Bisbee daily review., 1905-12-27
LIFE INSURANCE ECONOMIES.

eCONOMiES.
 Tn the letter just sent out to policy
 holders by President Morton of the
 Equitable Life Assurance Society it is stated that. since he became the head
 of the organization last June. econo-
 mics representing saving of $500 900 a year have been introduced. The figures serve to show the extent of the previous mismanagement for, as
 Mir. Morton remarks, the sum of $500
 000 a year is equivalent to an addi-
 tional investment of s15,0O0,000 at 1
 per cent. Policy holders in one com
 pany are thus officially shown to have
 been wastefully deprived of s600,000
 a year that was justly their due, and
 MT. Morton says he expects to insti-
 ute still further economies of a rad ical character. After an examination
 by expert accountants the assets of the Equitable have been marked down but Mir. Morton states that the surplus above the liabilities still exceeds s67,- 100000, about seven-eighths of which is fund for division among existing deferred dividend policies at the end of their accumulation periods" Ad- mittedly wrong methods in the past. he says, have included large expendi- lures carried through without proper authority fro mthe board of direc- tors, and with such meager bookkeep- ing records that certain transactions of the last ten years, some Of which involved losses. have not been satis- factorily explained.
 MT. Morton is undoubtedly right when he advises policy holders against letting their contracts lapse, and he says that where lapses have occurred the agents of the society will cheer fully assist in restoring them All death claims have been promptly paid and over 9S per cent are settled with in twenty-four hours after proof is received. Payments on death claims and other benefits average s11S,0 900 every working day. Mir. Morton con graduates policy holders on the re- formatory agitation of the present year, during which time his company alone has undergone four separate in vestigatiOns. He is justified in assert ing that while. individual reputations have suffered, the, utility of life in surance has been more fully demon strated than before. He promises that the society will make no more contri- buttons to political campaigns, and that reserves hereafter will be invest ed in real estate mortgages or the securities of railroads and other we'll established corporations in the sec tions that produce the premiums. Tn the last ten years the society has loaned s120, 100000 on real estate mortgages, chiefly in large cities, and in the six instances where foreclos- ures were necessary the returns net ted a profit.
 As to prospective insurance legisla' ton. IIT. Morton calls upon policy holders to exert their influenc in the state legislatures soon 10 convene against any unfair law or tax that in- jures persons insured and reduces the dividend earnings of policies. Tn the opinion of MT. Morton the dividends for policy holders would now be near ly 10 per cent larger but for state taxes and license fees. But is is i'm probable that state legislatures will impose upon policy holders in any form. The money spent by life insur- ance managers in legislative lobbying has prevented the passage of laws that would benefit policy holders. Meas ures of that sort will now get a hear ing. Mir Morton argues that what is called cheap insurance is lacking in safety. But insurance ought to be as cheap as possible under absolutely honest and intelligently economical Itsmay we'll be asked If Mir Morton's salary of $S0,000 a year though a reduction from the amount that went to his predecessor, is not excessive It is 60 per cent more than | he President of the United States re- seives, and fifteen times the pay of a