The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-10-26

NEW YORK, Oct 18-Voting in
the election to decide who shall con-
troll the Mutual and New York Life
Insurance companies and their $780,
100000 of assets, began today and will
continue until December Is, when the
polls close 1t may take weeks to
count the ballots, and in the event of
close election, the count may be
contested in the courts. There are
$4,000 policyholders in the Mutual
and about $4,000 in the New York
Life. What per centage will vote is
guess work.
In the Mutual there are three tick
cts in the field One, nominated by
the present management, is known
as the Administration ticket" the
second is the United Committees tick
ct, jointly nominated by the Interna-
tional Policyholders' Committee and
the Mutual Life Policyholders' Asso-
citation. The third, or fusion ticket,
was nominated by the agents of the
Mutual.
In the New York Life there are on
~ two tickets, the administration
nominees and those named by the In
ternational Policyholders' Commit
tee.
Most of the voting will be done by
mail. Each company is required by
law to send by mail to every policy
holder ballot containing the full tick
ct regularly nominated. Explicit d.
rections as to how the voting shall be
done are not given, as it is the purpose
of the State Superintendent Of Insur-
ance to accept ballot so long as the
intent of the policyholder is clearly
shown. The ballot must be signed
by the policyholder and the signature
must be witnessed. The number of
the policy must also be written on
the ballot.
The envelopes containing the bal
lots will not be opened and officially
counted nutil Dec 49, On that day
the holders of proxies and the policy
holders who wish to cast their ballots
in person will vote. Most of the votes
for the administration ticket will be
in the form of proxies, which the Off
GERS of the two companies began today
to collect. The Policyholders' Commit
tee do not want proxies.
G. R. Scrugham, of the International
Policyholders' Committee, today sent
a telegram to State Superintendent
of Insurance Kelsey declaring that
many complaints have been received
from the Southern States and West
ern States that agents of the New
York Life Insurance Company are
mailing the official statement with the
names of the international ticket can
celled The telegram also charges
that the New York Life is violating
the New York insurance laws in other
ways.
1t was said at the headquarters of
the International Policyholders' Com
mittee that scores of policyholders of
the New York Life Insurance Com
pany had appeared there today with |
these official statements" which were |
mailed to them. 1t was declared that
in all these instances, instead of the
statement being free of marking of
any kind, the entire list of candidates |
OF the International Policyholders'
Committee was scratched off with ink.
Louis Marshall, of the law firm of
Guggenheimer, Untermyer & Marshall,
a policyholder in the New York Life to
the extent Of 100000, was one of the
policyholders who is alleged to have
received one of these marked ballots.
Mr.. Marshall said he sent letter
of protest to President Orr, of the
New York Life.
c. H. Woodwork of st. Louis, in
PRODUCED a resolution which favored
uniform commission of Is per cent.
fiat and Is per cent. contingent on
all classes Of business throughout the
country. The resolution favored the
of the salaried agent or
local manager. Speaking of the res
olution, Mr.. Woodwork said:
Public sentiment has reached the
fire insurance business, and If we
don't regulate them by legislative en-
actment-it is just behind the cur
tain now, and now propose that we
make an effort to regulate them our
selves and pacify public sentiment"
The resolution met with general APP
prevail and was sent to the Resolution
Committee.