The Savannah morning news., 1901-03-31
NEGROES SAVINGS
THEIR INVESTMENTS IN INSURANCE.
AND SAVINGS BANKS.
TAKING CARE OF THEIR MONEY.
-FOUR SAVANNAH BANKS HAVE
$4,000 BY CoL0RED DEPosrToRs.

One Bank Has Over 1900 Colored
Depositors and Two others Have
over 3,2OO-In Nine Life Insurance
Companies 1O5 CoIored People i'm
savannah Carry Nearly 100000
Insurance - Nearly $500 Co1ored
Men Are Employed by the Rail-
roads I'm Shops ana on Trains.
az the investigations made by the Geor-
9ia state Industrial College with regard
TO the labor condition of the colored peo-
ple of this section, probably the most IN
teresting are the statistics that refer to
their savings.
rhe two lines selected are insurance,
life and fire; and deposits In the various
banks of the city. Both life ana nre IN
surance show the colored laborers' great
progress in foresight and providence.
One of the main charges against the
colored people is that they do not look
ahead and provide, so to speak, for
rainy day. There has also been a super
stition among them against life insur-
ance. To some there seems to be d.
vine objection against insuring ones hfe
On the other hand, the insurance compa-
MES were reluctant to take colored risks.
Others have charged colored insurers
higher rate than they charge white peo-
pie. Thus, many obstacles have hindered
the colored people in getting insurance.
One of the results of these Investigations
was expected to show, and has shown,
that most of the insurance companies now
gladly take the better class of colored
people and at the same rates at which
they take white people.
There are in the city about 30 life and
fire insurance agents, fifteen reported.
Two claim that they have so large and
valuable a list of colored insurers that it
would require an extra clerk to get up an
accurate list. They are evidently doing
a good business in fire insurance of col
ored peoples property. Four others re-
ported that they do no insurance business
among eolored people. Eight report as
follows:
In three companies q persons are carry
ing life insurance of $4,000, an average of
81, $50 95 to each person insuring.
In six companies eighty-four persons
are carrying fire insurance amounting to
SAT, So this being an average of $685. go Ito
each person insuring.
AS a rule, the insurance agents seem to
be quite interested in the colleges inves-
LEGATIONS. An extract from the letter or
one firm is as follows:
''You may be interested to known that
of the ST, 100 fire insurance there is $10,-
$50 on dwellings, $500 on household and
office furniture and 600 on stock of mer-
chandise. We would be pleased to assist
you at any time in this matter, as we
presume the data of which you are in
search is for the purpose of showing the
advance made by the colored race.p
The banks are equally interested. One
bank went to the trouble of counting its
colored depositors, who number 222s. An
other president writes that as his bank
makes no distinction in receiving deposits
as to the color of the depositor, he can
not answer the inquiry, but that his
bank does its share in the encouragement
to save from earnings irrespective of
color.
The statistics from the banks reporting
show that in four banks who gave the
amount deposited by the colored people