The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-05-09
NOW THEFARMERS
They Are Buying Life Insur.
ance in Kansas.
Enterprising Agents Find
Fruitful Field.
HAVE PLENTY MONEY
Not Aversa to Investing Some
in Insurance.
Superintendent Barnes Con-
firms Story Of Movement.

1.-THE men who are buying life in
surance in Kansas now days are the
farmers said Insurance Commits
sioner Charles Barnes, in speaking
of the life insurance situation in Kan
sas. Life insurance agents have
found that there is no class of people
in the state so we'll able to take in
surance now as the farming class, and
the result is that they are making
systematic efforts to reach this class
Nearly all the big old line life COM
panies operating in Kansas report
that on their last years business,
that policies sold to farmers were far
more numerous than to any other
class of people. Life insurance
agents have a we'll developed system
of working a farming community.
Some go to town located in rich
farming country and apply to the To-
cal banker for a list of leading far
mers who are financially able to take
life insurance. Then they hang
around town and spot these pros
trading with the local merchants.
They arrange SO that they can meet
the farmer while he is in town, and
while they don't attempt to sell him
any life insurance, they ask permits
sion to come out and see him at his
farm and present their case.
Having secured this permission,
the agent gets a team, and goes out
for a personal visit with his pros
pect. He goes in, the morning and
stays good share of the day. He
makes himself as entertaining and
useful as possible. and before he
leaves the place he usually has writ
ten the farmer, and his wife and pos
sibly some of the grown sons and
daughters.
One by one the farmers are syste
matically canvassed in this way, and
the clever agent rarely misses kill
ing"
Another plan is for the agent to go
to some prominent and popular far
mer and hire him at so much per day
to travel around with him and intro
duce him to all the farmers of his
acquaintance. The agent who comes
under the chaperOnage of some well
known farmer of the community is
sure of a respectful hearing, especially
if the we'll known farmer can put in a
word here and there to help the cases
along.
1t is said that two young insurance
men from Topeka went recently into
certain county where there is
large Swedish settlement The young
men made the acquaintance of some
of the leading men of the settlement,
wrote them some insurance, and then,
using these men as sponsors, stayed
for a month in that community and
wrote practically every able bodied
man in the settlement a policy.
A prominent state agent for one of
the big insurance companies said in
speaking of the matter:
Farmers in Kansas are proving to
be a very profitable class of business
for old line life companies now. The
principal reason is that the farmers
are very prosperous have plenty of
money. Up to this time, Kansas far
mers have largely patronized the fra
ternal insurance schemes. This habit
started in Populist days, some fifteen
years ago. The fraternals practically
controlled things in Kansas in those
days, and got almost anything in the
way Of legislation they wanted. Far
mers all took fraternal insurance, be-
cause it was cheap, and they didn't
have much money. Since then the
farmers have learned the weakness of
fraternal insurance, and have more
money. They are getting old line life
policies new. Last years reports
showed that Kansas ranked 28th
among the states in amount of old
line life insurance, which is very low,
Of course. This low rank is due to
the large amount Of fraternal insur-
ance carried in the state.''