The Irish standard., 1905-04-01
NORTHWESTERN NATIONAL
Insurance Commissioner Acts Aaaisst
Biz Life COMPANY.

Insurance Commissioner Acts Aaaisst
BIG Life Company.
The officers of the, Northwestern
| National Life Insurance company of
Minneapolis have resigned. The COM
pany is pronounced 4olvent,. by the
state insurance commissioner, but in
the interest of harmony and for the
protection of the rights of the policy.
holders, the officers have offered to
step aside.
This is the climax OF conflict
which has been in progress in the in.
surance underworld for several years.
AS far as the public information is
concerned it may be traced back to
the first steps in the building of the
Minneapolis Auditorium.
When the Auditorium project was
originally proposed it was predicated
upon a proposition substantially as
follows:
That the Northwestern National
Life Insurance company would agree
to build an auditorium seating $500
persons and costing not less than
$l50,000, provided the citizens of Min
neapolis would cooperate in securing
insurance to the amount OF 100000.
When pledges amounting to $780,
600 of insurance were secured the
company proceeded to put up the
building and expended about 100000
in the Auditorium and Office building
adjacent.
The Auditorium project, while
great advertisement for the local CON-
pany, aroused the bitterest hostility
OF the other insurance companies
operating in this field and efforts were
made to induce the Minneapolis news.
papers to oppose the proposition upon
the ground that the Northwestern
company was not solvent. The claims
made were in substance that the pres
ent Northwestern National Life Insur-
ance company was combination or
conglomeration of about twenty small
companies, some OF which were in
very poor shape when their policy
holders were reinsured in the new
company.
AS a result of this criticism and op-
position, principally on the part OF
agents of rival companies, the state in
surance commissioner, Elmer H.
Dearth, last August instituted an in
vestigation, employing as his expert
S. H. Wolfe, New York actuary,
whose report was in substance that
the company was solvent, and had
surplus of $92,911.41, based upon the
accepted actuarial computation.
Upon the strength OF this report of
the insurance commissioner, and not
withstanding some criticism upon the
management, the citizens of Mime
apolis came to the front and the
Auditorium was built.
When the present insurance COM
missioner, 7. d. O'Brien, took charge of
this department he considered it his
duty to take up the matter afresh and
a second investigation OF the North
western company was ordered The
same expert was employed by MIR.
O'Brien as had made the previous ex-
familiar and hence could do the work
most easily.
The report of Mr.. Wolfe was fin
ished on Tuesday and as result OF it's
presentation to the insurance COM
missioner a conference was held
Wednesday forenoon at which were
present Governor Johnson, the insur-
ance commissioner. Attorney General
Young and the officers and directors
of the company, with their attorneys.
Judge Kerr and F. V. Brown; also B.
F. Carroll, state auditor OF Iowa, who
represented the Iowa insurance de-
partment.
At this meeting the situation was
discussed for several hours and the
officers present offered to resign, if the
interests OF the company and the
policy-holders could be thereby served.
In the afternoon at meeting OF
the board OF directors the president,
w. F. Bechtel, the first vice president
and actuary, A. F. Timme, and the
secretary, f. j. Sackett, rendered their
designations, to take effect upon the
election of their Successors, and the
directors passed a resolution asking
the cooperation of a committee of rep
resentative citizens OF Minneapolis to
aid and suggest the selection of the
future officers of the company The
committee selected consisted of Mayor
ID. P. Jones, B. f. Nelson, Lucian
Swift and John Lind Judge Brooks
has also been suggested as a fifth
member of the committee.
FROM THE CAPITAL.
John J. Gleason, who for some time