The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-14
CLEVELAND WANTS
WHOLESOME LAWS
Submits Insurance Brief to
Tennessee Assembly
OPPOSES 70 PER CENT BILL
Best Legislative Results, He Says, Are
to Be Reached BY Safeguarding
All Life Insurance
Interests.

| Nashville, Tenn, March 13-Ex -Presi-
dent Grover Cleveland has submitted to
the insurance Investigating committee of
the Tennessee assembly brief in oppo-
sition to what is known as the 30 per
cent bill' now pending before that COM
mittee, which requires that life insurance
| companies operating in Tennessee invest
10 per cent of their reserve fund on Ten
| nessee policies in Tennessee securities.
Mr.. Cleveland first calls attention to re-
cent disclosures and says:
These concessions make it unnecessary
to go the length of insisting that no cor
receive or remedial legislation should be
| passed What we desire to suggest, how
ever, is that such legislation should be
directed to the points and places where
weakness exists and where conditions
have been found to palpably need cor
rection.
Safeguard interests.
1T seems to be quite apparent that if
the best legislative results are to be
reached by safeguarding all the interests
in any way related to life insurance and
by subscribing the peoples interests in the
premises by the passage of wholesome
laws. those who make our laws should be
free from all vindictive feeling and mis-
leading prejudices and duly guarded
against dangerous disregard of safe and
conservative business rules"
He calls. attention to this fact that the
disclosures in recent New York invest-
cation, while exposing practices inconsis-
tent with duties Of trusteeship by which
trustees personally benefited themselves,
but there was not exposed incompetence
| of Judgment as to the safety of securities
nor on the whole was it shown that the
estate of the companies had substantially
suffered through itl-advised Investments
In view of this and the reforms and
| corrected methods which have resulted
| from investigation and exposure, it car
| hardly be said that the proposed inter-
ference with the investment branch of life
insurance Is just at this time absolutely
required as tending to secure the unques
| toned solvency so important to a large
portion of the people of our severa
| states.
To Reason Frankly.
Let us reason together-franky ant
honestly. In many of the states contem
plating such legisla tion there is nor.
| NAL, healthy demand for all or nearly al
the securities contemplated in pending
bills, which are so absolutely safe and
unquestioned as to excuse life insurance
companies in accepting them as securities
for their trust funds. And yet they are
forced to purchase in such a market anc
| must, under the severe pains and penal
! ties, invest in such securities as remain
| after investors on the ground have made
| choice, or to pay for those more desira
BILE, the manipulated advance invited by
| their legally created necessities.
| Are the uninsured people of the state
as individuals the plain people'-those II
! humble statons-to be benefited by this
| legislation?
"rhe money brought into the state foi
| investment is not for them, except they
give security for It's use< and this will
more often than otherwise result in mort
| gage.
| would the laborers OF the state b'
| benefited by this legislation? They neither
have securities to sell nor is their capita
| consisting of the ability to work witt
their hands the kind of coin exchange
able in the purchase of securities.
I'VE cannot escape the proof of the ex
| istence and activity of anti-state sent
ment 1t is not well for us to forget tina
though this sentiment is to an extent one
of the manifestations of the restlessnes:
and reckless impulse of our times, 1T !:
none the less dangerous.