The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-07-01
MIR. RYAN AND THE EQUITABLE.

ment, chiefly OF a congratulatory nature.
Insurance Commissioner Hendricks however
does not view this move with favor, but seemingly
has felt 1t incumbent upon himself to dlscounte-
nance it in his report to the Governor.
We think Mr.. Hendricks attitude is to be COM
mended Whilst Mr.. Ryan may be man of ster-
ling character, as we'll as brilliant fnancier, the
transaction savors not well. 1t may reasonably be
regarded with much suspicion and aversion on the
part of the interested policy-hoders They have
already been ruthlessy plundered By the voares of
high finance, and to them it can make but little
difference whether the system by means of which
they are vctimized is manipulated by Hyde or a
! RYAN.
We do not know Mr.. Ryan; hence plead that
aught we may say shall not be construed design
eddy derogatory to the mans character. 1t is said
that he is munfcent in his benefactions to most
worthy religious and charitable institutions. While
he is surely to be commended for this, it is not of
itself sufficient justification to longer foist upon
the plundered pocy-holders perpetuation of d
system under which they have been mercilessIy
and shamefully mulctcd.
Now, what warrant is there for surmising that
| the management will be unjust, as the old has
81 Clearly Deell proven to nave Deen!
The one damnng circumstance that would point
to such a conclusion is the price paid for Mr..
Hydes holdings. For shares representing a par
value of $4,000, and the dividends upon which
are limited by the company's charter-for the cs-
tensible purpose of protecting its policy-holders
TO seven per cent per annum is paid the of
$5,00O000. Will any one contend that brilliant
hnancier, "a past master in high finance and "a
captain of industry"-as Mr.. Ryan is styled By his
enthusiastic admirers-is investing $5,000000 with
view of receiving thereon annual revenue of
S3,570-the maximum sum which it may legitimate
ly earn; less than one-tenth of one per cent! And
if such a supposition is patiently preposterous,
what then. What is the alternative conclusion
that forces itself upon the inquiring mind?
There can be but one-vz: that there must be
some unexplained, some occult advantage inuring
TO the of this stock As to the true nature
of this advantage the retiring Mr.. Hyde could prob
ably give some interesting and, no doubt startling
information.
Does it require Sherlock Holmes to conclude
that the purchasers were duly eng hened as to the
occult advantages (which are the subject of our
conjecture! Or that its satisfactory nature formed
able transaction was based?
1t follows, then (does it not y that if the only
legitimate advantage that can accrue to the hold
ers Of the stock i'll question is seven per cent per
annum $4,000, that the revenue derived on the
remaining $4,949, 900 must necessarily be of an IL
legitimate character. Is not. therefore, Commits
sioner Hendricks fully justified in regarding the
whole mysterious transaction with grave suspi-
con?
Let us hope, then, that the properly constituted
authorities, in pursuance of their sacred duty to
much-heeced public, will put a summary end to high
finance in life insurance circles The policy-hold-
ers demand that the Equitable shall me mutuaized.
The exact tenor of the fundamental or statutory
laws of the land under the provisions of which the
capital stock of the company may be obliterated is
not known to us. Confscation might seem some
what drastic measure, but in-as-1nuch as the hold
ers of the stock have evidently mulcted the policy
holder out of many millions of dollars in the past
it would probably fall far short of melting out ex-
act justice to the former.
But, be that as it may, no reasonable and fair
minded man could object to its forced retirement
by the payment to its owners of its par value; or
at the most, double such value, sum that would
represent earning capacity of three and one-half
per cent per annum. If, by this course the recent
purchaser is deprived of proximately, 90 per cent
of his investment who is to blame?
The fact that the management expenses of the
Equitable are almost 100000 annually in excess
of the ratio which obtains in the more economic
ally managed life insurance companies would prob
ably explain source of the ''illegitmate" rev
enue that inures to its stockholders Added to this
the many millions CLEANED by using the funds of
the pohcy-holders in speculative investments and
allowing the latter only fraction of the profits
earned III the form of the nominal rate of interest
that is current upon the more conservative and
legitimate class of investments, and we have sum
total of, perhaps, between FIVE and ten times that
represented by the excessive expense ratio Is |
there any wonder that Mr. Ryan's COUP in securing
control of this prolific producer of millions for the
sum of five millions of dollars places him in the |
class of the captains of industry of the first mag
nltude III the estimation of his friendly admirers2
One of these, in glowingly recounting Mr.. |
Ryans financial achievements and the vast institu-
tons that he controls, states that at is a simple