Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-01-02
Majority Report of Insurance
Commission Receives a
Shock
CONTENTION DOES NOT HOLD
Voluntary Abandonment of Deferred
Dividend Plan by Iowa Company
Refutation of Commissions Arsu-
ments-AsricuIturaI Extension Work
Capital Gossip.
'ecsal to Times Republican.

Des Moines, Jan. 1.-THE action Of
one Of the Des Moines life insurance
companies in abandoning deferred
dividend" policies after building up a
business in this line covering period
of about twenty years, is, about the
hardest blow to the report of Senators
Bleakly and Jamison on the insurance
business which has yet been struck.
OF the seven old line life companies in
Des Moines but four continue to write
the obnoxious deferred dividend form
of speculation, the others voluntarily
giving it up. And the chief argument
OF the senatorial end Of the legislative
commission was that 1t would be q bad
thing for Iowa to force the home COM
panies to give up deferred dividends
because Iowa com pafltes are not able
to stand the change. Yet the! one com
.pany which has just quit the deferred
dividend; business is. not one OF the
strongest Of the Iowa companies. Its
action takes away one of the argu-
ments which is most relied on to ex-
cuse continuance under the Iowa law Of
the deferred dividend business by re-
quiring that annually the companies
report the amount Of the deferred div
idends to the policy holders. All the
members OF the commission apparently
agreed that deferred dividends are all
wrong and in fact not real insurance;
but the two senators with the one dem
ocratic member decided that 1t would
not do Tor Iowa to follow the lead of
New York and other states in cutting
out thereof of the evil. There has been
much inquiry the past week for the dis
senting report Of the minority mem
bers; but it was not forthcoming.
The agricultural education work Of
the state college is being in fact ex-
tended to all parts Of the states, even
tho the legislature has thus far failed
to sanction any general plan Of extern
sion work to embrace experiment sta
lions, agricultural high schools, short
courses, etc. Professor Curtiss and
others. from the college attended the
agricultural short course school at
Mount Pleasant recently, and Profess
sor Curtiss declares 1t to be an ideally
conducted local affair. It illustrates
what can be done in a small way.
About $50 persons attended this school
young men and old men from every
part of the country-and they mani
Tested the greatest zeal in the work
The leading spirit in maintaining the
school is Senator w. B. Seeley, who is
tn tn no lot II; u.
He is interested in stocksFaising, ana Is
a practical farmer. Because of his great
Interest in this work, his. friends have
urged that he be given a prominent
place on the agricultural committee Of
the senate and other committees where
his interest will be placed. But these
farm schools are springing up all over
the state, and it is predicted that in
few years the state will have them in
more than half the counties.
Is pocket knife and a bunch Of
keys an outfit properly described as
burglars tools? The supreme 9, ecourt
must answer. The issue is in VI case
from Monroe county in which Repre-
sentative. Kendall is defending one
Thomas Hanley, who was convicted 5on
nimsy evidence: a part OF which con-
sisted in the discovery in his coat OF q
fuse, pocket knife and bunch Of keys.
The defense complains that the trial
court in instructions assumed that
these thingsswere burglars tools,,' and
so described them. Exception IS taken
to the classification of the knife and
keys. for it Is not desired that q pre-
cedent be set which will make it dam
gerous for one to carry these things