Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-06-23
MODERN THIMBLE RIGGING
[By d. w. Norris, of Grinnell.]

pdydDle Ut ucaln, ana you pay AiiC
premiums annually in ten payments,
or all cash. You are charged an eX-
orbitant premium. 1t is a game of
chance, hence attractive--hence suck
ers bite. They are all in a class by
themselves and the earnings are kept
separate from that of other policies.
AT the end of ten years you get your
dividend Now read your policy and
you will find that the lying agent did
not tell you that you must be living
at the end of ten years in order to
participate in the dividends. otherwise
your estate will recover only the face
of your policy. A man at Toledo died
not long ago, having a $4,000 policy
The figures given him showed that he
would get something like $500 In
dividends at the end of ten years, and
his $4,000 at death. Well he died about
ten days too soon, or ten days before
the ten years expired. His administers
tor expected to get about $4,000. He
got just $4,000.
Who got these earnings? The theory
ia that the fellows in this class who
didn't die In ten years got them. say
theory, but this is not the fact. If one
Of them lived in Chicago. or Cleveland
and was prominent banker or lawyer.
he got his share of this pot
provided he made good advertise
his sworn statement The fellow in
Podunk who lived ten years. got his
share also. less what the Alexanders
and the Hydes didn't take for their
own use. His statement was never
published among the literature that
the life insurance liar carries.
So far as know the deferred divi-
dend" policy is written only by the
Wall street companies, possibly by the
Prudential. Nothing would surprise
me from a company that carries the
portrait of it's president in Harper's
Magazine, and his u. S. senatorship to
get business. "U. S. Senator John F.
Dryden, president of the Prudential"
This Is a case of thrift equal to our
own dear Secretary Shaw. SO far as
L know the Northwestern Mutual
Life of Milwaukee, is the only sound
western company that writes tontine.
There may be others, but there ought
not to be-
Life insurance should be limited by
law to life insurance. All swindling
and gambling and cutting policies
should be prohibited. These compan-
les like the Northwestern Mutual
would not have to resort to such
methods In order to compete. go
further, 1 would prohibit any feature
of speculation Let the policy be
life policy. Even endowment policies
are Objectionable. but they are not i'm
moral and hardly speculative. Let the
insured pay his premium all In cash,
or annually, or in ten payments or
twenty, as he may prefer. Then 1
would fix the premiums according to
the American tables of mortality, and
by the last fifty years Of experience
and make it unlawful for any com
pany to collect more. This would do
away with dividends, and SS0,0O0,00O
surplus and the other millions used
to debaucf the commercial life Of the
country.
To make this more clear to the man
who doesn't understand life insurance
will explain. From the premiums
collected, the Equitable Life has set
aside fund of many millions and this
is called the reserve. This fund is In
tact, and if the Equitable should llqul-
date today, this fund invested at four
per cent would pay any obligation as
it natures. The company has also
paid dividends on stock from pre-
miums, or from interest earned on
your money, it doesn't matter, also
the enormous and dishonest salaries.
Also Cambon dinners, ETC., and be-
sides, has accumulated surplus OF
$50, 600, 900. This is the sum that you
ought not to have paid and the COM
pany should have been prohibited by
law from taking it from you.