The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-17
CASH FOR DEAD BABES
The System of Insuring Chill
dren'S Lives
Which Has Been Stamped Out
in Many States,
HAS INVADED KANSAS.
Infants Lives Insured at Five
Cents a Week.
In One Instance the Child Was
Neglected"
And the Parents Got Twenty
Dollars for It.
SIX ENTS BUSY
SIX AGENTS BUSY
Putting Premiums on the Lives
Of Small Children.
Supt. Geo. T. Anthony Thinks 1t
Should be Stopped.

Although in a great many of the
United States infant life insurance is
prohibited by law after careful exami-
nation of the conditions surrounding it,
it is still allowed by the Kansas laws, and
it is practiced in this state to an alarm
ing extent. and opens the way to infant
murder by placing a premium on the
death of the child insured.
In Topeka alone there are several
dozens, perhaps several hundreds, of
children under the age of thirteen. who
are insured by their parents for sums
ranging from SO to $115, according to
age, and for which is paid premium on
each policy of five cents a week. The
practice is not confined to the poorer ele-
ments alone, but reaches to the middle
and better classes as well.
The company that does the most thriv-
| ing business possibly is the Metropolitan
Life of New York, which has an office at
604 Kansas avenue, and besides its local
superintendent James L. Heron, has
six agents at work in the city, E. L
Frowe, T. NJ. Gettings, P. P. Freisen,
Fred Neville, J. l. Williams, and Il. B.
Lawless.
These agents are at work in Topeka
every day insuring whole families of
poor children whose parents pay the pre-
MUM in some way, even though they
are really too poor to feed themselves
and the children properly
Dozens of instances might be given of
| infant insurance.
At 216 East Laurent street lived Mrs.
Jones, who had left her husband. She
has two children, both boys, Walter,
aged Z, and Clyde, aged 4. Both are
| insured. The woman is almost too poor
to purchase food for herself, but if either
| child dies she will receive q sum regu-
/ lated by his age at death and the time of
his insurance of not less than $50 nor
more than S115.
| Mrs Margaret Coleman, who lived at
Ala Lawrence street has three children,
| Lille 16, Anna 13 and Ida s. All of
| them are insured.
renee streets, has three little girls under
ten years of age and all are insured on
| the five cent plan. Items like these may
| be multiplied indefinitely.
1t is not, of course, the intention of
most people so having their children in
sured to commit murder for insurance
money but there are inhuman parents to
whom poverty would make the temp:a-
tion great
1t might not be murder exactly but
| there have been instances in which neg
Coroner Bailey had case of this less
than three months ago.
A colored child about / q years old
| died on East Tenth street He made an
official investigation of the matter and
arrived at the conclusion that while it
| had certainly died of pneumonia, it could
have been saved had a physician been
called. The family admitted there had
been no medical attendance, but claimed
they did not know the child was SO sick.
| This the doctor regards as hardly the
case, for the child must certain
Iy have been very sick indeed
when death followed in ten days. The
parents received $50 insurance money.
There are doubtless many such cases
and experience in the eastern cities
where the practice has been stamped out
by law shows that if allowed to it viii
increase.
The Prudential company also carried
on a business of the sort for some time
in Topeka, but has moved its office.
State Superintendent of Insurance
George T. Anthony talked to a JOURNAL
reporter on this subject today and said:
This is a matter that has long been
under discussion and the insurance
journals have discussed it pro and con
without appearing to arrive at any def
mite conclusion There is no law forbid
ding it in Kansas. but I have long re
/ garded the practice as dangerous and il
is very probsbls there should be SONS
Legislation prohibiting it. 1t is a fact
that it places premium on the death of
the infant"