The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-23
Equitable Official Collected All the Premiums on His
 Own Policies
ONE EQUITABLE JANITOR
 DRAWS S26,OOO ANNUALLY
Offers List of Suggestions Which He Thinks Will Place the Insur- ance business on a Much Bet
 ter Basis if Adapted.

ter Basis if Adapted.
 New York November 22.-After being on the witness stand before the Armstrong legislative committee on insurance investi- gation for the greater part of three days, Gage E. Tarbell, second vice president of the Equitable Life Assurance society. finished his testimony today and just be- fore adjournment submitted a list of sug- gestions for the remedy of existing abuses in the management of insurance com panies. and for legislation designed to give the state proper control over the companies, and to insure the confidence of the policy holders. Prominent among these suggestions was absolute publicity. While admitting that wrong had been done by life insurance officials. MT. Tar bell said he had no apologies to make for any of them, and that he hoped they would be punished.
 Collected All the Premiums.
 MT. Tarbell was on the stand the entire
 
 tenn of agencies, and the commissions and other compensations allowed them for getting business Just before the re- cess the fact was brought out that MT. Tarbell had taken out insurance on his own life and members of his family, and had received the agents commissions on the premiums, as well as renewal commits sions He said that since he became an officer he had taken out s200,000 on his own life in the Equitable. Besides his policies in the Equitable he had taken insurance Tn the New York Life, and on this he re- ceived the commission on the premiums He had also a policy In the Aetna and the Travellers. on all of which he collected the commissions. He said he carried s4o0 000 on his own life and $l00000 on members of his family.
 Mir. Tarbell vas emphatic in denounc- ing the system of relating by agents, and stated that any agent of the Equitable who gave rebates to get business was dismissed When ho told of gettirg the commissions Assembyman Cox asked if that was not rebating. and MT. Tarbell said 1t was not; that he thought he was entitled to 1t.
 Where did the Prick committee get this $39, ,40O?"
 Mir. Tarbell replied: q never knew any, thing about where the Prick committee got these figures. They did not get them from my department or the auditors They made their report without ever mak- ing an investigation of the department.
 Toward the close of his testimony MT. Tarbell took occasion to make a. state ment in which he said:
 Can Be Dishonest Anywhere.
 I cannot believe that anything that has occurred in the life insurance business can be traced to large surplus of a life insurance company, because if a man is going to be dishonest he can be dishonest with the reserve dollar or any other dollar as easy as with a surplus dollar.
 T am inclined to believe that the things they have done or things that have taken place occurred because a great many peo- pie have been afflicted during the last few years with what l might be permitted to term money madness; a desire to ges rich too quickly. But these things can occur anywhere, and they do occur anywhere l have one or two suggestions to make along the line on which this committee is working. that I think would do much to clarify the situation
 Makes Some Suggestions.
 MT. Tarbell then submitted. after read ing a list of suggestions, among which were:
 Complete publicity.
 "The names of all principal executive officers with their salaries, or other com pensation. if any.
 Accounts to be properly kept and spread upon the records of the company.
 All expenditures charged to appropriate account with full information, including names of all parties receiving payments
 Profit and loss account, to contain de- tailed information as to all profits and losses.
 Complete transcripts of the advertising account, legal expense account and profit and loss account, to be a part of the re- port to the superintendent of insurance.
 Violation of any of the foregoing to be a misdemeanor.
 Any fictitious sales or loans to be a misdemeanor.
 NO officer of a life insurance company to accept an office in any other corpora tion carrying with 1t any compensation.
 No life insurance company permitted to own controlling interest in any bank, trust company or any other corpor- ation, the holdings in any such bank trust company or any other corporation to be limited to not exceeding 20 per cent of the capital stock
 No life insurance company should be permitted to pay a commission out of first years premiums for securing the business exceeding fifty per cent thereof and the giving or taking of any rebate directly or indirectly by the agent or the assured to be a misdemeanor.
 Audit Books Once a Year.
 "A law making it the duty of the su- perintendent of insurance to thoroughly audit the books of all life insurance com panies in this state at least once year
 "A law making 1t misdemeanor for any officer of life insurance company to give from the funds of the company any sum for political purposes. or for any person or persons to receive directly or indirectly any such sum-"
 Gerald R. Brown. head of the bond and mortgage department of the Equitable lLfe society submitted a list of the of flee bulldogs throughout the world, and other properties owned by the society During the analysis of the statements ol the value. expense and income of tho main building at 12O Broadway MT. Browr said the ianitor received salary of s26,C year. Further questioning by MT Hughes. however. brought out the fact that out of that he has to pay assistants and witness did not think the janitoi netted >ver s75 or 500 month. The jani tor submits pay roll to the society about every six months. and to ascertain if these moneys are paid out for tht purpose represented the pay roll is check