The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-14
PEABODY ELECTED
 HEAD OF MUTUAL
NEW HEAD OF INSURANCE COM PANY IS AMERICAN REPRESENT AsToR-sALARY IS s5o, 1000.

l Muludl lIl1e Insurance company at a meeting of the board of trustees today. MT. Peabody's election was unanimous
 MT. Peabody is a lawyer and is the American representative of William Wal dorf Astor. He is director in several banks and other corporations, among them the Illinois Central Railroad com pany.
 Mir. Pesbody's salary was fixed at $50 OO0 a year. His predecessor Richard A. Me- | Curdy, received s15O00O a year. MT. Pea body will take office on January 1, when he will relieve Frederic Cromwell, tenn porary president.
 The board of trustees adopted a resolu- ton of thanks to MT. Cromwell for his | services as temporary president. Charles A. Peabody was nominated for trustee to succeed Rufus w. Peckham, and Emory McClintock was nominated to succeed Elhu Root as trustee. Both of these nominations under the bylaws went over until the next meeting.
 Mir. Peabody tonight issued the following statement addressed to the policyholders of the Mutual Life Insurance company of New York:
 T have this day been appointed to be president of the Mutual Life Insurance company of New York, and have accepted the position. I desire to communicate d. rectly with the policyholders of the com pany, for whose benefit a great trust Is being administered. No private interest controls this company and l enter upon the discharge of my duties as the repre- sentative solely of the policyholders, chosen unanimously by their elected rep resentatives, the board of trustees. The new administration stands pledged to economy, to lawful methods and to reform of existing abuses. Much has already been accomplished to carry out these pledges, and all will be done that Is necessary to fully redeem them. The board of trustees IS harmonious and united upon these mat ters. The company possesses financial re- sources far beyond it's liabilities. Lapse and surrender of policies mean abandon ment of accumulations and the savings of years of the polcyholders. The policy holders are urged to continue their pol- cies in the company and not to withdraw from it.
 "I ask of our constituents that they will give me and the board of trustees a fair trial and judge us not in advance. but by results accomplished. I take the office conferred upon me with full sense of the sacred nature of its responsible ties and of the obligations I owe to | those who entrust to the officers and trus- | tees of tbis company provision for wdowhood and orphanage." | fit to policyholders and companies to have federal supervision. l advocated this in a speech in Boston. l think those for and against federal control are divided by the constitutional part of the question. I as sume the power of Congress under the Thomas clause to regulate insurance is debatable know the supreme courts decisions are that insurance is not int | national commerce. All such dee' | have been on state laws.
 No federal law has raised . eH | If sending a telegram from | another is interstate commerce ! ficult for a layman to underst insurance is not interstate commei i eral control of insurance would [ protection of companies doing busin, | foreign countries. Another good e. ( would be to guard against the competi- | ton of worthless and irresponsible com panies. particularly for insurance com ] panes in the west.
 "One of the greatest benefits of a na- tional department would be the establish ment of a code of laws which would be 1 persistent. One of the evils of this busi ness Is the multiplicity of laws in the various states, and the result is the com- panes do not know with what laws they must comply.
 Ut seems to me hopeless to ever at tempt to bring about conformity in codes so that the companies shall know what they have to comply with until a federal 1 code is established.
 He would confer upon the national ad- mnistration absolute authority to inves- tigate the companies. This, he said, would | lead 10 more effective supervision.
 Senator Dryden agreed with MT. Hughes that the state is In position effectively to supervise. but added that there is nc reason why there should be fifty such state supervisions
 | Haley FYske, vice president of the Metro politan Life Insurance company, was next called Mr. Hughes asked him about the contributions from the John Hancock and Prudential companies for legal expenses
 MT. Fiske said he had expended about 5000 opposing an ant-child insurance bill in Pennsylvania.
 Mr. Hughes asked MT. Fiske why the | Metropolitan Insurance company had bought 3S3S shares of Lake Shore and | Michigan Southern stock at $350 share from George P Butler & Bros in February 1905 and coincidently bought 50C
 
 & Go. at s300
 l Mir Fiske said that William A. Reid of the firm of Nermilye & Co.,, which was then in process of dissolution. proposed to the finance committee of the Metro politan company that the committee buy | the block of 3333 shares from Butler and that the finance committee of the Metro poltan company authorized MT. Reid to buy that stock for the Metropolitan at not more shaS~ S350.
 Mir. Fiske said the Metropolitan com mttee expected MT. Reid would get it for as much less than $50 as he could, but that they have since learned that he (Mr Reid) sold the stock to Buffers firm for S340 share on the same day that the finance committee paid sS5O for 1t. The stock came from Mr. Reids partners Vermilye X Go.
 We have told Mir Reid" said Mir Fiske. that the profit he got belongs to the Metropolitan, not to him, but he dis | agrees with us. and he has the money
 MT. Hughes showed the witness a state ment of the sale of 800 shares of the same stock about that time at s320.
 MT. Fiske was on the stand when the committee adjourned until tomorrow.
 Folk Present.
 New York, December 13-R E. Folk insurance commissioner of Tennessee was a visitor at the legislative investigation this afternoon. He had a conference with | MT. Hughes. counsel to the committee MT. Folk said he had called a meeting of Tennessee policyholders of all Mutual Life