Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-11-06
LISTEN TO LILLEY
He Talks About corvsnmsns Control
 of Tnsuraace Companies.

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 Congressman Lilley of this city Delng asked for his views on govern ment control of insurance companies. sent the following letter to the Hart ford Times:
 Waterbury, November ?, 1905. To the Editor of the Hartford Times.
 Repiy'ng to your letter of October q, ia which you ask for al, express sion of my stws on the hiIi which was introduced during the last session of congress by Senator Dryden. and by the enclosures you will notice that he intends to re-introduce the bill with some modification the coming session would say that when one sees the evidences of vast wealth. the regal splendor and magnifieence in which the president of the Prudential Life Insurance company, Senator Dryden of New Jersey lives, one cannot help but ask. in the words of Judge Je- rome, Where did he get it?" When we read the insurance report of the commissioner of Massachusetts we get our answer.
 Speaking for myself, I cannot help but view with suspicion any bill regu- lating life insurance which might be introduced by the president of the rudential-Senator Dryden I would view it with even more suspicion than if it came from the hand of McCurdy of the Mutual, who appears, by his own evidence, to know nothing about the life insurance business, notwith- standing the fact that he draws a salary of S150,000 per year and car fies his family to the Pacific coast in private car, while the earnings of men who are trying to protect those they love best are paying the freight.
 My reason for viewing such hifl with more suspicion if it came from Dryden than if it came from McCurdy is because even McCurdy, Mccall and Alexander do business at the front door with people supposed to be of more than average intelligence, while Dryden collects his millions in 10-cent bits at the back doors from the cook. the laundress, the gardener and the coaehman,
 You will notice that my answers to the first three of MT Dryden's ques- tions are in the affirmative, which in- dicates that I do favor, federal super vision. My answer to the fourth question which deals with the three preceding it, is that I regret the ne- cessity. That is how I feel about the matter-while exceedingly regret the necessity, believe something ought to be done to check in some form the vast wastefulness and graft that has been going on. I believe the payment of $150,000 salaries and other misappropriations of the policy-hold- ers' money should be stopped. Some of us hoped that when the Equitable became the property of Thomas F. Ryan he would clean house, but those of us who have looked for better things were shocked at his first move in paying a salary of $S0,000 to Mir Paul Morton, who had never dem0n- strated his. ability to command any thing like half such salary at any time in his career. Under government supervision I should hope that no man because he had the power would be allowed to exercise 1t to vote away other peoples money in salaries far beyond the value of the service rem dered or permit wastefulness, extra yaganee, misappropriatlons and graft.
 On some accounts am inclined to believe that it would be wise for the several states to go into open cempe- tition with the insurance companies. We take into consideration that for a period of more than half a century from every S100 collected year by year by the insurance companies from policy holders, considerably less than $50 has ever found Its way back year by year to the sources from which 1t came. The major part has been used for the purpose of creating a vast sur plus for the McCalls, McCurdys, Hydes, Hegemans, Drydens, ct al, to juggle with, as for example, has been the case of the New York Life and the Metropolitan, where President Mccall loans President Hegeman large sums of money on his personal note, running for an indefinite period, and for his Town private use at 1A per cent, and in return for this favor, President He geman loans to President Mccall a like sum on his personal note for an indefinite period and for his own per sonal use and at the same rate of in terest. 1i5 per cent. There is no doubt that the state of Connecticut could offer her citizens insurance at from one-half to three-quarters the present rates of the great New York compan- les and do so with absolute safety.
 When men like MeCurdy, Mccall, Hyde, Alexander, Hegeman. Depew, Dryden and others Of high social standing, deliberately waste, squan. der and appropriate to themselves and permit their relatives and friends to do likewise. money paid in by poor people to protect their wives and children, I wonder why the American people do not rise and repeat the his- tory of excesses frequently occurring i in other countries.
 Were such exposures as we have witnessed during the past year, un- covered in a time of want and dis tress, when people were idle and hun gry. instead of in times of unprece- dented prosperity, when all people are employed and we'll fed, the foun- datlons of the republic would suffer a
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