New-York tribune., 1911-11-29

only two-the Presbyterian Ministers
Fund. Of Pennsylvania. and the New Eng
land Mutual. of Boston-are still doing
life insurance business.
A Decade Of Beginnings.
The decade 1900 saw the organization
OF a considerable number OF companies,
that remain until the present. several OF
which have become among the foremost
I'm the country. The Mutual Life, OF New
York; the State Mutual, of Massachusetts;
the Mutual Benefit, Of New Jersey; the
Connecticut Mutual, of Hartford: the Penn
Mutual Of Philadelphia. and the Union
Mutual. of Maine. ali belong TO this period
In earlier times life insurance was an ad-
junct 10 fire insurance and trust business
very little effort was made to popularizc or
push il; now it became separate business,
general agencies were established. aud the
work was carried forward with something
OF the zeal that has distinguished It in
later years.
This decade also saw the enactment by
the New York Legislature of one Of the
most beneicent laws relating 10 nfe in
surance that has ever been put upon the
statute book-the act of April, 1870, making
it lawful for married woman to cause to
be insured for her sole use the life Of her
husband. and In case Of her surviving her
husband the insurance 10 be payable 10
her for her own use free from the claims
Of the representatives of her husband or Of
any of his creditors. Tho amount which
might be paid N premiums upon life in
sUrance and be thus exempt was fixed by
the original act at $500. and was increased
10y tho act Of 1873 to 500 The early appli-
cations for life insurance cOnformed close
ly TO the law They were signed by the
benefciaries. and not lnfrequently the
premiums We're paid 10y them and the cor
respondence carried on I'm their names.
Early Assumptions and Contracts.
The early American life companies relied
largely upon English experience as TO NOR
talty rates and interest assumptions: the
Carlisle mortality table was the generally
accepted standard, and the interest rate
assumed I'm computing premiums was usual
ly or per cent. What little American ex-
pCrience there was 5t the time indicated Il
mortality rate somewhat higher than that
of Europe. as q large part of the country
was newly settled and cholera and yellow
fever were frequently epidemic in the At
anuc Coast cities and along the Mississippi
River As late as 1859 when the subject
OF nou-forfeiting policies WAS under discus
sion. d committee of the Life Underwriters
Convention said: "No have no American
experience. and can have none, which will
be entirely reliable as 10 mortality among
assured lives. for years TO come; there
fore We do not know what II costs US 10
insure lives in this country At the pre-
ceding session Of the convention the com
panies represented hod been requested 10
furnish the committee on vital statistics
with the data from which the combined
mortality experience oi American life
companies could be deduced At TINS sts-
sion the chairman Of the committee, Shep-
psrd Homans then actuary Of the Mutual
Life. reported that returns had been prom
ised by twenty-five companies and received
from thirteen. Seven years later Mr..
Hcnlars published the American table Of
mortality, which has since become a stand
ard table for American companies and is
gradually replacing the Rnglishj actuaries'
or comoin experience table in this coun-
try.
The early policy forms were such as
might be expected IN 0 business the fun