The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-10-30
Alcohol and Insurance.

There has been a complete revival Of
the old beliefs and theories resaTding al
! cohoI-as IL relates 10 life insurance.
| Companies that maintain total absti-
nece departments continue 10 report very
| gratifying results, and In some cases the
recent Improvement IN mortality expert
| ence under this class of risk has shown
AN Jncrese over former yoars, TINS ls 80
| of ono of the New York OLD inc com
pa MES. which has over ten years expert
ence In this class The success nttcnding
Insurance on the lives Of total 9bstatners
has also resulted In the promotion dur
Ing the present year In Texas, OF com
pany to make specially of inns orancn
OF the business. Years ago medical
pre iudice existed against the use OF water
for drinking. Sir William Vaughn, In Ills
Natural and Artificial Directions FOR
dom TO be drunk" Some. physicians
claimed that water might he healthful
for children, but should not be USED oy
men except some odd, abstcnuoGs ono,
nature. for dogs OF nature do aDhor
wine" Wesley, in his primitive Physic,
advised 10 drink only water II II agrees
with your stomach; II not GOOD. clcar ,s.
did not necessarily mean q short one
either Seventy years ago life companies
in England charged total abstaincrs 10
per cent additional premium. This was
because of the belief then prevalent that
II d man did not partake OF a certain
amount OF alcoholic liquor, his system
was in danger OF disease. and that his
life was shortened by depriving himself
Of what was considered the "eliXir Of
life," water OF life" etc. II was thought
that a man who did not use strengthen,
Ing aaor boeT Etc., doS5 SSG5
not be strong. This had its inception IN
England in ls4o, when a Quaker named
Warner a total abstancr, was refused
a policy IN one Of the nc companies. eX-
ccpt upon payment OF the usual addi-
tional 10 per cent. This so incenscd tho
good man that he not only refused the
policy, but organized the first total alb
United Kingdom Temperance and Cen
eral. Since that time Il great mass of
data has been collected TO prove that
the total abstalners from the
saving in the abstaincrs' class OF approx
imately % per cent. The experience Of
some companies is even higher On the
other hand the medical profession is loath
To non-usc of alcohol. Several years ago
the Medical Examiner and Practitioner
speaking of tho sixty wears experience
OF the United Kingdom Temperance and
General. said:
'There arc. however, several factors
that should enter into the calculation
which are not considered in the actuar3
figures. While reasonable care has been
ences, we are at once struck with the
pertInecy OF the inquiry as to whether
the ncreasd longevity of total abstaincrs
is due 10 their non-use of alcoholics or to
other causes-that is, do they live longer
because they do not drink solely. or Is
their constitution and nervous makeup
such thai while less tempted TO indulge
in alcoholic stimulants they arc also less
exposed 10 other factors that lead to-
early death. II is we'll known that the
neurotics and detectives gen.
orally are moro addicted to the use OF
alcohol than are the strong and robust
-i,a golf No,xf1 -n1 hnnno o.
tors such as a lowered nutrition, less
hygienic dwellings, more hazardous en-
would enter into the problem
OF life expectancy. The higher death
ATE canot be attributed 10 alcohol alone.
but it is one OF the factors that tend to
lower life expectancy. The figures. so
far as they go. show that the use of alco-
hol is valuable index TO these other
conditions and not thati is use in modera-
tion tends directly TO shorten life. at
least not 10 the extent shown by tho fig
urcs.'
While the actuaries and physicians diff
fer on this question, the fact remains that