New-York tribune., 1905-12-16
COCHRAN ON INSURANCE.
CONTROL By T4YATTON.
ouggests That to Congress in Attact
on Big ompanies.


| oate IN the House. which based on the ques-
| ton OF committee reference of that portion of the
PRESIDENTS message. which relates possible fed
eral control of insurance, was the long speech OF
| representative Bourke Cochran. Mr.. Cochran
| spoke for nearly hour
| IN the course Of his remarks he reviewed the re-
| cent exposures of scandal in the management of
| insurance companies. paid his respects to Paul
morton, criticised Grover Cleveland, whom he de-
scr7bed as having been called from the shade OF
Fr1nceton,' and ridicued young HYDE who had,
ne sad' haunted his wealth in the of the pub
NC with an fndscretion not possessed by his
Older partners in crime" and so had opened the
view of the public the wanton methods by which
| their savings squandered Mr. Cochran dwelt
| at length on evils attending the accumulation Of
Erea. fortunes and declared that the wealth of
1oflh u rockefeller was q monument to crime
MT. COCHRAN was heard with attention by the
House There was exceptionally large at
| tendance, and at the close of his remarks he was
applauded on both sides of the chamber. He con-
TENDED that the insurance section President S
message should to neither the Ways and Means
nor the Interstate Commerce Committee, but to
new committee, which should be created TO con-
soer this subject which, in his estimation, must be
ueaIt with by the federal government, having en-
ureIy outgrown the control of the several States
MI Shirley C\y.) started the discussion.
All of the startling disclosures regarding life In
surance, he said, had been made by State agencies,
and he favored emphasizing the Importance of
state supervision of such affairs in preference to
---NAO44eAA"
toward concentration of authority: the States We're
losing to the national government and the national
government was tending to one supreme head, and
that head in power for life
ARGUES FOR STATE CONTROL.
Mr. Grosvenor (Ohiol asked how govern
ments, State and national. could administer con-
roi OF the same subject without one becoming
supreme at the expense of the other. Mr.. Sherley
said there had been nothing in the NewYork in
surance situation far that New-York was not
able to handle. This defence of State sovereignty
was cheered on both sides of the chamber
Mr.. Crumpacker Qnd.) asserted that Mr.. Payne
had raised issue in stating that the taxing
power the only control Congress had over in
surance For the House to vote TO send the ques-
ton of insurance to the Ways and Means Commit
tee he said, would be give notice to the country
that Congress had decided it could not control in
surance
1t was insisted by Mr.. Mann Qll) that there
not line in the Presidents message which
referred to taxing insurance. He opposed reference
to the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr.. Cochran maintained that the power of taxa
ton legitimate weapon for the control Oh
the privileges of commerce The reason the Senate
steadily increasing in power, he said was be-
cause 1t constantly exercised every vestige of its
power. Emphasizing the relations of the Houses,
he asserted that powers unused would decay and
that the House now possessed all the power neces-
sary to establish its predominancy. Mr. Cochran
said 1t had been assumed that corruption and vices
were inherent qualities in the insurance system, and
said:
,o The gentleman from Kentucky wants State regu;
jurisdiction I maintain the remedy can be had
Companies have accumulated 81 go ooo and it
WI o not not @ be generation 9 ion before this sum will be
this CONDITION ID is that these funds are under the
eon1roi @ & 1t men who have no personal interest in
persons who the benefciaries of the trust
system has been the growth of but few Years and
the system must be wholly uprooted to effect a
MR. COCKRAN'S PLAN
Mr.. Cockran's remedy was to confne insurance
companies to the State in which they were organ
lied. as savings banks confined believe me-"
he declared. there is no need of paying a salary
of $4,000 year by any insurance company pro-
tect it's poicyholders, but it is necessary to get
man to swindle them"
1t was awful spectacle he said for these men
to mount the witness stand and boldly confess their
misuse of the peoples funds. There is now the
spectacle in NewYork,' he said. "of the District
Attorney working day and night prosecute those
guilty of violating the purity of the ballot box |
This is commendable. But at the same time the |
insurance officers do not go to Jail, but back to
their offices. after their confessions. II is a de-
plorable confession make but I can assert that |
it would be absolutely impossible to put the pos
SCISSOR of $10,Oo0,00O in any Jail in this country"
Mr.. Cochran described the method of stock gam
bling practised by insurance companies, and said |
that the thousands of successful instances left no
record behnd-it only of the few failures
where the companies were required to make good,
that record made AS a proof that no spe-
cial skill is necessary in insurance for insurance
purposes, Mr.. Cochran said:
We have but to look at the method by which
these three companies have undertaken to reor-
ganize themselves. What is the first thing they
have done? Do they go out and look for insurance |
experts? Not by any means. The first thing they
lid was to send them all away.
The Equitable company has been reorganized on |
somewhat peculiar basis very rich gentleman,
whom all have the right. I suppose to call a |
he himself has said it, and it
S greatly to his credit-has purchased the control
IF this company and given $25O000O for the stuff
hat can pay him but $500 year That is TO say,
through his philanthropy he has given an earning
power of $250o,000 for $500. He is too good a
business man to have done that as a matter of
course. There is no explanation for it except
Now, in order to appease the popular mind
he philanthropic enterprise. what has he done?
Has he gone to the insurance world TO find this