The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1906-12-13
MATERIAL REDUCTION IN PRE-
NUNS, 1T is HELD, CAN
SAFELY BE MADE.
COMPANIES FAULTS SHOWN.
Legislative Committee of Wisconsin En-
bodies Twenty-one Bills in
Report.

|
ance investigating committee, made pub
lie today. Most insurance authorities
have denied this. but the committee up
holds its claim at length, prescribes n
new table of premiums and declares that
any company that cannot comply with it
should be barred from the state. The
committee also submits drafts of TWEEN
ty-one bills intended to correct the vari-
Gus evils its Investigations have uncoy-
cred in life insurance.
Companies Are Criticised.
| The committee investigated the North
western Mutual and the Wisconsin Life,
| as Wisconsin companies. and the Union
! Central Life as a typical outside com
pany of conservative record. The Wis
! consin Life is very severely criticised or
| almost every point, but it is small
company, with only few thousand poll
cy holders. The other companies are
also criticised on special points which
! were brought out during the bearings
| last summer, although their general con
dition is warmly commended. The
| Northwestern was criticised for proxy
voting. harsh loan provisions, the issu-
| ance of Subagents' helpers contracts and
discrimination against tontine policy
| holders to increase annual dividends.
| The Union Central is charged with ia
voring stockholders at the expense of
policy holders, with charging varying
rates of interest on policy loans. and
with evorloading endowment policies.
Many Evils Found
Based upor its Investigations mto
| these companies and the information Sc
| cured from various sources, the report
| then summarizes the evils il has diS"ov-
cred in the life insurance business as
| follows:
1T has shown to the satisfaction Of
the committee among other things, (a)
| that the expense charges for insurance
| management are excessive and appor-
toned unjustly as between different
classes of policies; CD that premiums on
most classes of policies are unnecessarily
| high; (c) that the dividend returns sell
| dom correspond to actual conditions; (dl
! that discrimination is employed in the
appOrtionment of dividends as between
annual and deferred dividend policies
and III interest rates on policy loans; (e)
| that excessive charges have been and
are now eXacted upon surrender of poll
cies for cash, or for paid-up or eX-
tended insurance; 81 that unreasonable
forfeitures of the reserve are eXactel
during the first three years of the policy;
(g) that the policies and loan agree
ments of many companies contain harsh
provisions"
Holds Premiums Too High.
The report then goes into n lengthy
technical discussion of the principles Of
life insurance, and as its most i'm
portant conclusion declares that pre-
mlums on life insurance can be safely re-
duced from the scale now in force with
out impairing the sOlvency of the com
panieS or the security of their contracts
of insurance. This point is generally
hat h,r inc,
the committee upholds it at length and
backs up its conclusions by proposing
law fixing a table of life insurance pre-
miums which must be complied with by
any companies which continue to do
business i'll Wisconsin. The committee
limits the annual premium on an Ordi-
nary life policy to the amount now
charged by two companies among the
oldest and safest doing business in the
United States and limits the premiums
on all other forms III proportion.
General Extravaganza.
1t holds that the high commissions
paid the large SURPRISES accumulated
| and the general extravaganza of the big
companies which have been possible
without impairing their solvency, show
that the premiums can safely be re
duced. 1t recommends that Il table be
included in each policy, showing for each
year of its existence the division of the
premium into mortality. expense and re-
serve elements. The minimum rate of
interest assumed is to be 21a per cent,
with per cent. rs maximum.
Urges Many Bills.
The following is a list of the bills rec
commended by the committee:
l. Defining the terms used in legislation
relating to life insurance.
,. TO provide for and regulate the cleo
ton of directors and trustees of domestic
mutual life insurance companies.
3. To provide for the appointment by
the governor of one additional director
upon the board of all domestic life insur
ance companies.
T. To provide for the admission of life
insurance companies of other states, and
amending section 1913 of the statutes of
1898.
5. Prohibiting life insurance companies
from writing both participating and non
participating policies in this state
9. Requiring stock companies to asccr-
tain, determine and report to the commits
sioner of insurance the respective rights of
policy holders and stockholders In unas
signed surplus.
=. TO amend the law with respect to
the valuation of policies.
5. Relating to the form of policies of
life insurance and applications therefor and
prescribing certain standard provisions.
o. Prescribing limitations of the pre-
miums.
10. Prescribing limitations of expenses
II. Prescribing limitations of salaries.
To Prohibit Rebates
- To prohibit Relating.
IL. To prohibit misrepresentation
14.-To provide for an original account
Ing to classes OF deferred dividend policy
holders, an annual accounting thereafter
and report thereof to the commissioner
of Insurance
Il. To provide for an annual accounting
16. Repeating chapter AIS or the laws
of 1899. chapter 10 of the laws of 1895
and chapter 270 of the laws of 1899
II. Requiring all companies transacting
business in this state to furnish policy
holders, upon application, copy of their
application for insurance.
IS. Requiring life insurance companies
transacting business In this state to re.
port to the commissioner OF insurance all
disbursements made In opposing or promot-
ing legislation, and to keep an accurate
account thereof.
10. To repeal the insurance rctaliatory
laws.
20 To require annual reports OF contrl.
buttons for campaign purposes.
u Relating to reports to be filed with
the commissioner of Insurance.
Campaign Contributions
The committee is particularly strong in
it's condemnation of campaign contribu-
tons. The testimony. IL says, shows
that several foreign companies operating
in the state have made it a common
t,tl a