Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1905-10-18
Would Declare Life insurance to Be
a Charitable Business
P0LICY.U0LDERS' ClAIMSNO1FlRST
Mutual Life Insurance Company's
president Makes Startling Declara-
tlon i'll Testimony Before Commit
tee That Lille Insurance Concerns
Are Charitable Enterprises Found
ed to Benefit All Mankind.

New York, Special.-The sessions
OF the insurance investigating commit
tee were terminated for the week at
the adjournment, because of the death
OF S. Fred Nixon, Speaker of tie As
sembly of the Legislature of New
York, at his home in Westfeld.
The testimony did not elicit any in
formation of sensational nature be-
yond what had been discounted in
the testimony of previous Witnesses
The feature was the presence as wit
ncsses of the executive officers of the
Mutual Life Insurance Company.
These were President Richard y. Nc
Crrdy and Vice Presidents Grannis
AMI Gillette.
While it had been limited last week
that some expenditures CHARGED to
legal expenses might have been con-
trlbutions 70 campaign committees. it
was announced definitely by d. Gil
lctte that the Mutual Life contrihut-
ed 100000 to the Republican ma -ional
committee last fall, that in 190C S25,-
O00 was contributed and in SOC $l5,-
600 was given for campaign purposes.
DIR. Gillette testified that he paid
these amounts personally III cas'', and
later in the day Mr.. McCurdy said
that while he knew campaign contri-
buttons had been made he did not
know the amounts. lie said that no
contributions had been made to cam
paign committees before 1896 and that
no contribution to State or municipal
campaigns had ever been made in this
or any other State. The cortribu-
tion of $500 to the Congressional
campaign committee Mr.. McCurdv
said he knew nothing about until it
came out III the testimony last week
Vice-President GraEnis knew little
about the contributions to campaign
funds, but justified them on the same
grounds as President John A Mccall,
of the New York Life, that the free
silver plank in the Democratic plat
form was n menace to the interests of
the policy-holders.
When Mr.. Crimmins was called he
assumed the entire responsibility for
the terms of the contracts with G. u.
RAYMOND and Co., by which hat firm
made such large profits. When the
method of expenditure of the So, 900
items was inquired into, Mr.. Gran
mis- admitted that the general SO icitor
could get $4,000 any time he wanted
it without disclosing for what purpose
he wanted it and without renderin"
any account of it He further said he
never knew where cent of the money
spent by the general solicitor went.
In taking up a dctiled list Of the
company's expenses DR. Gillette said
that the company last year paid
$4,000 for luncheons for the en-
ployes. 1t is the custom for the COM
pany to furnish their clerks with
luncheon. This is at the rate of about
$3.50 day.
Toward the close of the session Mr..
McCurdv made the startling state
not an institution founded to make
money for The policy-holders, but was,
or should be, great pnilanthropic
enterprise founded to increase and
spread its benefits over the entire
earth.
"There has been n great mistake
made" he said "about the real prov
ince of life insurance companies IN
these latter wears. People have been
Inl to believe that the main purpose
was to make money for its policy-hol-
ders. In my view, that is not the pur-
pose of such companies. They are
eleemosynary. When mar iIsureS
in company he should take into con
sideration the fact that he has enter
ed great philanthropic concern that
is in duty bound to spread itself, even
though this growth prevents Hlm from
realizing as mr-,h rs he expected"