Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-10
CHILD INSURANCE GROWING
Death Of Babes in s~wsddling C,otie5 Nay
Mean a Prtft l. Parents.
TEMPTATION TO LET The SICK DIE
Grade of Domestic crime Moving from
Pennsylvania to the West
Recent Experiences
In Chicago.

Recent investigation Of child insurance in
Pennsylvania proved conclusively that the
business was responsible for the in
creased mortality among children noted
among the vital statistics Of many com
munities In that state. Prmoters Of child
Insurance are working Chicago and have
aroused considerable public indignation.
In the territory Of Hull House and all
within the field occupied By the Chicago
Bureau Of Charities the representatives OF
the two associations come in contact with
the insured, both as to the babes and
adults.
1T is everywhere in the nelghborhood
of Hull House. said Miss Jane Adams
to a Chicago Tribune reporter, and while
! am certain it carries with II no such
abuses as are complained Of in London, 1t
IL an evil nevertheless. No case has come
to the kuov ledge OF the settlement whore
n parent has killed a child in any way
for the Insurance.. but we have seen in
stances where the temptation must have
been felt.
For instance, a case occurs to ne
where one OF a family Of five children died.
When ! called upon the woman she was
loudly bewailiny the fact that the child
who died was the only one OF the five who
was not insured. Her grief had taken
such a turn that there was no doubt she
would prefer TO have had one OF the in
sured members go than to have lost one
whose death did not provide burial funds.
Temptation to Let sick Die.
at the most think the insurance Of
babes and children may be a temptation
TO parents to allow the child, when sick,
to be neglected. 1t would be pretty hard
in this country for a wholesale killing Of
children for any reason to go undetected;
IL is hardly possible that the small insur-
ance in such cases would prove enough to
encourage deliberate murder. However,
the system must be regarded as bad in it's
effects.
Not only are the babes insured, but
any and all members Of the family are pro-
tected by this form Of industrial insur-
ance. We had a case here a year ago in
which a man and his wife were dependent
upon charity. Both were Ill, and we
looked after them until the man died.
Then we were astonished beyond measure
TO find that his life had been insured in
one of these companies, and through ell
the poverty of the family his wife had
kept up the weekly premiums. Not only
that, but after his death we discovered
that the widows life was also insured
and when she finally was taken with her
last illness she turned the amount Of the
policy over to me.
Undertaken Gets IL All.
"One of the most hopeless things about
these policies is the fact that, no matter
how much needed is the policy falling due
It is always misspent. The undertaken get.
1t all, as a rule. In the few cases where WI
have had knowledge OF the burials OF these
people everything went toward the funera
expenses. With most of these people 1t II
the first time In their lives that they have
had money in any amount to spend, and al
: 1t came easy. IL goes that way.
with regard to nationality. the resi-
dents in this section of the city seem t.
take to the industrial insurance. however
many OF them in the hope that It will keel
them from a pauper's grave"
At the Bureau OF Associated Charities tn
work OF the industrial insurance agent 4
known In general, but there, as at HUI
House, any specific abuse Is hard to poin
out. In one instance about a year ago
whole neighborhood was worked up owe
the reported poisoning OF a babe for tn
Insurance money, but nothing came of II
The family was white and poor to III
verge OF starvation.
Causes Extravaganza In Funerals.
IL have just one case In mind sal
Superintendent Bicknell; "a boy, pretty wei
grown, died while we were helping tn
family. Ordinarily under such circum
stances we would have allowed $35 for
decent burial for the child, but the parent
spent the full 500 insurance in burying tn
boy and then came back on the bureau 70
more help.
I'VE have such experiences all the time
money that should go TO the keeping {
these people is spent in these industris
insurance policies. People are caught b
the smallness of the premiums each weel
a nickel a week is pointed out to them a
almost nothing; whereas, in proportion I
what the insured gets. he Is paying III
biggest Of premiums, II would surprise 20
TO know Just how widespread this form
life insurance has become among the poo
all over the city"
Negroes are especially good marks fC
these agents. The darby has an elemeI
OF risk in his makeup and everywhere I
has invested in this so-called graveyard
insurance,
I'm the southern edge of Kenilwort