Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-11-21
MUTUAL INSURANCE
Remarkable Growth-340 Mill.
ions in Force in Iowa-18O
Companies
MOSTLY LOCAL IN OPERATION
Estimated That s3o,ooo,ooo Has Been
Saved to Farmers in Thirty Years on
Cost of Insurance as Compared to
Old Line Rates-A Physical Qualifi-
cation for Marriage.
Special to Times-Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Nov. 21.-The Iowa state
association of mutual insurance asso-
Citations doing business chiefly in
fire. hail, tornado and lightning insur
ance, has just closed one of the most
successful of it's annual conventions
in this city, Years ago these annual
conventions were held with perhaps a
dozen earnest men In attendance.
mostly farmers, and it was with great
difficulty that they could be induced
to give out their information to the
public. Now the association draws per
|haps hundred men to each meeting
land several times as many are inter-
|ested directly in the proceedings. Some
of the companies represented are OF
state wide Importance and do enormous
business, but a majority Of the more
than $50 companies thus banded to-
gether are local in nature and their
Operations are confined to one county
each. More than $340,000,00O OF in
surance is in force in these companies.
They are all operated on the purely
mutual plan. The money collected is
sufficient to pay the losses and ex-
lpenses and that is all There is no
profit to any one in the business. And
these companies are growing in num-
Der and Importance and influence and
in general business even faster than the
regular insurance companies. AT this
meeting a committee met to arrange
a program for a national meeting to be
held in Chattanooga next May. The
national association has members from
NEARLY all the states. One of the COM
mittee. Mr.. c. f. Migehbach, of Nc
Pherson, Kan, is one Of the most ag-
gressiye advocates of mutual insurance
in the country. The president of the
Iowa association he said, read at
| the meeting a report in which ne
showed that in the past thirty years
there has been written in these mutu-
| al companies insurance aggregating
lss500. .O00,0 600. Taking this at the aver
I age cost of S4 thousand it means
| $50, ,0Oo, ,00O Now If it is true that in
| surance in, these mutuals saves one
then the people Of Iowa have been
saved $50, 100000 by mutual insurance.
And this is not an extravagant claim,
for the facts will bear it out. Yet
| we feel that this mutual insurance
business is In it's infancy Its essence
| is that it leaves out all selfishness and
men are banded together who have
faith in the honesty of one another
and who have desire to give mutual
help" Thus far the state of Iowa has
had very favorable laws for the mu-
| tual insurance associations and the
members believe there is no danger of
any adverse legislature.
The movement which was COM
menced about two years ago by the
appointment Of committee by the Tri-
| State Medical society in session at
Keokuk to urge upon the legislatures
| of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri the pas
sage Of bills to prevent the marriage
| of persons mentally degenerate or
physically unfit for marriage, is now
receiving support from society
formed in the eastern part of the state
called the Society for the Suppression
| of Specific disease" A Mr.. Bayer, of
Davenport is the state lecturer and
lis engaged in organizing branches of
the society and urging it upon the
people who are In earnest in reforma-
tory work The bill which this soci-
| ETY. proposes to urge upon the Iowa
Legislature is little different from
| that of the. Tri-State Medical society.
It is planned to add this as an amend
ment to the law relating to marriage
certificates and the issuance thereof
by clerks:
whenever application is made to the
clerk of the district court for a license
to marry said applicant must provide
said clerk with certificate from
reputable medical practitioner who re-
sides in the county where the applica-
tion is made vouching that said ap-
lplicant has been under instruction re-
garding the duties pertaining to the
married relation, and said license clerk
lis forbidden to issue a marriage license
without the presentation of the GER
| ltificate."
1t is not difficult to understand that
to make this law effective some other
Legislation may be necessary. 1t is
also easy to understand that the legis-
llator who introduced the bill, no matter
how honest and earnest he may be in
what he advocates, must be prepared
to meet with ridicule and rebuffs. But
those who are making a study of crime
and idiocy and insanity in this and
other states will not hesitate to talk
of the seeming necessity for some new
and radical legislation In regard to
freedom of marriage. They say that
| 1t is not the divorce evil that is most
to be feared but the marriage evil and
they are prepared to prove whole
lot of things.
The appointment of DR.. Alexander
NJ Linn, of this city as member of the
state board of health to succeed HIM
| self, recalls that he is one of two
Ihomeopaths who have been presidents
/ of that board. For many years DR..
Dickinson, holneopath, was president
| of the board and he was esteemed very
highly. In fact the board had cause
| to esteem him for at one time he per-
sonally paid the expenses and perdiem
| of members of the board for several
months because of tangle as to the
| appropriation. DR.. Linn has been on