Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-17
GOLD BRICK INSURANCE.


Within the last four or five years
several so-called life Insurance com
panies have been organized in Des
Moines based on plans so startling ant
SO foreign to the PRINCIPLES of true lifs
insurance that they are known, botf
at home and abroad, as gold bond COM
panies. The literature they send out is
SO seductive and the promises so gilt
tering that the harvest of victims has
been great. Notwithstanding theil
methods have been repeatedly exposed
and the fraudulent character of their
contracts demonstrated; notwiths stand
ing the enormous profits to the organ
izers are enough to condemn them and
are sufficient to convince any man OF
reasonable business experience of the
fraudulent character Of the scheme,
nevertheless they continue to flourish
In state that had the courage to de-
stroy the scandalous building and loan
system.
The insurance department of the
state Of Missouri exposed the rotten
ness OF the gold bond companies sew
eral years ago; the insurance depart
naent of the state of Minnesota has
refused them certificate Of character:
insurance journals all over the United
States have denounced them and their
methods, and there is not a reputable
life insurance company In America that
does not regard them as outlaws.
In spite Of all this no word of CEN
sure has e'.er been seen in Des Moines
paper The explanation l.; simple. Their
is profitable. The men who
are reaping the unholy profits are
prominent citizens, and in each direc-
tory can be found at least one infiu-
cntial politician. Not only has the Des
Moines press refused publicity to what
is being said and published all over the
country, hut the legislature of Iowa, to
its shame be it said, has ignored the
presence of these miserable concerns.
Elk Secretary OF State Dobson was at
enc time president of one of them. He
stepped down and out because. he says,
the methods used were too rank for him
even. When Dobson has to hold his
nose, it is high time that some one in
Iowa, soma newspaper, has the courage
to lay bare some Of the facts concern
ms them.
From time to time there have ap-
peared In our Des Moines correspond
ence many discreditable facts and the
T.-R. has watched the course Of these
audacious men with wonder and con-
tempt, and this paper feels that it owes
a duty to the public to call halt. We
ape aware of the fact that we are in
yiting the hostility of rich men and
strong influences, but Iowa is not New
York.
In comparison with these men, In
their methods to get something foi
the fakir, who stands on the
street corner, in the glare of dirty
torch and to the strains of vulgar mu-
sic sells cakes of soap wrapped in S2o
bills for 81 a cake. is a gentleman. he
ADMITS that his business is fraud and
his victims suckers. But the oleagi-
nous Peeksniff who sells gold bond
policies rides in carriage, holds down
a pew in church, is received and recog-i
rized In society. 1t is true he doesn't
cover cashier with gun, but hs ac-
the same results by a slick
ar method, and he escapes the peniten-
t.ary. The fact that bankers, repre-
sentatiye,s OF trust con. panies, politi-
clans, participate in these ill-gotten
gains makes the business not better,
but worse. 1t is not the purpose of
this writer to go into statistics nor to
discuss the question as to whether they
conform to the law. We. simply want
the public to know thnt they are being
and shanrefully robbed
and il the law recognizes this business
as legitimate, then 1t Is high time the
law be changed.
Let it be remembered, first, that these
companies can only secure business by
large and unusual gains. We
have one Of their contracts before us
as we write, and we assume that they
are all organized on much the same ba-
sis. One is asked to pay to the COM
pany 800 a year for tsn years under
the promise that the company will pay
back to him at the expiration of ten
years $1,000 land Accommodations" The
last two words constitute the bait to
catch the sucker No one would be
such a fool as to pay 500 year for
ten wears If only $1,000 were to be re-
turned He could go IN any savings
bank in Iowa and deposit 500 a year
for ten years and receive back $1,24S.60.
And vet $1,000 is all that the company
is obliged to pay under the contract.
Now this may surprise policy hold
ers, but read your contract. Are there
70 accumulations? Yes, very large ac-
but you don't get them.
The stockholders divide the "accumu-
lations'' among themselves. S. II.
Wolfe, the New York actuary, in his re-
port to the insurance department of