The herald., 1897-06-08
OFFICE OF THE HERALD

OFFICE OF THE HERALD :
Los Angeles, June7.
The fourth annual meeting Of the Saw
ings Banks association of New York. held
recently. was of particular interest be-
cause of the discussion Of postal savings
banks as proposed for the United States.
President John H. Rhoades In his opening
address spoke Of the proposed new system,
and said:
I'VE know that the savings bank onicers
have no dislike per Sc to postal savings
bank system conducted by the govern
ment. and. realizing AZ We do that our work
is charitable in its nature. we would glad
ly welcome any and all systems. wisely
founded. which would lead to an increase
OF thrift on the part of the people; but in
all Of the editorials have read (and' I
have read many, and in all the arguments
made in favor of the postal savings bank
system which have seen. have never
found one that has intelllgently and salts
factorily answered this question:: What
will the government do with and how will
they invest andkeep safely invested the mill
ions of dollars which must come into their
A0iiow tuA OuBi . PoStdl SSVtHBb pauh 10
The existing debt of the United States has
already been absorbed by the people and
Is not available for investment purposes
on the part Of the government. The In
tention and the will of the people Is un-
doubtedly to gradually reduce its govern
ment debt; therefore. barring war. there
is no probability of large increase or the
permanent maintenance Of government
debt on the part of the United States. The
experience Of the Freedmen's Savings
bank in Washington. which was supposed
to be in part under government control,
and which failed miserably. with great loss
ings to its care. Is one evidence Of danger
In connection with giving the government
control Of postal savings bank system.
The tendency to spend the moneys 80 re-
ceived, which in time would run up into
the hundreds Of millions of dollars, would
lead to gross extravaganza on the part of
congress. Under our. form Of government.
Notwithstanding the success which has at
tended the Introduction OF such system
IN England and elsewhere on The continent
of Europe. 1t does seem to me that the
dangers are very great and that the ques-
tion, How shall the government invest
unanswered. and is practically, at the pres
ent time. unanswerable."
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OF all the Investments made by the gen.
eral public. those for life insurance on the
most important. It has taken years Of
teaching to demonstrate that in life insur-
ance. as in any other business, It is not
possible to get something for nothing, and
It may take many years yet to convince
people that the offers made in speciously-
worded prospectuses and advertisements
to furnish indemnity and protection at
ridiculously low prices. whether under the
guise Of old-line, assessment or fraternal
insurance. are to be distrusted from their
very incipiency. In this connection. the
following quotation from the Insurance
Post of Chicago is worth reading. 1t says:
after years of false teaching, in order
to discredit the sound plans Of level
premium life insurance, by the managers
that the rank and file of its membership
should now be slow to accept from the
came source practical recantation Of the
false teaching about the certainty Of pro-
vjding assessment insurance at less than
half the cost Of the old-line companies
J'he inevitable Nemesis OF the mortality
cables has overtaken the pay-as-you-go
ystem. and its honest managers are now
urging higher and more stable rate as
Indispensable to stability and perpetuity.'
and the members are In a hostile mood.
Recently the Royal league very sensibly
decided that assessment rates must be In
creased and the members are rebellious,
The supreme recorder Of the order, James
B. Huling Of this city, has stated in a re-
cent letter to the press some important
truths, and among other things he says:
"All Of the older fraternal insurance So
cieties in their origin have deliberately re-
fused to recognise the mortality expert
ence upon which regular insurance COM
panies establish themselves and conduct
the business. but advancing age. in
creased number Of deaths and assess
ments and gradually slower growth have
obliged acknowledgment Of the truth that
their systems were wrong. 1t has been the
constant reproach Of statisticians and in.
surance men that fraternal protection was
only temporary. and the societies have
been too slow to find it out. Hitherto they
have been held together by sentiment
alone, and while they have done noble
deeds and kept thousands of widows and
orphans from want. they have overlooked
stability and perpetuity."
1t has been discovered pretty generally
of late that life insurance is founded on
sound mathematical verities and cannot
be run by sentiment Alone" but that sta
strictly business methods, such as long ex-
perience has sanctioned. In his address
to the fraternity at the annual meeting of
the Royal Arcanum the other day, the SUI
preme regent said some things exactly in
line with the above utterance of Supreme
Warder Huling Of the Royal league. Here
10 an extract from what the supreme
regent Of the Royal Arcanum said:
I'VE have paid out millions of dollars
collected on the present system, 1t is true,
but the report demonstrates that the sys-
tenn is not as nearly perfect as 1t should be
that our perpetuity depends upon a wise
change. AS have looked over the lists
Of deaths and seen how small an amount
most of the dead brothers have paid in
as compared with the amount their bene-
hciaries have drawn out 1 have become
wholly convinced that we cannot continue
IN this course for long time. This pre-
sentation of the subject to the entire order
through the report. which has been most
extensively read by the rank and file, has
been wise, just, fraternal and business
like
Level premium life insurance means now
just what 1t meant a hundred years ago.
not only stability and perpetuity," but a
decreasing instead Of an increasing bur-
den for its members.
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