Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-09-28

form in guilds, coniraternjties, religious
orders. burial societies and lodges, j. Of
great antiquity, and Il known % have
been practised about 500 years before
Christ. The expansion If he principle
into practical husincss shape was prompted
by the great London fire of 1866. follow
ing which clubs, individuals aud societies
received proposals for underwriting
against loss or damage by ire; hit THE
first regular office was not opened for
business until 1851. The cGtre history
of insurance. then. will be found within
the records of the last 200 years,
The Amicabe Society, which WAS or
gan!zed January r. l1o3 has been geuer
ally credited with having been the frst 20
transact the business OF life insurance,
but it was OF the nature Of friendly
society rather than an insurance company.
The Equitable Society was undoubtedly
the first to put the business of life insur-
ance upon scientific basis, hy means Of
tables. which were supposed ID determine
the rate Of mortality for all ages. The
! observation and experience ~ the last
century have been gathered up, in order
- Gnd the law which governs the mean
duration IF human lifc.
The contingencies Of uncertainty to
/ which the life of every individual living f.
constantly exposed are proyvrhiai; ana i
is the knowledge Of these contingencies
which should cause every valuable life TO
seek the only protection which is available.
The law, then. which draws the line of
certainty within very narrow limits, when
the last Of, say, loo go lives will surely
fail. i not enough. We must know the
| law which fixes the mean mortality for
every year between the ages OF one and
Que hundred inclusive. ani the probability
that any given life Will survive one or any
given number OF years, A. also the CON
verse Of the probability, that any given
life will fail within one or any given num-
Der Of years.
By long continued observation ana prac-
tical experience has the law Of mortality
been developed, which governs all forms
OF life insurance contracts. |. matters
not by what ingenuity or device one form
OF policy may be made to appear better
than another; for In due time we shall
md the string which ties them one and all
TO the supreme law which governs all such
contracts. and must be obeyed. Nevcrthe-
less, the conditions Of life and the needs
OF insurants are 50 various that many
forms are needed 70 meet thu numerous
exigencies known to the present, and pos
sible to the future
Life insurance i an ever present ncces-
sity To the great majority OF mankind and
! yet the percentage Of the insured to the
uninsured j. mserah,y small. Very many
do not insure because they ~ not under
,tand the subject, others because they
I look upon it IS game Of chance. in
4 which they have to die if they would win.
/ They look az their own chance Of winning
/ through one end Of the telescope, and at
| the compsny's through he other
Some DO not need il for themselves, and
are indlieent to the necessities Of those
| who do
| There are those also who have no am
| bition to be independent of their neigh.
| bors, aud have no shame that their grave
/ will be digged at the expense Of another.
Eighteen dollars per annum, Or sl50 per
month, will provide a man at the age OF
thirty with an insurance for 81 600 pay
able at death, and $40 per annum viii in.
sure the payment of $500. There can be
no good excuse, therefore, for any man In
good health who has not al least so much
provided for his last sickness and burial
Certain writers have illustrated these
propositions from the standpoint of q
pany on the contingency of his living ol
| dying, as the case may be. The law OF
gambling is the law of uncertainties, il
the game is fair; any element of uncer
talnty. known 10 one and not to another
is the same as loaded dice In the hands OF
a swindler. The law of mortality, on the
other hand, is the product of reasonably
exact science, and is available to all
There can be no juggling with the data
and the probabilities of life or death, Will,
uncertain in the abstract, are made a.
nearly certain in the concrete as human
affairs can be. Life insurance does no
gamble on the uncertainties of singh
life; on the contrary, it deals with The
certainty which is demonstrated by tn,
mean mortality of hundred thousant
lives. 1t deals with monetary values, anC
the life of one individual, or the death O.
another, is nothing to the company, ex
cept as determining elements of data ant
periods of adjustment.
A life insurance policy is evidence o
good citizenship; it inspires confidence
credit and selfrespect. If combined will
accident insurance, so much the better
time of honest industry are thus immedi
ately protected against the ever-presen
hazards of sudden and untimely death
and if by accident, then in double amount
oOuc lueu atc PioNciDidiiy SoIclui y
their own interests. and thoughtful o
others; other notoriously careless as t.
their own, and utterly indifferent as to tn
welfare and comfort of their neighbors
One is covered by sense of duty an,
forethought, the other by an impulse o
present necessity. They stumble througl
life, eat drink and die, leaving no othe
legacy than their own inirmities to half
dozen or more children, who in turn trans
nit the same inflrmities to another gener
alton. Here we find those who shovel no
ashes into the woodpile, and lay upon SO
ciety at large burden of risk, agains
which all the insurance the prudent ma
can get is not enough, and the impruden
do not insure at all, which lays an addi
tional burden on those who do.
Bankers, merchants, and men Of Affairs