The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-12-07
ADVOCATE A CHANGE
IN INSURANCE PLAN
Officers of the Modern Wootlmcn
of America Urge the Adop-
ton of Another System.
STEP SCHEME IS ENDORSED.
Danger Of Increased Assessments
When F~ratcrnal Order Mem
h"rs Grow Old Is
Referred To.

America. 10 eject "a change In the insur-
ai:ce plan of that order.
IN a sEa-.l recently made in s.. Louis
Nj. sullivan iou'e. out the grave danger
which lie stated ru"Dac-I the future Of the
orI-r II is present system Of insurance
were continued. He warmly advocated that
either n" step" or 'iev"I' plan of in
sui.tnc- a. inaorsoi by tho Fraternai Con-
sr,ss 10" adpDtcI without delay.
In sInStaIt!a;lorI II his statement. Mr..
Sullivan produced statistics.
III" Modern Woolm~u Of America was
n:gaLiz"l il 100 with a. conrartivr3y sinai!
H@mAs'-nin II So: il now has d raemDer-
snip oi about 6-l.1r5.
The INSURANCE" plan adopted ~ this order
i for Tho pnyI:lenl # monthly cues accurl-
lux t' q tao" Of death expectancy. The
amount Of these d1's IS fixed at the rate
.. inr as" ca WHEN The mpmu.. ,utrGs
'i' "E."r. ".th % Very -r.dual an! small
inET'a.' A. != g-ts o...r If a member
AK ~ 80" worth rI insurance at IS
years II dgr b." Viii nav" to pay ~ cents
" month. II he takes ont I'll" same amouuL
a. i'ft- tp-T~ his monthly dues VIII amount
Claims - b." paid L.! excess IF tn. amount
}di- IN IN" member i .iibi. Tor an assess
iI"nt 10 make UP the deficit.
Mr.. sullivan said that while the cost Of
maintaining N. risk Uu a member who
Joins at tn" age Of u is only 81 cents. which
: Offset 10y The II cents when he has paid
IN. in course Of time ;he cost II main
tanning the risk Is far in excess OF the
amount # ,iH.S and that tn" cost Of NAM
tanning the risk Of members g years old is
VI a month sreltgr than then, dues.
consul of the order, who is also striving f.r
a. establishment Of the Insurance plan. that
the Increase Of the cost Of the risk over The
amount al TIE dues begins at the forty
eighth year and is exactly even at The pre-
From tables shown by NJ. Ho.thcott ana
Mt. sullivan IL appears that If a member
lives until he is 30 years Oil h is costing
tAG society $40 a m,nth To maintain his
risk, while his dues only amount 10 - cents
per month.
LOOKING IN THE FUTURE.
Arguing on these ana other statistics Mr..
sullivan points out that il is only a question
Of lin" when there viii b" a large number
"f elderly members in tn organization. in
Tlic. ease the death rate viii materially
increase. Under these circumstances. as
shown by Mr.. NCrthcutJS figures. thu cost
of maintaining their death rates VIII h." in
excess of The dues rait. which will Eece<-
sitate assessments. and as the old members
VIII die. obviously III" assessments Will fan
on The young r members to such an extent
thar they VIII ultimately withdraw from
the order.
tn a lecture delivered by Mr.. Northcott
on this matter h. says:
v trd The Younger members in t!.s past
b#lanci.S til deficiencies Il the older meTI-
"HeretosoTe the large annual increase in
our me- mt'tr=fip mas Kept our assessments
from 'so..!iuG tw-!v- Zach gar. Can this
10" continued IN tn future? 1t Us look IL
this 'u-w-Hion.' remedy.
