Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-08-14
Would Forbid Use of Mails to Insur-
ance Companies Which Are Not Ii
censed by the Government--AIso
Urge Biennial Apportionment of Div
idends.


summed up in the following resalu-
lions:
"Eirst-That the insurance commit
tee be directed to draft and report to
the next annual meeting of the assoc
citation bill that shall safeguard the
interests of life companies and their
policy holders, but which shall re-
cies to be biennially apportioned. cred
tied and notified to the holders of such
policies.
"Second-The repeal of the so-called
reciprocal or retaliatory tax laws.
"Third-The repeal of the valued
policy laws.
"Fourth-The creation in each state
of the office of fire marshal.
''Fifth-Stricter Incorporation laws
in the several states. with particular
reference to the capital stock and
stockholders obligations in insurance
companies.
''SixthLThe enactment of federal
statute forbidding the use of the mails
to persons, associations, copartner-
ships or corporations, conducting any
kind of insurance business in the Unit
ed States, who are not licensed to
transact such business by the states
where such persons, associations, CO.
partnerships or corporations are DOM
iciled, or under whose laws any such
corporations are created.
%Seventh-Tle enactment of fed
eral statute providing for the super
vision of interstate transactions in in
surance."
These recommendations are signged
by Ralph w. Breckenridge of Omaha,
chairman; Burton Smith of Atlanta,
Ga, and Rodney A. Mercur of To-
wanda, Pa. OF the other two members
of the committee w. r. Vance OF
Washington dissents from the rec
ommendation for government control
on constitutional grounds, and Alfred
Hemenway of Boston took no part IN
the work of the committee.
Appended the report is copy OF
a. bill proposed for. enactment by con-
gress to establish in the department
of commerce and labor a bureau OF
insurance.
Immensely of Insurance.
After giving figures to show the inn
mensity Of the insurance business in
the United States, the report says that
more people are concerned with insur-
ance than any other institution of
modern life, and the public interest," ia
insurance is intense; but the almost
universal ignorance with regard to IL
and the principles upon which 1t is
based has made possible, thru legisla-
ton, ostensibly supervisory but actu-
ally destructive in it's tendency, 4
greater menace to the interests OF the
policy holders than they have suffered
thru the misjudgment and dishonesty
of company officials and the incompe-
tence or unfaithfulness characteristic
of the majority of the state insurance
departments.
The most conspicuous exhibition OF
legislative unwisdom is found in the
bills prepared by the Armstrong COM
mittee and passed by the New York
legislature The most conspicuous be-
cause it has had the widest advertise
ment and be cause of the things which
the committee might have done but
failed to do, and it's ignorance of the
subject confessed.
The opinion is expressed that accu-
mutation of enormous dividends is re-
sponsible for corruption developed in
the conduct of life insurance compan-
les
Government supervision of insurance
companies is urged as a necessity, but
the burdensome taxes levied against the
companies by the various states are
declared to be unjustifiable. These
taxes, which are said to amount to
$25,O00,0 900 a year, are ultimately PAID
by the policy holders.
The policy of some states of taxing:
outside companies more heavily than
home companies, the report declares, is
"hostile to the spirit of the federal
compact"
OF state insurance departments the
report says.
''The trouble is that the state insur
ance departments are sinecures. They
are political prizes. knowledge of the
insurance business is the last thing re-
uuired They are mere collection ag
encies. They offer the most seductive
opportunities for fraud and graft that
exist in the United States.
Altho denying that this charge APP
plies to all state insurance depart
menus, lIe EepOIl Clues lllC tilSIloouI'-S
made in New York, Pennsylvania and
Minnesota as specific instances to
prove its general correctness.
The report then quotes figures to
show that the great mass of insur-
ance business 5 interstate in charac-
ter and gives many authorities to show
that the popular demand is for federal
rather than state control. 1t also an
swers the argument that the supreme
court has held that insurance business
is not commerce.
After analyZing many supreme court
decisions with the purpose of showing
that they do not have the effect attrib-
uted to them by opponents of federal
supervision the report says:
"The real opposition to the federal
supervision of insurance does not rest
upon the absence of congressional pow
err, but rather in the Discrimination to
exercise it. That objection is palitacal
in character. has no solid foundation"
The United States have secured the
bulk of gold available on the London