Milford chronicle., 1905-09-29
CONTROLS WEALTH
OF THE NATION
Life Insurance Pool Wields Stu.
pendOus Power.
ExTRAvAGANT EXPENSE ITEMS

New York, Sept 25.-How stupen
dous is the power Of the little coterie
OF men who govern life insurance
conditions, and how helpless the real
owners of the great life insurance
companies are to prevent wasteful and
criminal use of their wealth was dem.
onstrated by John w. Ryckman, the
owner and editor of the Era Maga-
zine, who for year has been investi-
eating and exposing the corrupt ALI
ance of the great life insurance com.
panies with the Wall street gamblers,
and who has kept on in his work in
the teeth Of an organized effort tc
drive him to the wall and silence
him.
IN his testimony before the legis
lative committee" said Mr.. Ryckman
George w. Perkins made a statement
so astonishing that even his shrewd
inquisitor, Lawyer Hughes, stood for
a moment amazed and apparently un
able to grasp its gravity. Mr.. Perkins
said, in an off-hand way. and appar
emily in defense of the methods of in
surance companies. that in 10 years
from now, if it should not write an
other dollar of insurance, the New
York Life Insurance company would /
alone control more than S1,000000 |
600. The other two big companies |
would control another $1,000 100000.
Now, think what this means. The |
Mutual Life Insurance company and |
the Equitable Society are each approx
imately in the same position as their |
great corporate ally. and their accu-
mutations in the next 10 years will
amount to as much if not more; so
that these three institutions are bound
in an indissoluble alliance.
"Can you conceive a greater danger
to the republic than that sum
crater than the whole money supply
of all the SO,OOO,0OO population in
actual dollars should be controlled and
handled without recourse by a small
coterie of men under a system of or
ganized audacity and cunning, for
which II would be difficult to cite a
parallel in history?
"The fact that the Big Three life
insurance companies disbursed in 1904
the enormous sum Of 100000 for
expenses is alone suffi-
Client to convict these companies OF
"The entire expenses of the whole
and diplomatic service Of the
United States amounted last year to
less than $2,000.000; the entire inter
est on the public debt in the United
States in 1903 was less than S2S,
300, and the cost of the entire Ameri.
can naval establishment in 1896 was
only S27147,732.
Nothing can more strongly illus.
rate the awful extravaganza of these
institutions than a com
larisOn of the steady growth of their
expenses with the rela
lively small increase in the volume OF
heir new business For instance, in
904 the total premiums on new bust.
less of the Equitable alone were S12.-
1927, while the management ex. /
lenses were S14S46,25S; the total
lremiums on new business of the Mu- =
ual we're $14.676.652, while the man
cement expenses were S16,656.1S2;
he total premiums on new business
f the New York Life were $16,133.- l
2S. and the management expenses
19,447867. 5
"It is very important, I think. that D
ne legislative committee should bring g."
ut clearly all the facts as to how D
lillions of the trust funds of policy s.
olders were used directly by the Big g
hree' combine, in league with certain Il
lilroads and rich Wall street gam
Iers, in forming the ironclad coal
ust. which has so robbed the people, A
nOng them the very policyhoulers, :,
no have been unconscious contribu- "
RS of the funds which has made it .,
)ssible for the coal barons to exact o.
ljustly $5O,OOOOOO annually from the - -
lblic." 81