Los Angeles herald., 1905-07-05

governing machinery mas sunk unuer
the domination of insurance money
When President Roosevelt was u
member of the New York legislature
the insurance lobby controlled that
body, and 1t has controlled it ever
since. Roosevelt predicted, while in the
Legislature, that the insurance scandal
would grow until sweeping changes iu
the general management of the bus
mess would become a necessity. A
friend Of the president, Paul Morton, is
housecleaning the Equitable.
John A. Mccall president of the New
York Life, a Democrat, was offered the
nomination for governor Of New York
in 1902 by David B. Hill, and declined
with the statement that he intended to
support Mr.. Roosevelt for president in
office from the Democrats. Mccall
threw the influence of the New York
Life to the president last year and pub
licly advocated his election. But these
ldClS VIII lOt DO PCiiiittSN, bhS PiSS
ident's friends say, to stand in the way
of the proposed investigation of the
New York Life Insurance company BY
the Republican administration of New
York state through Hendricks as hea !
of the insurance department.
Did Mccall and his Wall street as
sociates, the insurance lobby and the
Mccall politicians, provoke the assault
on the Equitable before Ryan secured
| control? Wall street would not have
been at all surprised, before the Ryan
coup, to see Mccall calmlys reach out
and take possession of the Equitable,
to run 1t as an adjunct to the New York
Life.
Is Ryan, after his Equitable coup,
intrenched behind the enormous re-
sources of that society and a dozen
banks, trust companies traction COM
panles and railways, awaiting that eX-
pected turn of affairs which will bring
the New York Life under the same
strain of accountability to law ana
public opinion as the Equitable, in or
der to gobble up the New York Life?
Some we'll informed persons in Wall
street believe that he will eventually,
when the housekeeping in the Equis-
able is finished and the New York Life
is on the carpet, come forward with
the means of rehabiltating that corn-
pany.
There is a growing demand for the
same sort of investigations and the apr
plication of the same drastic remedies
to cure the evils in other companies.
The New York World, Sun and Herald
and daily voicing these demands. Her
bert Myrck, president of the Orange
Judd company, has written to Super
intendent of Insurance Hendricks ask
ing for an investigation of the Mutual
Life and the New York Life. In his
letter ne says:
Your report upon corruption in the
Eauitable-upon the graft, stealing
and dishonesty that has permeated
that great concern for so many years
adds fuel to the suspicion that the
other great insurance companies may
also be culpable.
My life is insured to an amount
exceeding $100, 900 in the Mutual Life
Insurance company of New York. L
am paying the premium due July 1,
but feel Justified in respectfully call
ing upon you to at once make the
same searching investigation into the
Mutual Life, and an even more COM
prehensive and unsparlng report as
you have done in the Equitable case.
/ believe also that many thousands OF
the small policy holders In the Mutual
Life would join in this demand II op-.
portunity offered.
This should be followed by similar
Investigation of the New York Life
Insurance company, In which am
also a policy holder,
IL the history, record or present
condition of the Mutual Life and the
New York Life are all right your war
rant to that effect win be benefit TO
both companies and satisfaction TO
every policy holder. on the other
hand, If there is anything wrong about
either of these companies the sooner
1t is unsparingly exposed and wholly
rectihed the better for all concerned.
Editorlally the Sun says;
good deal has recently been said,
or written, of money used by corpora
tions In sustaining political party or
ganizations. influencing party leaders,
and hypnotizing the state officials.
What do the Equitables ledgers reveal
in that relation which the policy holders
and the public should know2 For ex-
ample:
4. What sums have been annually
expended at Albany by the society dur
ing tho last half century?
2. How much appears as having been