New-York tribune., 1910-12-23
TELL OF FAKE INSURANCE.
p,oker Describes East Side
e,.,,d and Publisher Big Gamble.
psoFITs AGAINST DISASTER
r,nanies All Play Game That
wsv. witness states-Rate
Publicity Recommended.

Insurance # at least two different
-s- called 70 the attention of the
lfeI'-. ;-7xesrisatAng committee yester-
fssi s-e- according 70 the testimony of
az, ,r,ser-hal. IN insurance broker. be
fhii.t - largely on the East Side and ex-
ine -.ssan II the activities of com
is'ii.7 ,-i-l, were almost pure fake; the
Tai-i1 .c-oordire % the testimony of A NJ
nnbisher Of Best's reports. being
bfS1 enc nigh value conhagration dis
io'l-u .x,s-ing because many companies
i7ilt 60 --.7,rr AGAINST the odds Of a big fire
n this CITY .,..,,,- ~. testimony Of
r,-sns. president Of the Continental
t1F'is .-o-7pany. who also admitted that
1nS-- oor,nanies were taking extremely
I'''Ns E.,css in 5he part of Manhattan
i'l'- ~ p-ea test value as 10 buildings and
Vi exfe- the information from Mr.
,..5 double weight and stirred Chair
=, Merritt To ask:
-, there must he many merchants
= e,5pposedlv good insurance in the
- of Hez- York who would not be able
:. -,,lect On their policies If there should
- he IRE. coniiagrstion. in the district
s,,tr of 18th street, say
earrble Profits Against Disaster.
- Pss4 admitted that the policyholdeTs
- che high value confagration district
--,,I5 b4 fortunate. for the most part, to
-. tu-enrv cents on q dollar for their poll
[.ss - case Of such 2 disaster
I know that these men. the company Off
s,s are gambling the present profits
sr-fnst the possibility OF such conhagra-
,sor~ he said
r-re-v poIicvholder. large and small ne
,,,15,,,e5 should be able TO get at infor-
,,s-ia7 which would show him Just how re
,'shls his conpany's policy was. and the
-,os- feasible correction Mr. Best could sug-
.asl would be that each company should be
,eoz1ired 10 fIe with the state Department d
-ahulsrion Of its risks in the congested dis
--iofs of this city Underwriters have told
1in he said. that TO file such information
,.r,ild create a small panic. but by that very
f.lief they admitted that they were selling
s,-,a so-caIIed protection that was only
,rnrection in limited way, and not al all
,ro,se1.Ua IN case OF a big disaster.
AZ n the effect Of such publicity on
-.-ez NJ Best said that the fire insurance
-,si,ess u this city had been immensely
.,-,-7,s-le for many years. and there would
;. N occasion % raise rates Well man
zp.s er7spanies. he continued. have made
-~oaev. hfg money, all over the country in
-oa last len wears. even taking into con-
Iteration taelr losses on The two confa-
--guone. Baltimore and San Francisco, but
n tie same period Of time. taking all
-he companies together. the general aver
.ee On fre insurance business alone, and
excluding their investment profits, has been
: IasS rather than a gain
- Agents commissions are excessive, said
7fr Be-- but an agents business, while
,hsoretcally an asset Of the company, was
n reality che sole property Of the agent,
and the company is always afraid Of losing
81 7 l- makes q move toward redUcing
commissions.
Frauds General on East Side.
NJ. Roseuthal testified that there we're
a least forty fake insurance companies
z-t5ne small risks on the East Side, where
-bev we're frauduIently taking the premium
--anev Of the small merchants and house
holde-s
Stewart Brown. the banker. who was
rarsd into the Hotchkiss investigation last
rrring as one Of the chief promoters OF
he Inte-zatioraI Trust Company, came
- rhe witness stand OF this ilv6suga-
1.ou yesterday 81 his own request
Here IN investigation OF FIRE 1nsJT-
sp7e costing $1,000 said Mr. Brown, and
.fev've heard from owners. agents brok-
e-s sad. IN fact every one concerned nat
-bs p-e-liu-7 raver the ultimate consumer,
and r-or0ss 20 give them my views
*-on tla- standpoint.
r7,s views z-ere largely an Endorsement
- .he present scheme cf things and
-lzz for Nc legislation except such as
voul6 admit mora coupa niss. ulUtuals IN
GUIDED
Edward ? Beddzn. The dean Of the fire
--s--zr-e business n America. Tho has
teen IT tts- line for forty-eight years, tes-
-.fsd along +h= same ltnes ss Nr- Evans
&C IN Wednesday. Thz fra loss q the
coun-r--. hs said. was 500 2 minute. and
the companies Rad = make that before
they made zxpersss or prcft-
7 Inn Bruce ccu-sel 70 the commit
IS. sad hs had not YET heard from City
C'hs-,oe-latn E-6e The subject to-day viii
= S-s --e-e--ior. and the committee Tllt