The herald., 1896-08-10

advocates of the old reliable New
York Life Insurance company, we are
OF course. deeply interested in everything
that pertains to it's success, and we
would not willingly vote at the coming
election in such manner as would un-
faVorably affect the company with
which we are associated, and we write
to ask for information and answers to
the following questions. that we may be
able to cast intelligent ballots ourselves
and possibly influence a few others to
do likewise.
In your circular letter to policy hold
ers, with copies of which we are not ia
vored. and therefore, as policy holders,
we feel Sighted, you refer to the nine
billions and over of insurance in force
which must be paid some day, and you
ask in what it shall be paid: One hun
dred cent dollars, or fifty-three cent
dollars?
The sum is almost too large to handle
conveniently, so we take the New York
life's share of this, which, on January
l, 1895. was $799, 1927 900. To represent
this outstanding insurance account the
company has a fund of $174, ,791 $780, "a, of
which $24,03S,677S9 is surplus or profits,
and the balance, $3.50, 1853, ,S12.65, is pol
icy reserve.
Assume it all to be reserve. That
amount, with compound interest at
per cent on the basis of mortality tables
accepted by the company will be exactly
adequate to pay to the policy holder
at death or maturity dollar for dollar,
the amount of his policy and leave the
surplus, $24,03S,67 absolutely un-
touched, even If the company had ceased
to do any business since January 1,
1896.
The question naturally arising is, IN
what class of securities is this sum in
vested? Is it not all or very nearly all,
in interest-bearing gold bonds, stocks
and first mortgages, with a compare
lively small amount in real estate abso-
lutely owned by the company? We take
it for granted it is. Now, what propor-
tion Of the outstanding insurance does
the company specifically agree to pay
in gold? For every such contract issued
by the company does it not stipulate
that premiums must also be paid in gold
If so, this small percentage of the busi-
ness will have no effect whatever, for
the company could just as easily agree
to pay a certain weight in diamonds for n
proportionate premium and interest in
diamonds. The gold policies (of which
but one for $4,000 has been written by
this agency force during our several
years connection with the company and
that one for an Englishman) will certain
]y take care of themselves The vast ma
jority of the business, however, is pay
able in dollars-just plain, ordinary, ev-
ery-day dollars. The policy holders pay
the company in dollars--the company
pays them in dollars. If the dollars re-
ceived by the company have been con-
verted into gold or 100-cent dollars, and
the company pays it's policy holders in
so-called 53-cent dollars, cannot the
company well afford to pay the policy
holders almost twice as much as their
policies call for? The company will GER
tainly make profit of AZ cents on every
dollar, and what is to become of this
profit? 1t must go into the surplus. Be-
ing purely mutual company. this sur
plus belongs to the policy holders, and
to them only, and will they notget the
additional AZ cents either in increased
dividends or in additional paid-up in
surance? The same principle applies to