Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-12-28

very large proportion, in some years over 90 per
cent, of our total business. One disadvantage OF
this table has been that it largely increased the re-
serve Our chlren's Increasing Life and Endow-
mcnt policies have been endowlnens payable after
periods OF A years and upwards according to age
at issue Compared with the Whole Life tables is
sued ny other companies these have made necessary
the accumulation OF an increase of many millions of
dollars in reserve. minimizing persons come to the
conclusion that this piles up the wealth of the Com.
pany forgetting that along with the increase OF as
sets runs the increase of liabilities and that the
wealth of company consists in its surplus and
completely overlooking the remarkable fact that we
have deliberately kept down suplus about ten
per cent OF our assets by annual distributions of the
excess of sulplus earned to the policy-hoders who
contributed to it Public opinion has changed and
now cares more for death benefits than endowments.
We are In business to please the public. We have a
good deal of evidence that Ordinary Life and Limit
cd Payment Life contracts thought preferable to
Endowments. We have resolved therefore to discon-
tinue our Increasing Life and Endowment policies,
which were designed to meet the public demand
formerly existing, and which were, we believe the
first tables ever really scientifically constructed
Industrial policies Our new Industrial policies will
therefore be Whole Life contracts But we think that
as to these there are signs of belief the part of
the public that payment of premiums ought to
with old age. 1t is hard for people to what to
any mathematician is selfevident that life insul-
a a, , the companies are enabled to pay the policies
In full on lives of those who die after insurance
only by the receipt of premiums from
those ,t,o who live out and beyond their
upon those who live long is only the contribution to
the unfortunate which is the essential basis of life
insurance However it is possible of course to make
tables for limited payments, and the problem is
therefore to fix an age that shall not he young
ms to raise the premiums (what is the same in
industrial insurance where the unit is the premium
and not the amount of nsurance) to the bene
tits unduy and on the other hand TO fix the age
not so old that the benefits of the limits of payment
Of premium shall he lost. We have fixed age rs us
the limit of payment of premiums because at that
age we are enabled to only slightly reduce the bene
tits during life and because we have not received
many complaints Of the necessity of paying premiums
up TO that age And to the occasional complaint
that people never live TO such old age" we may,
answer that in 1906 shall have voluntarily MS
matter of grace, paid about 200 claims as Endou.
n,ents oil policies issued Whole Life on persons
reaching age so after paying premiums for 10 years
or over
Constructing a table of benefits upon these four
rlincDles-Whoie Life instead Of Endowments; our
recent mortality experience instead of old; a
loading proportioned to reduced expenses: and
the payment of premiums ccasing after age Tive
shall But forth for 1907 tables in the Industrial
department which are better than any company has
heretofore issued and better than have ever be
fore this felt 1t safe to issue
The most striking change is in the nfantile ia.
hle because there we substitute Life tables with
payment of premiums limited to age as for orr com.
paratively short Increasing Endowment tables now
in USE and are therefore enabled to pay In benefits
what We have been compelled to hold as reserve
liability upon the endowment features.
Our new lnfantiIe tables will pay nearly as much
In death benefits for weekly premium of five cents
we have heretofore paid for a weekly premium of
ten cents. 1t is of course understood that the law
fixes maximum of benefits payable upon children
and this we cannot exceed. We have therefore in
creased the benefits at the later ages persistence
Thus at age two mt entry the benefits in case of
death at age nine is s173. while the benefit at age
three at entry dying at nine is $3.50 and the benc.
fit at age four dying at age nine is sl65 and so on
This is a recognition of the additional years for
which premiums have been paid by those entering at
earlier ages when death occurs at the same age II
follows from this large increase of benefits for five
cents that hereafter rolicy will he issued under
the Infantile tables for total premium of more than
five cents. And to meet desire for less insurance
especially in large families, have table with
pToportionate benefits for weekly premium of
three cents.
Our Adult tables show an increase of benefits
Tor the same premium based strictly upon tables
o. mortality At age ten the increase is IL l-2 per
cent over our present Life table and nearly IS per
cent over orr Increasing Life and Endowment table.
AL age 20 the increase is nine per cent. and
over 20 per cent respectively at age the increase
in nearly six per cent and nearly per respec.
lively; ut age 40 the increase is Two per cent and
over IL per cent respectively, and And in
comparing these tables with present Whole Life
tables (and with those of most of the other Industrial