Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-10
The Connecticut Mutual.

The annual statement of the Con- necdcut Mutual Life Insurance com pany and the report of it's president. Colonel J. L. Greene, appear else where this, morning. The company during the past year has increase its premium income, its interest income. and It's net assets, has maintained its phenomenally low expense rate, and has reduced by $7SO,O0O it's item of real estate held under foreclosure It shows assets of $64,932, ,955 and a sur plus, which, according to its own low scale of figuring, Is $4,63O,OOO, and, according to the usual 4 per cent. reck- onlng, would be about $3,OOO, ,OOO more. It has in force 7O,15O policies insur- ing $166,5O4,5OO
 The assets of the company are in me shape and the stocks and bonds are all of high class and have all paid ! their anticipated return with the sim gle exception noted, in the case of the 1 city of Galveston, where the security l Is ample and payment will have to he made. The decline in market values amounts to about points on the S25.- oOo,OoO or more of quick assets, but their 1ncome-producing quality is full ly maintained and they still show a profit of about $1,O0O,OOO above cost. During Its existence the Connecti- l cut Mutual has received from it's polt- cy-holders $227, 7,347, ,SS7 and it has re- turned to it's policy-holders $227, ,11S.- 9S4, or 999 per cent of all that has been paid in. It still holds $65, ,OOO,. OOO Of their money, which is five to e1gth millions above its liabilities. The steady fall in the rate of interest has at last brought the Connecticut Mutual to reduce somewhat the rate of dividend to policy-holders, which for the past twenty three years has been unmatched by any other com pany, but in this 1t is simply doing what others were forced to do years earlier. The wise course of President Greene in voluntarily adopting back ill 1882 the per cent rate for his cal culations has operated to produce a much greater surplus and to defer and lessen the reduction of dividends. This 3 per cent basis has been grad ually adopted by practically all the life companies in the country, all though, when Colonel Greene set the pace about twenty years ago, his "con- servatism" was frequently criticised.
 The watchword of President Greene's policy is conservatism and
 
 upon the methods of those companies that seek business by going outside legitimate field of life insurance. He predicts that, if the "liberalizing" of policies goes on, it will not be long be- fore companies themselves will exist from day to day only because the in sured refrain from exercising the rights granted them. If they can withdraw all their money at will, they have it in their power to close up company at any time, while per
 sistency is one of the essential factors in life insurance.
 In contrast with this he says: In the midst of this sort of competi- ton, which brings an enormous busi- a ness but with enormous waste, at an , expense which is as reckless as it is unnecessary, and which contrad1cts s every principle and method by which , proper and adequate results as to the 3 security of contracts, the cost of in r surance, equity between members, 3 and the integrity of the company it. self, can be assured the Connecticut t Mutual holds steadfast to tie trutll 2 which be 1t never so widely or lightly t disregarded, can never be denied, that ! the paramount purpose of life insur- 9 ance, the one and only peculiar scr 9 vice 1t is constructed and fitted to 2 render, and the only one worth its ! necessary cost even at minimum t and the one spring of it's high mo ' tive, is ''to defend and provide for :. . those whose welfare depends on the . continuance of one's life and who , must suffer in Ill their future by its
 loss.