Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-02-03


simple subject, with nothing mysteri-
GUS about it,
Il am unlike one gentleman who
preceded me- said Gov Cummins. II
have not found life insurance the plain
and obvious proposition that, he says
he has found it. Let me ask a ques-
ton:
why does the government under
take to supervise the life insurance
business? 1t is for no other reason
than that the man who takes out
life policy in one of the insurance
companies is unable to take care of
himself.
"The policy holder, in many in
stances. is unable to understand the
legal effect and consequences Of the
contract he is about to undertake.
Will Seek State Legislation.
SO far as my influence will go with
the general assembly of my own state
shall not only try to secure annual
dividends but to secure such an act
as to provide for a. uniform form of
life insurance. There may be as many
as 400 or 500 forms in use Some of
these have been devised for the pur-
pose of making the credulous believe
that the contract means something
that it does not meahs3I believe that
the number Of good forms of policy
can be counted on the fingers of my
two hands.
There ought not to be more than
seven, or at the most ten, forms of
life insurance contract written in this
country. Much of the mystery at
tached to life insurance would then
disappear. have no sympathy with
the contention that the liberty of the
citizen will be interfered with. We
regulate the methods Of conducting
the business, of banks, railroads, ex-
press companies, and other public cor
porations.
Premiums Should be Lower
Il do not believe in insurance COM
panies acting as investment concerns.
l do not believe that the insurance
company should pay cent more to the
policy holder than is necessary. Every
effort should be made to reduce the
premiums. The insurance company
| should be separated from the invest
ment company.
| No stock company should be per-
mitted to write any particular policy.
The company should not be permitted
to go in partnership with it's policy
holders.
II believe mutual companies should
not be permitted to write anything but
mutual policies. l think. the tendency
Of all insurance legislation should be
to make paramount the endowm ent
feature. l believe it to be against pub
lie policy to allow the excess of money
! to be accumulated during the long
periods of tontine policies.
/ Federal Control Of Reserve.
'In my opinion, the legal reserve
| should be deposited with some official
of the government to take away the
temptation for investment. l can hard
| ly believe in the plan of annual &C.
counting to each policy holder as a
complete remedy for the insurance
evils. The annual system leaves the
money in the hands of the companies
| thereby exposing them ITO the same
| temp tations as before.
"The man who takes policy to hold
| for fifteen or twenty years must take
/ what dividends the company wants to
| pay him. The universal sentiment in
my state. believe may say, is that
the companies should be forced to
distribute the. surplus that they earn
every year"
4 Governor Cumnlins was cheered at
intervals throughout his speech, and
when ne closed a cheer was given that
evidently was not calculated to cheer
4 the insurance men whose arguments
he had attacked