Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-04-11
STATE OBJECTIONS TO LIFE IN
sURANCE BILLS.
BIG COMPANIES UNITE
Experts Join Hands in Setting Forth
Their Reasons Why Proposed New
Laws Should Not Be Enacted IN
Wisconsin-Wrong IN Trihc'p'e
and Impracticable.
Madison April u


Of the most important insurance bills
before the legislature. The brleI Is
submitted by Oscar B. ireland Oh the
Massachusetts Mutual, j. Z. Crawford
of the Northwestern Mutual Life, K.
Henderson Of the Equitable Life, f. II.
Johnston Of the Prudential, William
A. Hutcheson of the Mutual Life, W.
n PfersOn of the New York Life, j.
M Emery Of the Des Moines Lie, ana
e. E. Rhodes of the Mutual Benefit.
Bill No. /, that is 319s and 684a,
are dismissed with the objection that
the meaning Of a number OF actuarial
terms defined in the bills is in direct
conhic. with recognized textbooks
and the usage Of actuaries
The bill which relates to policy val
uation is declared to be open to five
very serious objections, most import
ant Of which are:
1T permits company to escape,
in some cases, any reserve liability in
the early policy years, thereby jeopar-
dizing the stability of the company. -
LEGISLATION would be SO widely var
ian, from that in other states as to
work a hardship On Wisconsin COM
panies attempting to operate in other
states and upon companies Of other
states attempting to operate in Wis
cOnsin.
The bill requires an impracticable
and misleading table Their sugges.
&C.,. 90, tho y,o1,otior, low iC tO aStab-
lish a minimum standard Of valuation
affecting policies hereafter to be is
sued, and that Wisconsin accept the
valuations made by other states, if
they exceed the Wisconsin minimum.
The bill which proposed to limit the
premium which may be charged is de-
clared utterly wrong in principle, be-
cause it prohibits premium charges
for contingencies, because it ignores
state taxes on premiums, because it
permits a rate for short term policy
greater than whole life policies, be-
cause it would provoke violation of
the anti-discrimination laws Of othei
states by making premiums in Wis
cOusin different than i'll other states.
They further contend that the bill is
unnecessary because the tendency is
for lower rates anyway, and that it
is contrary to public policy because
the company should not be restricted
in the exercise Of its judgment if held
to strict accountability.
Bill No. 10 is declared to be OBJ
jectionable because it calls for a sep
aratiOR of general expenses and in
vestment expenses on Wisconsin bust
ness from aggregate general and in
vestment expenses, which separation
is a physical impossibility They ia
voT a limitation of the first years ex-
Deuses in relation TO the new business
if it does not interfere with the stat
utes of other states.
Their objection to bill No. 8, relat-
ing to forms of policies, is that it is
defective and wrong in principle and
would exclude companies from other
states from Wisconsin business on ac-
count of retaliatory laws. I'VE favor
standard policy provisions" they say,
which fully protect the interests of
policyholders but which do not pre-
scribe the phraseology to be used.
Industrial insurance should be except
ed from the foregoing bills as they
are not applicable to such kind of in
surance. The protest concludes as
fellows:
Speaking as actuaries and not as.
the representatives of companies, in
our opinion, based in some cases upon
existing laws and in others upon es-
tabHshed actuarial principles, a com
pany should not continue to do bust
ness in Wisconsin if its laws pre-
scribe a maximum limitation of pre-
miums, a method of valuation which
would exclude expense factors, a def
mite setting aside of a specific por
ton of the premium in the several
policy years for expense, a form of
policy or any provision in a policy
which would not be permitted under
the law Of the state in which the com
pany is domiciIed, a discrimination be-
tween Wisconsin poicyh0Iders and
those of other states"
Committee Hearings.
The bills to prohibit night labor
by women and TO further restrict EN-
pIOyment Of children will be reported
from the manufacturers and labo.
committee for killing. At hearing
yesterday representatives of teIe-
phone companies explained that they
gave employment at night to women
exchange operators and to enact the
proposed bill would throw these many
women out of remunerative employ
ment. The committee, after these
and other representations were made,
voted to recommend the bills for IN
dfinite postponement
At a hearing before the COMMITTEES
on public health a number of MiIwau-
kee newspaper publishers opposed
the bill to make publishers liable for
printing advertisements of medicines
or remedies of certain diseases. The
bill was amended so as to make the
advertiser and not the publisher re-
sponsible for the Objectionable adver-
tisement and as so amended the bill
VIII be reported for passage.