Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-13
TO HOLD A MEETING
Certificate Holders of the Washing
ton Endowment Association
INDIGNANT OVER LATE TRANSACTIONS
Some Lively Scenes Today Around
the Tenth Street Office.
MIR. GARDENERS CIRCULAR

The officers of the Washington Beneficial
Endowment Association did not have a
pleasant time Of 1t today. AS stated in The
| Star last Friday, a deed transferring the
property of the association to the CONNER
cial Alliance Life Insurance Co. of New York
was filed at the recorders office that day.
This morning the certificate holders Of the
Endowment Association received through
the mails circulars which explain the
transaction referred to- The circular was
| signed by Mr.. Lawrence Gardner president
OF the association, and stated that the as
ISOLATION had made an arrangement with
the New York company ITO form a union
| and for them to take our certificate hold
ers at a rate very favorable to them and
Tor liked sum and fixed benefit" In
closed with this circular was a policy of
insurance In the New York company 10
take The place of the one held I'm the En-
oowment Association, together with a blank
apphcation to be signed by the certificate
holder in order to transfer his Insurance
from one association to the other In Mr.
Gardners circular was the sentence: .If
there Is anything about this matter that Is
not thoroughly and distinctly understood
VIII be glad to have you call ami have IL
| fully explained"
Indignant Certificate Holders,
Ihere seems to have been many thi, gs
about 1t that were not well understood 70,
many certificate holders called at the office
OF the Endowment Association, 4l9 10th
street. during the day. At times the public
part or the office was filled with men and
women, many of whom were emphatic i'm
expressing their disapproval of the proceed
ings tnat have been taken. In fact an in
dignatfon meeting was being held all dav
he
front. Mr. Lawrence Gardner who returned
last evening from Atlantic CITY REMAINED
In the private part of the office and was
busy all day talking to certificate holders
and endeavoring to pacify them The Wash-
lngton Endowment Association which was
Incorporated in 1877, has its Insurance
placed almost entirely in the District of Co
lumbia. There are, II is said many hum
dreds OF certificate holders embracing All
sorts and conditions of people and the sud
den suspension of the association has
caused a great deal of talk and a great deal
OF Indignation among the insured who think
their interests have not been protected
There was talk today of calling a meeting
OF the certificate holders and employing
counsel TO look into the matter, and IL 1t
were found that the certificate holders had
any claim against the Endowment Associ-
alton TO begin legal proceedings MANY in
diVidual certificate holders threa tened to go
to law on their individual account bur II is
believed II anything of this kind is done IL
will be the result of concerted action The
general complaint was that notwithstand-
Ing Mr.. Gardner described the transaction
with the New York company as a union -
and said In conversation that II was in
tended TO strengthen the association" the
certificate or policy holders in the Endow
ment Association are required to pay the
premiums for their present more advanced
ages. In other words. a person who may
have been insured in the Endowment Asso-
ciation since IL was founded I'm 1877 now ha g
to reinsure at his present age paying a
nftrv,,
case If he had continued in the old associ-
alton.
In one case complained Of at the office
souay lady seventy-six years old, insured
Tor S4oo, who has been paying about 600
year In assessments. will be called upon
according to the policy sent her to be filled
out to pay over $500 year. 1t was claim
however, there would be actually no in
crease In the payment, the Increased
age was compensated for by lower rates of
insurance.
The Endowment Association.
The Washington Beneficial Endowment
Association has been engaged in the insur-
ance business on what is known as the
assessment plan. In Its most recent Iitera-
ture 1t announces that 1t has paid nearly
one million dollars to beneficiaries, $1,000
of which was paid from the reserve fund
without assessing the members. The Off
GERS of the association are Lawrence Gard
ner, president; Thomas Somerville. vice
president; Henry Wise Garnett. attorney;
Perry medical director; the trustees are
Thomas Somerville, Lawrence Gardner
John Joy Edison, John T. Given, Gen Ellis
Spear, Charles Il. Bailey and William H.
WetZel.
Making Explanations.
For some time. it is said the assessments
have been increasing in number. Mr.. Gard
ner in explaining to certificate holders to-
day insisted that he had done the best for
the certificate holders that he could possi-
bly, do. To Star reporter he said: Il
have stood by the association and it's GER
tificate holders for more than a year under
the most Encouraging circumstances. and
have at last made what seems to me to be
the best possible terms that could be made
for the certificate holders.
so far as l am concerned / might have
withdrawn from the association a year or
more ago and let 1t take care of itself. 1t
had reached the point where the assess
ments were growing too heavy to maintain
the business of the association. The certifi-
cate holders If the association continued In
ments that would greatly exceed any COM
planned of under the new arrangement"
The association, as stated is run on the
assessment plan. and there is NO pro-
vision, 1t is understood for a reserve. such
as is required in some states, to guarantee
the payment of policies AS time has
passed members have grown old and new
members have not come in in sufficient
numbers to maintain the death rate at a
figure that would require but a reasonable
number of assessments fo- the year the
certificate holders. AS a matter of fact, the
plan adopted by the association has been
found to be unwise one SO far perma-
nent insurance is concerned. Mr. Gardner
expressed his willingness to meet any COM
mittee or representatives of the certificate
holders, and he was confident that he could
satisfa ctoriy explain all the affairs of the
association.
Mr.. Gardner's Circular.
The full text of Mr. Gardner's circular Il
as follows:
Dear sir: Having determined over a year
ago to sever my connection with the Wash
iEgton Beneficial Endowment Association
and retire from the insurance business, 1
have made 1t a matter of deep study as to
what was the best thing to be done in the
,,,.- "f the certificate holders and to
come as near as pu-.--- W what eApeTF
ence and personal talks with vu. 70 Irons
have developed to their wants.
For two years past we, like all other
insurance companies, had a very heavy death
rate, and under our system We were un-
able to tell our certificate holders exactly
where the number of assessments would
stop, which has been a source of great dis
satisfaction For the first seven months
of 1893 we lost by death forty members
amounting to s6SOO0 in insurance. In the
same period of 1894 We lost twenty-seven