Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-12-20
RRleANDs EVERY ONE.
Insurance Men are Numerically At
tackled.

Washington, Dec 19.-"This is
plumber, Mr. Chairman, pure and SIM
pie. One. thing exceeds the perfidy 81
these offenders and that is their inl-
p,rdence," declared Representative
Frederick Landis of Indiana in his
maiden speech in congress yesterday
while discussing his bill providing Tor
federal supervision of insurance corn
panies.
"All but two or three remain in pow
err" continued the congressman, fay
ing the officers of the great Insurance
companies. There is not one OF them
good enough to wear the stripes OF the
felon. For them to remain In office Is
unspeakable-as unspeakable as lot
the home wrecker complacently to sit
in the ruin he has wrought and
calmly invite the American father to
return thanks for divine favor.
zone of them has gone away. He
has gone to Paris. I congratulate
him on his conception of propriety. In
the midst Of all this brazenness tits
fight is as noteworthy as that of the
belated swallow back to the tropics
through the autumn sky.
Dead Man Better Than Hyde.
eve sent Mr. Hyde to France, not
as an ambassador thank God, nor
even in return for the straw which was
packed around the body of John Paul
Jones. And we might say to our sister
republic that we will gladly exchange
with her for an equal number Of honest
dead men, to be selected at her own
discretion, a band of brigands who
lint have NOT
patient though the people be, I
want to take away from the deathbed
of the policyholder the ugly faces of
Hartman, Kuhn, Loeb & Company,
the McCurdys, the McCalls, the Perk-
inses and Pierpont Morgan, the inter-
national kleptomaniac.
81 wish to say word respecting the
professional directory in the United
States, the embossed stationery direc-
tor, the bird's-eye view director. He
is usually politician who knows Moth
ing except cunning and is used to de-
coy the people who have lifted him
from obscurity.
"In business these men are unfver-
salists-that is, they are directors In
every institution within the zone Of
their notoriety. Their souls are In
pawn, but their names are still for rent.
They plead financial success as a de-
murrer to the ten commandments and
the sermon on the mount"
Object Of Bill.
Mr.. Lands bill creates division Of
insurance in the department of COM
merce and labor and provides Tor a
superintendent Of insurance. 1t re-
quires annual reports from all life in
surance companies doing business in
the territory described.
'1This would" he said, disclose any
scandalous perverston Of funds
"This would prevent, for instance,
any life insurance corporation from
holding $50, 1000 worth of security
marketed by ]. p. Morgan & Company.
'sThis would supplant speculation
with the investment
"This would disclose how far these
companies had departed from the or
iginal purpose of insurance and wan
dered off into maze of more than 200
forms of policy, puzzling the mind and
absolutely defrauding the people.
"This would direct attention to an
amazing field of fraud. 1t will warn
the people against tIle lIloSI SlupeHuOuS
trickery of our times-namely, the In
vestment feature of life insurance.
'"This will disclose whether the cold
blooded robbery of the past is being re-
peated. Let us hope that it will exc
plain in the inquiring policy-h holder
why his dividend fell from s149 in 1876
to 81 in 1894, and why the dividends of
his friend sank from $50 in 1875 to. SO
IN 1904"