The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-29
Annuity Scheme Authorized by
the Massachusetts LegiSIa-
ture May Solve Problem.
SAVINGS BANKS TO MANAGE
SOLICITATION OF BUSINESS is
PROHIBITED.

had experience with an agitation car
ried on by a small group of persons for
the establishment Of a system by
which the workman will pay taxes dur
ing his productive years and come into
a pension after ne has passed a Ger
tain age or become disabled. This plan
would be compulsory
An American Scheme.
The savings annuity, so say pro-
motors OF the plan by which savings
banks of the state have been author
lied after Nov. l to establish depart
ments for dealing in annuities as well
as in small industrial life insurance
policies, is a more American scheme.
because of the opposition of certain
interests to the idea of a savings in
stitutiOn issuing life policies less pub
lie attention has been paid to the i'm
portance of the provisions in the Bran
deis-White bill regarding annuities of
$500 each which any resident of Massa
chusetts may purchase of any savings
bank that takes advantage Of the per-
mission granted by the new law.
Novelty in This Country.
Annuties have been less in vogue in
this country than in most countries up
to this time. There have been greater
profits for insurance companies in
handling policies. Annuities have been
issued for the most part as gifts from
some wealthy person TO a poor rela-
tive or dependent Now and then a
man of wealth provides for himself in
this way against all possible vicissi-
tudes The most noted market opera
IL cot v-r.I
his future with an annuity of $685. 900.
Whether American wage-earners will
buy annuities from the savings banks
which they have patronized to the ex-
tent of 50, 4S2, 127, 1873 is now to be tested
in Massachusetts. The problem is to
discover how many men are willing to
90 their duty by themselves and their
families without being led to do so by
a persuasive agent. Under the law
the banks are not to employ solicitors
to sell annuities or policies. The bust
ness viii be over the counter"
Worked Out by John De Witt.
The mathematics of the arrangement
by which a sum of money, either in a
single payment or a series of pay
ments, can be applied at compound in
terest so as to product annual pay
ments of a fixed amount during the re-
manning life of an average person was
first worked out by the grand pension
airy of Holland, John De Witt, who so
often led the Dutch TO victory against
The English.
De Witt, who had become interested
in speculations regarding probabilities
in games of chance, was the first to
establish for philanthropic purposes ia
bles of mortality, based on Dutch par
ishes. He wrote and presented to the
states general of his nation a treatise
on life annuities," in which were laid
down the principles. now in use.
Some time after De Wits tragic
death at the hands Of an ungrateful
populace others developed the details
of his scheme. Among them was the
French philosopher Condorcet, who
proved by mathematical tables that
the human race would soon be perfect
and immortal.
Popular in London,
Throughout the eighteenth century,
when designs for the benefit of hui
manity were popular, mathematician
were perfecting the arrangements by
which annUities could be issued. Soon
associations began to handle them as a
business of a benefcent character. The
Laudable Society of London, for the
benefit of widows, was started in 1761,
while the London Annuity society was
established in 1865. Throughout Great
Britain voluntary annuity associations
were formed, many Of which have last
ed TO this day. Part of the work of
the ideal savings institution, as out
lined in 1907 by Samuel Whitbread.
was TO provide annuities on favorable
terms. Mathematicians like the Rev.
Or. Price gave time and study to the
theory of ''reversionary payments" In
English life the annuity has long been
= very important feature.
One Can Pension Himself.
Larger interest in the subject of an
nuities is predicted in this country as
result of the general establishment
of savings and insurance" banks. A
person can easily pension himself I'M
der the annuity system. A man of 80
earning the good wages common in
this era of prosperity carries perhaps a
little life insurance that affords pres
ent protection for his family. But his
children are growing up. What he has
most seriously to consider is not the
chance of early death, but how not to
become a burden to others after his
productive years are over
Such man earning, say, $50 a week,
might contract with three savings
each, to begin when he is so. That
would mean that for the rest of his
life after that age he would have an
annual pension of $500.
Cost Cannot BE Stated.
The cost of such protection during
old age in an American community
cannot be stated. That will be deter
mined by state actuary under the
new savings insurance plan. Based,
however, on classic English tables, the
mans annual contribution between the
ages of 50 and so, to affect the pur-
chase OF these three annuities OF 500
each, would amount to about $3.50, not
an impossible saving for a man earn
ing 81, 500 or more.
In no other wsy-unless through the
accident of lucky specula tors-could
a wage earner's savings be made to
yield so large an income, available at
Just the time when he is most likely to
become dependent on the charity of
relatives.
Many Forms Possible.
Many other forms of annuity are
possible. Some involve payment of
dof 81,