The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-29

In All the Companies of tho World n Man
Might Get Perhaps $40, zoo. 900.

From the 81. Louis Globe. DsmseraL
Several papers have published q paragraph
TO the effect that the Prince OF Wales Is insured
for about GlO, 600, 900. portion Of the insurance
being for the benefit OF creditors, and a much
larger portion in favor of persons neither related
TO him nor having any interest whatever in his
living. Prof. A F. Harvey the insurance actu-
AIRY. who Is authority on all such matters con
siders the statements ridiculous and particularly
the that Prince Albert Is insured for the benefit
Of people who have no insurable interest in him.
"Up to about 1875 years ago the practice of taking
out insurance on the lives Of Kings Queens and
others in authority, where there was no possible
insurable interest obtained TO a great extent"
said the professor when his attention was called
to the paragraph The practice became so gem
eral, scandalous and vicious that in IVA Par!a-
ment enacted statute GA Geo 3, C. 49, prohibit
ing absolutely all insurance in which there was
interest to the beneficiary in the life Of the prnC
pal in the contract and prohibiting the payment
of money under a policy written to secure a debt
beyond the actual sum due. This law against
wager or gambling policies was followed up in
France and Germany and in most Of the States
Of this country, and has since been rigidly en-
forced everywhere.
The amount Of life insurance carried by the
Prince Of Wales has never been made public and
is probably known TO only a few people II is evil
dent, however that the total is not one tenth Of
the named in the paragraph referred 10.
The most heavily insured man in the United
States is rx Postmaster General John Wanamaker
of Philadelphia, and his insurance amounts to
only 81, OPS 900 The word only" applies here
because Of the comparison with S4S, 900 OOO or,
10 be accurate, S4S 775 900, according 10 the
present market value here 81 elOOOOOOO At a
meeting Of the National Life Underwriters AsSoca-
ton in Philadelphia four years ago MI Wanna
maker stated that one Of the first things he did
after becoming OF age was 10 insure his life When
Mr., WGnamaker addressed the Association his
lie insurance amounted 10 81, $50 900, and all
but $50, 900 had been taken after he was 80 years
Of age
According 10 an Eastern insurance journal
the amount OF life insurance which can be secured
upon a single life among the United states com
panps fOOS up 81, GOO, 900" The paper gives
a tabulated list Of forty two old line companies
and what purports u he the limit Of each. The
figures correct In the main, but there are some
bad errors in the list
Some Of the companies insure for more than
the amounts crcJitcd 20 them but in every such case
the company rcinsures a portion of the risk. The
figures In the table represent the limits without
such reinsurance. OF course, there could be no
reinsurance on n person that took the limit in
every company. Legal reserve and stipulated
premium companies that are not usually classed
as did liners are omitted from tho table, ms also
assessment companies fraternal OrgantZatiu tons
! and several industrial companies that write very
little il any. ordinary life insurance Accident
Companies that pay death claims, but do not
write ordinary lie insurance are likewise omitted
Including all these the total lie insurance that a
person could get in the United States would prob
ably still fall below S3 5000 There are about
$50 life insurance companies in the world not count
ing American companies. Very few OF them
insure for much S25 900 and the average
the total would be only 81 900 900 which, added
10 the American total, would still make only about
one Nth the sum the Prince Of Wales is reported
To be insured for