The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-11-10

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! be paid.
Mr.. Morton Felt His Dignity.
General Nelson during the meeting
reiterated his assertion that no man
living was worth more than thru
! thousand dollars year in salary and
Mr.. Tompkins agreed with him, he
said, but explained that Morton was
/ the man who was wanted and that he
/ felt that, since the other companies
| were paying such fine salaries, the
dignity of the society should be main
tanned in his case, or words to that
| effect.
Director Tompkins had also read a
report of the doings of the last meet
F., ing he attended, showing that ex-
| penses had already been reduced a
million dollars and that the work of
! reform was still going on.
A Good Word for Old Dog.
1t was also stated that the Equita-
bic was the cleanest of the lot so far
examined into and that it was the
only big company which in recent
years had increased instead of dimin-
ished it's dividends.
General Nelson also spoke of the
appointing at Charlotte of a commit
tee of State policy holders, but moth
ing of that went into the minutes of
the meeting.
These are very accurate no doubt,
but they lack color. Secretary
Withers among other things figured
out how many cents each policy hold
er paid towards Morton's $4,000 sal
airy, but he failed to estimate the
pro rata payment on account of the
pink dancers at the Ambassadors
dinner
AS it was done, and as it was given
out, here are the minutes:
The Minutes.
There were present Messrs. r. M.
Nelson, of Ellington; d. A. Tompkins,
of Charlotte; H. c. Kerney, of War
renton; j. Y. Joyner. J. r. Young,
s. l.. Rogers, Julius Lewis, John Duck
ett w. A. Withers, w. j. Martin. and
w A. Cooper of Raleigh.
con motion, General r. NJ. Nelson,
of Ellington, was called to the chair,
and W. A. Withers was elected secre-
tary.
General Nelson said, in accepting
the chair, that the meeting was
called in line with the suggestion made
to him by ex-President Grover Cleve-
land, chairman of the board of trus-
tees of the society, which letter Cen
eral Nelson read.
Mr.. d. A. Tompkins was asked
ference to express his views upon the
present condition and future manage
ment of the affairs of the Equitable
Life Assurance Society as to what he
thought should be done for the in
terest of the policyholders Mr..
Tompkins said that he felt absolutely
sure that the society was now being
as well managed as any other large
business could be, and better man
ing how best to protect the society
against evils with which it was being
beset before the reorganization, he
had found it extremely difficult to
arrive at any satisfactory conclusion.
He had at one time thought it might
be best to invoke government control
and supervision. He now apprehends
that if government control and regu-
lation is too much invoked it might
lead to paternaliSm or sumptuary reg
ulation or even to a degree of Social
ism. He had thought of plans by
which the Governors of the States
might appoint directors in the large
companies. in q sort of proportion to
the policies held in the State. He
had given careful consideration to
the present arrangement of having
three trustees holding full power to
select and appoint directors. For the
that is the very best arrangement
until something more satisfactory is
worked out.
Director TOmpl<ins' Advice.
The contract which Mr.. Ryan made
with the trustees is good for five
years and it provides for renewal at
the end of five years for five years
more. The trustees are undoubtedly
appointing directors entirely independ
ent of any influence by the executive
of the society or by Mr.. Ryan. In
this situation, and in the absence of
any other definite plan it looks to
me as though the best thing to do
would be for policyholders to send
their proxies to Messrs. Grover Cleve-
land, Morgan j. O'Brien and George
Westinghouse, trustees of the Equit-
able Life Assurance Society, 1920
Broadway, New York.
"These gentlemen, with the author
ity they have, are in better position
to protect the policynolders' interest
now than could, in my opinion. be
arranged otherwise. Time may de-
velop some permanent plan of or
ganization different from this, but nc
other plan which seems better has
been SO far proposed.
&" 1t transpires that the evils which
had crept into the management of
the large insurance companies are
greater than they were at first sup
posed to be. Many OF the best men
of the country are studying what
remedies are necessary as safeguards
against the repetition of these evils
and 1 feel absolutely confident that
out of this study and effort will ulti
mately come protective measures
which will safeguard the policy
holders interest against the abuses
which have been practiced
Interest on the part of policy
holders will undoubtedly be of great
advantage in working out protective
measures for protecting and safe
guarding policyholders' interests
Remarks were made by Messrs.
Rogers, Joyner and Young.
Resolution and Call
Upon motion of mr.. Young, it was
resolved that an association of the
Equitable policyholders residing in
North Carolina be FORMED, for it's
object CD to keep the policyholders
informed of the doings of the So
ciety; CD to advise with the trus-
tees and directors, especially Mr..
Tompkins, the director from North
Carolina CD to act for the protec-