Arizona republican., 1905-12-16
THE INSURANCE DEBATE.

house today devoted four and three quarter hours to a lively debate on the possibilities of controlling insur- ance companies. Two set speeches were the features One, by MT. Sner- ley, of Kentucky, bore on the doctrine of states rights, and the other. by Mir. Cochran, of New York, related to the eXactions of the officers who manage big life insurance companies Of his state. Mir. Cochran proposing that con gress, through it's taxing power. should cOnfine all insurance companies to the state in which they were organized.
 MT. Mann, of Illinois. outlined Q pro- posed means of control ne will later present in the form of bill, leaving it to the insurance companies to volun- tarily submit to federal examination and approval. MT. Williams, the mi nority leader, concluded the debate. holding that control was possible. but not through the taxing power.
 Digression5 were indulged in, first 70 send a message to the senate re- turning the bill regarding canal bonds as an usurpation of the constitutiOnal rights of the house to originate reve- nue legislation, and again to discuss the nazing at Annapolis. No conclu- sion was reached by the committee on the insurance feature of the presf- dents message, which is the matter now under consideration, and the de- bate will proceed tomorrow.
 MT. Cochran, of New York, main tained that the power of taxation was q legitimate weapon for the control of privileges of commerce. The req son the senate steadily increased in power h esaid was because it constant ly exercised every vestige of it's power With emphasis on the relations of the two houses, he asserted that powers unused would decay and that the house now possessed all the power necessary to establish is predominance. ! MT. Cochran said: within my mem orty three large companies have accu- mulated billion and a quarter dollars. and it will not be a generation before , this sum will be five or six billions. The utter viciousness of this cOndl- tion is that these funds are under the control of men who have no personal interest in them. This money is a trust fund, and yet the persons who are the beneficiaries of the trust can not have a word to say regarding them. This system must be wholly uprooted to effect a cure''
 MT. Cockran's remedy was to con- fine the insurance companies to the state in which they were organized, the same as savings banks are confin- cd. Believe me- he declared, there is not the need of paying salary of $150,000 a year by any insurance com pany to protect its policy holders, but it is necessary to get a man to swim dle them
 It was an awful spectacle, he said, to see these men mount the witness stand and boldly confess u cir misuse of the peoples funds. There is now the spectacle in New York, he said, of the district attorney working day and night to prosecute those guilty of vii plating the purity of the ballot box, which is commendable. But at the same time the insurance officials did not go to jail, but back to their offices after their confessions. He said it was a deplorable cofession to make, but he would assert that it would be absolute ly impossible to put a possessor of $1,000 900 in jail in this country.
 As proof that no special skill is nec- essary in insurance for insurance pur- poses, MT. Cochran said: "We have but to look at the methods by which these three companies have undertaken to reorganiZe themselves. What is the first thing they have done? Did they go out and look for insurance experts No, by no means. They first thing they did was to send them all away"
 ''The Equitable company was organ ized on a somewhat peculiar basis. A very rich gentleman. whom we we all have the right, I suppose, to call a phi lanthropist, for he himself has said it. and it is greatly to his credit Oaugh- ter) purchased the control of this com pany, giving $2,5OO,0OO for stuff that can pay him but $3,50O a year. That is to say, through his philanthropy he has given an earning power of $125, ,0OO for $3,500. There is no explanation oi it except philanthropy.
 Now, in order to appease the popu- lar mind on the pailanthropic enter prise, what has he done? Has he gone to the insurance world to find talent l that is worth $15O,OOO a year or $75,- 900 a year? By no means He has , gone outside and appointed a kind Of financial vigilance committee and not
 Continued on page 3.