The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-07
AN INSURANCE INVESTIGATION New York Legislative
 Comm ttee Probing. SOME EMINENT COUNSEL Bringing Interesting C0ndi-
 tions to Light. Presidents of~the Mutual Life and Met ropoIitan Companies Each Re-
 ceivc Salary of s1oe,8oe Per Annum.

New York Sept. 6.--Forfner Governor l Frank S. Black of this State appeared as counsel for the Equitable Life As
 surance Society before the joint Legis-
 lative Committee today when the com
 mittee commenced it's investigation of | life insurance conditions In this State Before the hearing opened. Mfr Black said:
 we have nothing to conceal and no one to protect We seek no legal tech- nicalities to evade answering any ques-
 tions. We will aid in every way the progress of the inquiry"
 | Paul D. Cravath was present in the 1 interests of Thomas F. Ryan and W. C. l Gulliver attended as counsel for James Hazen Hyde
 l Senator Armstrong in outlining the purposes of the investigation. said: Our object will not be to punish any body for wrong doing in the past. but 1 to get at all of the salient features of the modern insurance business. SO as to | suggest to the next Legislature an ad- 1 equate law that will not only protect 1 the policy holders in all life insurance companies, but will likewise protect the insurance company management from abuse at the hands of designing per- sons. As most insurance companies are mutual in theory, we shall endeavor to pass a law that will compel them to be mutual in fact. Then the officers of the company will always be working for the interest, of the policy holders, instead of working for themselves by the formation of subsidiary companies to divide the profits of the main com pany. A large number of the present insurance laws are good. It will be our aim to make them better"
 Several of the officers of the New York insurance companies who had been subponaed appeared before the committee and also several officers who were not summoned. With them came the company's books covering the bus mess for the past ten years. The of- ficers present were Jno. A. Mccall, President; Geo. W. Perkins, T. A. Buckner, D. P. Kinsley, vice-Presi- dents; Rufus W. Weeks. Chief Actuary; E. R. Perkins, Second Vice-President; John c. Mccall, Secretary; E. D. Ran doiph, Treasurer, and many junior off, cers. Vice-President Perkins said that no legal counsel was present to repre- sent the company and that none was needed ~ >'
 Some of the Lawyers.
 James M. Beck represented the Mu-. tual Life Insurance Company of New York; Lawyers Frank R. Lawrence and Frank H. Platt the Mutual Reserve Life Insurance Company, and Richard V Lindaberry the Metropolitan Life h. surapce Company. .~
 In opening the hearing counsel for the committee stated that the first sub Ject taken up would be the position of the policyholders in the administration of companies He quoted the evidence once given by Henry B. Hyde founder of the Equitable Society, to show the position of the Equitable stockholders
 Robert A. Granniss. First Vice-Presi- dent of the Mutual Life Insurance aW TIMA ness. He testified that he was a direc- tor of the United States Mortgage and Trust Company and of the Lawyers Trust Company.
 Mir. Hughes, counsel for the commit tee, quoted from the charters of the Mu- tual the clauses giving rights to the policy holders in the election of officers and other administrative rights and had the bylaws of the company identified and placed on the record
 Vtce-President Grannis testified that there had been only one case in the last i've or six years of votes cast by proxy in the Mutual Life Insurance Company's elections. He estimated that President Richard A. McCurdy of the Mutual and himself held about 2O,- 900 proxies. Mir. Hughes asked who was General Manager of the Mutual and received the reply that this posi- ton was flled by Robert S. McCurdy, son of the President of the company Walter G. Oakman. himself a trustee of the Mutual, who testified that he had served as an inspector of the elec- l tions in question was asked how he knew that the electors were genuine policyholders. In reply he said that | there was no examination of creden- tials. no presentation of policies or any other way of certifying the right of a prospective voter to cast his ballot. AHs n-N ofneers of the company, who, he said, were always present during the two- hour election period to tell him wheth- CT the electors presenting themselves were entitled to vote | Accepted Voters Statememtn. l George M. Cumming, President of the United States Mortgage Trust Com | pany, who had acted as a Mutual cleo tion inspector. said that in all cases the inspectors accepted the statements | of voters as to their eligibility.
 1 The amounts of salaries paid to of- hcers of the New York Life Insurance Company were given by John c. Mc- | Call. Secretary of that company. He | said he was a son of President John A. Mccall of the New York Life; that the day after he graduated from liar ward in 1899 he went to work for the New York Life Insurance Company at a salary of $2,500 a year as assistant secretary, and that now he received S14,00O. The Presidents salary, he said, was $1oO.O00 The salaries of the First Vice-Presidents were 5000. SS5,000 and $4O,OO0. and of the three Second Vice-Presidents, $30, 0,00O, $3l,0o0 and $1S,00O, respectively. There were, MT. Mccall said, about 25,000 proxies in the office of his company, made out In the names of the President and Vice. Presidents.
 Edward Rhodes appeared for the l Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Com pany of New Jersey, which does busf- ness in New York. He said that the salaries paid to the officers of the New Jersey Company were very low, but the figures were not given.
 The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was represented in the wit ness box by Vice-President Haley Fisk | and by Frederick II. Ecker, controller. The latter said that in an election in 1904 out of 3S,930 votes cast all eN- ! cept three or four were voted by proxy. Mir. Fisk said that the Presi- dents salary was S100,000, his own | $750O0 and the lesser officers From s25,000 down.
 PICKETT SPRINGS CASINO.