Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-05-12


excess Of the cost of insurance and
expenses. under the belief that those
funds were IN absolute guarantee
against failure. And yet they failed.
The most colossa: failure among
them was Charter Oak, which stopped
business in 1877 with :,&18. GOO. 900 g.
sets. Receivers took possession,
and for years these funds were dis.
sipated in expenses. 30 that but
eighteen per cent Of the vast assets
were ever returned to the p,licy hold
err who paid it in. This one failure
was greater loss to policyholders
than the combined losses of all the
assessment companies and fraternal
societies that have ceased to exiet.
Some of the other notable failures
were those of seven New York COM
panies. with assets, respectively, of
&3, coo. 900, $8,OCO,O 600, s., 500, 600,
e, 4s2, 600. 81. 500. 600, 81, 700, 900 and
IS. $50. 600; q New Haven company
with assets Of 1000, 600; two st.
Louis companies. with assets of &c.
800, 0O0 and &c, 600. COO; a Chicago con.
Germ. with assets of 81, 900, 000., a
Newark, N. j., company, with as
sets of 81. GOO, 900, and q Washington,
D. c., concern, with assets of s.. 800, .
OC0.
Even at this time one of the ap-
parently strong companies, the
Washington Life. of New York, is
found by the insurance commissioner
to be In need of reorganization. It
has greater assets than had the
Charter Oak, more than GIG, 600. 600,
and 81, 600, 900 policy holders.
From a careful study of the old
liners record of failures it can be
seen that the legal reserve is not a
guarantee against failure. and that
the big companies with their millions
of reserve are no safer than the great
fraternal system which simply collects
the cost Of insurance and does not &C.
cumulate a legal reserve. .
. The latest available reports show
that on January l, 1904, the member.
ship of the leading fraternals in the
United States. providing life insur.
ance was sos, 1854, representing
sc, 772, $50, 900 in outstanding insur.
ance.
TIE old. liners on January /. 1904
according to the report of the insur.
ance commissioner of New York, mum.
bered forty.two and had in force g..
s246, 50 straight life policies, repre-
senting IS. os2, $50, 374 outstanding in
surance. The fraternals therefore had
2, 1914, 312 more policy holders aud
$40, $50, 600 more in aggregate amount
of straight life insurance. It is a re-.
markable record when it is consid cred
that the largest old-iners have been
actively at work for fifty years or
more, while the fraternals of this
country started in 1869, or only
thirty-six years ago.
The big Three old-liners of the
United States are the New York
Life, the Mutual Life and the Equit-
able. The big Three fraternals
are Modern Woodmen. of Illinois, the
Ancient Order of United Workmen
and the Royal Arcanum.
The following table shows the
straight life business of the big
Three" old.liners and the Big Three
fraternals January 1, 1904.
The big THREE OLD-LINERS
Policy Holders Insurance
N. Y. Life 520,627 $1.107, 862, 900
Mutual 1926 1,169, 030, 600
Equitable 358, $50 1901. 1888, 900
Total 1862, 497 s., 27s, 675, 600
big THREE FRATERNALS.
Members Insurance
NJ. W. A. $50, 15l 81, 149, 905, 600
A. o. q. W. 423, 015 746. 92S, OoO
Royal Arcanum 2SS, 659. 819, 600
Total, 1856. 255 "a, $40. 552, coo
The fraternals differ from the old
=. 49, ~