1t would require y net Increase in our
membership OF - per cent a Year la keep
our ayerag" Stationary. The present aver
s-f axe ~ fir membership Is % YEARS. anu
- years Each year ADDS one year {" the
az" If our older membership. On" new
member Will balance the Increase in age OF
four I'D member Therefore. if We have a
one-fourth MT increase each year our
average would remain stationary"
In a table made from the above state-
m'nt Mr.. Nnrthc"tt shows that in January,
1911, the membership. undo the present
system, must amount to i.>sG lf2. represent
Ing an incI"as" since January. 1910. OF '.1.-
- --.L 81 -af..,. 81. y,.,l 90
dcTS are unanimously Of III" opinion that
NeSsTs. Sullivan ana NnrthcCtt are correct
in their ideas. hut most 81 them 20 not be-
lily" That the chang vii! b. effected. a i
VIII have tn u" decided by a Vot" of all
The members ri tne order. many OF whom
cannot he convinced that tier Is 4 posSi-
bIlity OF a change In the present prosperous
conditions Of the order. and viii not agree
i'm CONSEQUENCE +" paying an additional
STEP" PLAN EXPLAINED.
william H. Mitleg. grand master, Of the
4. -. l. W. STATED that his "l'.rr hal the
same trouble some years ago. and lfad
adopted one Of thu plans advocated by Mr..
Suiit"an. which j. known as the step
by this system a gradual increase in the
payment Of premiums IS required each E"aT
ZIP to f~iftr-tivc years. Aitrr that the preTai-
ums remain the same. y portion Of the
monthly assessment ar premium is turned
over 80 what is known as The supreme
grand lodge guarantee fund. out OF which is
paid the deficit which may occur from an
Thu large majority of frat mai orders
have adopted what * known as tn 10y J.
plan. This is ais" advocated by Mr.. Sulli-
van BY this plan the premiums always
remain the same as At the periO! when the
iusuranc" IS taken ont. hut the pr rriuinS
are calculated on = tahls u Lille expectancy
ard average about what they would be ON
Insurance companies If the fratrrnai or
deT character, rs a rule. preserve a re-
serve fund "Ht Of which death claims great
~ than the amount of premiums may be
paid.
Jere Ha11emau, grand secretary of the
ROYAL AreanlIm. when asked to give an *
precision on I'll" best m -thOd Of fTate"nti
Insurance. said:
There are many plans. but the large
majority Of the orders haze adopted on" IF
the two methods recommended toy the Fra
rerlal Congress.
cours'. W. change some Of ;l'ese plans
10 s.Iit or: order, hut tn. ornamental
principles remain the same.
'Dne thing is certain. the carrying Of a
risk on a human life costs y certain rigid
amount and j. subject to unalteTable laws.
Various plans have been devised 10 car
~ thave risks at tn" smallest possible cost
10 he insured and the order: small pay
fnents covering It long period. or large pay
meuJS covering a short period. hat. either
Nay. thu order Iaust receive dollar FOR do
lar what it pays ont in death ciaim~.
of course. Il member NAV die long BE-
fore his policy has been paid ua IN pr
l1iUnlS. but the others who live longer than
the period Of their life expectancy Wi!
make this up if the business is conducted
on proper calculation a 70 life "xpe"tailcy-
SOME HAVE LEVEL" PLAN.
What is known as impaired risks always
manage to keep up their dues. while good
risks are Liable 10 change
William II. Hughes. special representative"
Of the oodmtn Of the World. stated that
his order had adopted the level plan.
The new orders" said Mr.. Hughes
'shOu!f profit by the experience of many
OF the old orders who started on a plan Of
Il small assessment i month and prospe1sl
until their members grew old and the death
rate increased 50 rapidly that the younger
members Were constantly assessed TO make
up the claims. This resulted in the young
CT Members withdrawing.
The order of the NaCCahees of the World
use the level plan. retaining a certain per
cent of the premiums for an emergency
fund. When this fund grows beyond i Ger
tain amount the collection of premiums IL
stopped until the Emergency Fund ha: war
rants issued against it for amounts ma
/, teriaIly decreasing its size.
p. T. Anderson. grand commander OF the
Maccabeea, stated that the step and level
plans were about the only way in which a
fraternai order could make a material sue
cess.
"Ot the eighty-fve fraternal orders which
sent representatives 10 the Fraternal Con-
sress a few years ago. e5 per cent adopted
one of the insurance plans recommended by
the congress-" said Mr.. Anderson.
knights of the Naccabees.
Tho month Of November was the greatest
mdntf, the order ever had. During the month
SO Members were admitted. an increase of 81
ner cent over November. 1901.
E. + H.. - --H AZ r-FEr