New-York tribune., 1906-04-07
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SAYS PoIICYHOLDERs SHOULD Acr.
Chartered Accountant Asserts That Ths7
Only Can straighten Out Insurance TangIs.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: What little more than year ago an
peared mere specls OF cIeud on the serene ana
blue sky Of the life insurance world has since Ia
veIoped into a tempest which has shaken the who.
Insurance business 20 IT'S very foundations n
seems that the revolution which affects this bu,f
is based nhilistic principles. a campaign
Of smash. with decided plans or the final our,
come Tor The polcyhoders who. after all are "ths
people In this between the "autocraCy.'' sb1-
reaucTacy'' and ''radcaHsm." First We were trea.
ed TO a personal of words between two heads
Of enc Of the large companies, which soon devsl-
oped into factonal hOstilities- Then came IN
vestigation by legislative committee. with nos,
astounding results particularly remarkable for
what II did not develop and when ieit ne policy
holders asking some very Important Questions.
tigation, and which was 70 erform the house
cleaning act IN the Equitable. was followed BY the
the DTo(ession we're engaged By these COMMITTEE
and most minute Investigations we're followed by
just as exhaustive reports. which however never
reached the eyes OF the most interested parties
In the mean time the war OF factions continued
and stil continues party OF trustees proceeded
to oust another management succeeded manage
ment. the air full of wOrdy bombs thrown by
one faction against the other-out where was the
"mujlk, the pOltcyholdert
And comes the legislative committee with
drastic report and sttll more drastic laws they
are TO protect the pOlcyhOlder-are they Iias the
PSlcyh9lder grasPed them ana mas ne oGeR aeaId
policyholders been directly heard from2
as TO the advsab biity OF this ''remedaF' legislation
but not more so than that Of eminent lawyers. who
pass upon their pTacticability and legality. Al
best the latter will have to be established IN the
courts which means a costly and prOtracted itl-
CATION with the usual results during the Interval
due him He will be the ultimate sufferer or oene-
fcary True enough there Is a proxy campaign
waged by more Of the companies but this
campaign in itself is conducted by the various fac
tions in the arrangements and through the medium
of the agents"
Now. with all the respect due to the agent force
('Nyc' and OtherwjSe), they are not the persons
who ought to interfere in this matter at all, they
perform one function they perform it more OF less
well. but with that performance their activity
should end.
Why has not any action on a large scale ema-
mated from the pOlcyhOlderS? The public Is told
that there are two tnstances-hrst. the fact that
the list OF policy is not accessible second,
the probable expense OF the campaign.
These objections may be answered First. TIE
advertising columns OF the press are open 10 the
pOlcyhOIders; second. a contribution OF 10 for
each $1,000 Of insurance held by them would more
the mass OF the most interested parties. while IL
would hardly be felt by them.
What. IN my opinion ought to be done 10 this
A meeting OF pOlicyhOlders in each city and town
effected. This organization ought 10 call FOR the
complete accountants reports as rendered 10 Jfe
management of the various companies. also for the
reports OF the various investigating committees
and such further information obtained will en-
able the organization 70 tntelligenty protect all
policy holders
If such organization represented the majority OF
polcyhOlders their action, taken after due deliDera
ton and after taking professional advice would
III PFNTLARGE. c. P. A
New York. March %. 1906.