The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-14
VIEWS
Ex-PREsIDENT WRITES TO TEN
 NF1ssEE ASSEMBLY,.
Opposes What Is Known As 70 Per Cent BIn Now Pending Before
 Committee Of That Body.

Nashville, March Is.-Ex-Presiden Grover Cleveland has submitted to the insurance Investigating committee Of the Tennessee assembly brief in op- position to what is known as the ITO per cent biil," now pending before that committee which requires that life insurance companies operating in Tennessee invest 70 per cent of their reserve fund on Tennessee policies in Tennessee securities. MT. Cleveland first calls attention to recent insurance disclosures and says:
 'sThese concession make 1t unneces- sary to go the length of insils-ing that no corrective or remdial legis- lation should be passed. What we do desire to suggest. however, Is that such Legislation should be directed to the points and places where weakness exists, and where conditions have been found to palpably need correction.
 Tt 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 subserving the peo- ple's interests in the premises. by the passage of wholesome laws, those who make our laws should be free from all vindictive feeling and misleading prejudices. and duly guarded against a dangerous disregard of safe and con servative business rules"
 He calls a ttention to facts that dls- closures in recent New York investi- gation while exposing practices incon- sistent with duties of trusteeshtp. 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 1t shown that the estate of the companies had substantially suffered through illadvised investments.
 In view of this and the reforms and corrected methods which have result ed from investigation and exposure, 1t can hardly be said that the proposed Interference with the inves tment branch of life insurance is just at this time absolutely required, as tending to secure the unouestioned solvency so important to a large portion of the people of our several states.
 Let us reason together--frankly and honestly. In many of the states contemplating such legislation, there is a normal. healthy demand for all or nearly all the securities contemplated in pending bills, which are so abso- lutely safe and unquestioned as to ex- cuse life insurance companies in &C., cepting them as securities for their trust funds. And yet they are forced to purchase in such a market and must under severe pains and penalties in vest m such securities as remain after inve.s s-ors on the ground have made choice. or to pay for those more de- sirable, the manipulated advance invit- ed by their legally created necessities.
 Are the uninsured people of the state as individuals. the plain people Chose in humble stations-to be benefited by this legislation?
 The money brought into the state for investment Is not for them, except they give security for Its use; and this will more often than otherwise result in mortgage.
 Would tthe laborers of the state be benefited by this legislation?
 They neither have securities to sell; nor is their capital consisting of the ability to work wsth their hands, the kind of coin exchangeab1e in the purchase of securities.
 We cannot escape the proof of the existence and activity of anti-tstate sentiment. It is not we'll for us to forget that though this sentiment is to an extent one of the manifestations of the restlessness and reckless impulse of our times, 1t Is -the-less dan- gerous and that 1t certainly gains new with every new occasion for