
Iron Hall will bear heavily, if not immedi-
ately disastrously. upon all of the other
corporations of its class, no sensible per-
son will question. But while it may has
ten, it will not of itself bring about the
inevitable end. The bubble was certain
to break, the fallacy to explode, the hum
bug to be exposed, and the regret is that
so many people of the class who can lily
afford the sacrifice will find their hopes of
practically something for nothing dssolv-
ING in thin air when the now swiftly has
tening crash comes.
Now Try This.
1t will cost you nothing and will surely do
Won It,1l h. VOL. Vol