The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-22
Attempt se ors..ise Holders.

Fl Attempt te Orgnnfse H0tnen
 Mir. Tarbeirs attempt 70 enhst tne Mutual and New York Life Tn nght Iaeainst inimical legislation by organ ixing the policy holders. which he ex-
 l plained in part on Friday, was referred
 to and he explained further about 1t
 The matter of large expense. as under the present method. MT. Tarbell said,
 was largely the reason for this attempt to change the methods. His connection
 with the agency department of the Equitable was gone into and he ex- plained the systems of fixing commis- sions on the various classes of poli- | cics
 MT. Tarbell submitted table with the various commissions paid and the l premiums on the various terms and classes of policies Witness said he | was elected Second Vice-Presfdent of the Equitable in 1899. He was asked
 to give history of agents commissions
 in general and reforms he had sought
 to introduce. if any. He detailed the | increase of commissions with the in- | crease of competition and said that
 when he was given charge of the agency I system of the United States he abol- | ished the bonuses to agents and reduced {, the commissions of the first year pre-
 miums from 60 to 50 per cent. This he
 thought was the severest blow ever 1 dealt at the evil of rebating | !. H. Apgsr on the stnnd. | Mir. Tdrbell was excused temporarily | and Assembfxman !. K Apgar of West Chester was called. He said he
 knew Thomas ? ffusted, who signed
 voucher October If. 1887. for sl,o0o for professional. services for the Equitable Society. Attached to this voucher was
 Mr. Augarss card. on the back of which
 was written; "Mr. Hyde says pay him sf.000 through T. D. Husted, J.. W. Al Mir. Apgar said he knew nothing of the transaction; but said that 1t was | his card. He visited J. W. Alexa 1der in 1897. but what the call was for he did not remember. but ho thought it
 was to intercede for friend. He was | pot member of the Assembly at that | time. though a candidate. He was de-
 feated. James W. Husted. Jr.. broth CT of Thomas Husted. was Mir. Apgars predecessor In the Assemble During the session of 1895 and 1896 Mir Apgar was private secretary to Lieutenant Governor Saxton. He did not
 know how his card became attached to ! the voucher It was not in his hand writing. but the initials on the card were subsequently, identified IS those of J. w. Alexander and written by him. l The voucher was signed by T. D. Hus- ted ani the check was also endorsed by | Husted.
 Did Not Get the Money. Mr. Apgar said he did not know what became of the molcy. He received | none of it, and never heard of the | Equitable paying anything toward his l campaign expenses It was known that on October Is, 1895. r. D. Husted TO- ceived a check for s1.000 and another on October Is, 1896. On both of these
 dates James W, Husted. Jr.. was
 member of the Assembly, MT. Husted had never told him that he had ever received such moneys.
 1r i. 1xs, FtrI6 6a and had known him for many Wears | when he ran for office in West Chester county. He said Fields was vigorous in his political activity and generally elected whoever he started to elect" He declared that he did not know of the maintenance of the house at | Albany He had talks with Mir. Fields | on legislative bills which originated In the insurance department which MT. | Fields favored and which were passed | unanimously. MT. Apgar was then a | member of the insurance committee.
 He asserted that he never had an in- l terview with Fields on any bills to which Fields was opposed. Probably. | he said, he saw Fields not more than | three times during any legislative ses- | sion.
 Asks Not To Be Questioned. | Under pressure from Mir. Hughes. MT. 1 Apgar said that in 1897 his relations with MT. Husted were somewhat
 strained. He asked that he be not
 questioned about the matter, as Mir.
 Husted is dead. He wished MT. Husted
 was present to explain the matter. MT. Hughes did not press the question fur | ther. .f
 Mir. Apgar was then excused and MT. Tarbell resumed his testimony. | Mir. Tarbell said that nearly all com | panies pay larger commission to
 agents than the Equitable, but heebe-
 lieved the Northwestern Mutual In-
 surance Company pays less and does
 a substantial business. He thought 1 rebating could still further be done
 away with by limiting the first year
 commissions on premiums to 40 per cent reducing the renewal commission | by law.
 Mir. Tarbell described the policy of
 twisting" which is the system of an
 agent getting a policynolder to sur
 render policy in one company to take out one in another. He said this was | the most reprehensible form of compe-
 tition encountered by any company and
 was almost always done by misreprc- sentations on the part of the agent. | Hobs the Assured. l An agent who does this robs the
 assured because the assured had to pay l a greater premium by reason of his l advanced age over the period at which
 he tok his original policy. MT. Tarbeli
 said he would not tolerate such d thing | in the Equitable and any agent caught
 twisting would be instantly dis | missed.
 He thougth there had been too much stress and pressure to write business. | especially within the past two or three years. Witness did not think the
 amount of business written was test | of the efficiency of a company. | Mir. Tarbell said that since January | 1, 1900. the total cost of the Equitable | Societies in the United States and Cam ada was a fraction over 61 per cent of | the premiums. MT. Tarbell detailed d l fight with the New York Like in which
 two hundred agents were won yer by | the Equitable in this city.
 MT. Tarbell was still on the stand
 when adjournment was taken until to- morrow morning.