, 1899-12-07
ON LIFE INSURANCE.

- NNai
shall Field & Co., Of this city, who
dealt with the subject OF life insurance
from the business mans standpoint.
After referring to the husband and
father as the cornerstone of the home
and its provider from motives ground
ed in the affections of a manly man,
Mr.. Higinbotham continued as fol-
lows:
There is another phase OF this sub
ject. Misfortune does not always
wait to follow in the footsteps of
death. For multitudes. success is but
an Illusion that skips before one like
the ignis fatuus of the fable. The
wealth these pursue lies in ponderous
chests at the foe of the vanishing
rainbow. 1t has been said that 50 per
cent. Of those who seem to prospc:
fairly in their lives, die paupers at the
close; they have expended their estate
and are dependent upon the kind Off
ces of their children or friends. 1t has
been said of those who undertake this
very business of life insurance not
more than two per cent. succeed. Old
men have no longer liberation in this
world. The business world has no fur
Their use for them. The adage that a
man is no older than he feels rings
false. Men are no longer current at
this valuation. People recognize h
fact for others long before they are
willing to admit it for themselves. BY
the time a man has reached the
Methusaline age of 60, his children, IL
they have escaped the infantile dis
eases Of mumps and measles, and the
midlife "insanities OF golf and football,
will have grown to the state OF man
hood and womanhood and Will have
outgrown the need OF parental care.
But the man himself has begun to de-
scend the decllvity. Like the OLD man
IN Coles most Impressive picture, ne
sits in his dismantled bark, hoatlng on
the estuary OF the stream whose cur
rent VIII soon deliver MIN beyon the
impenetrable inc eternal mist. Happy,
financially Will he be who, with wise
t~orethought, mas some OF the
earnings that came and went SO freely
Whlle he was running the rapids OF
youth and middle life into an endow-
ment large enough to provide for the
less eXactlng requirement. OF MS de-
Ginning years. The insurance which
would nave provided for his family had
ne passed away while they were de-
pehdent Upon MS care, Will provide Tor
himseit during the probation OF his
oiu age.
lhese provisions against the mis-
fortune OF the family because deprived
oi us natural support, or against h
want "hlch may accompany n de-
Ginning years, may also be designated
as business precautions, since they are
adopted by tar-seelng men OF anairs
VINO understand the wisdom OF FORE
staining contingencies-as We say in
Chicago, OF taking no chances. Others
purchase life insurance as a form OF
investment. The fact that the invest
ment has a long time in which to ma
ture, or, If maturing earlier, does SO in
a way to deprive the investor Of per-
sonal enjoyment of the avails, does
not act as a encouragement to such as
seek security and a form Of wealth not
easily disturbed. He may, indeed,
realize, but the returns are 80 small
when contrasted with the promise OF
later benefits, that he usually prefers
to let time have its cumulative effect.
There are several good things about
this form Of investment. 1t in so far
obeys the injunction of scripture-if
your company be wisely chosen-as to
put your treasure where moth and rust
will not corrupt; it provides for your
own household, who doth not is worse
than an infdel, or for your other self,
and it is charitable to needy and, per-
haps, worthy agents. But to many this
constantly recurring withdrawal OF
capital that might remain active, and
finging it into the unknown hereafter,
with the certainty that the insured will
never enjoy the fruits OF his FORE
thought, has its depressing aspect.
When one invests his money in a Sc
curity bearing coupons he has at least