Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1912-09-05
PAYS HIGH TRIBUTE no AZ
UNION CENTRAL LIFE.

larticle on Our Great Life Insurance.
Companies" pays this high tribute Il
1.-THE Union Central Life:
The Union Central IL now the sew
enth largest company In the coun-
TRY, not including the industrial
lcompanies. II was organised as late
as 1857. under the laws Of the state
IOf Ohio, and 10 the youngest come
lpany OF It's size. or OF the first six
teen In point Of insurance in force.
it's progress. therefore has been un-
usually rapid. At the end Of 1881
Iit had $4,000, 200 insurance in force;
ten years afterwards II had $780,
600 900: ten years after that It had
$I4s. 100000; and at the end of the
fourth decade (1911) 1t had $S21,-
O0O, 900. Such continuous and
healthy growth has admittedly been
the result of careful and conscien-
tious management. It 10 a stock
company. and the poIicyholders have
no voice in the management, but
in laying the foundation Of the COM
pany and making It secure. against
danger, the stockholders have not
set their interests above those Of
policyholders.
The Union Central is distinguished
for It's high interest earnings and its
low net cost to policyholders. These
points fight in its favor no matter
how its management may be criti-
cized as to other matters. In the
long run the policyholders appear
to prefer the company that shows the,
lowest net cost; that is: they regard
insurance as commidity which the
company sells and which It is their
interest to buy In the cheapest mar
ket. For those who take this view
of the matter there ID no cheaper
market than the Union Central. For
many years its unusual high interest
earnings have permitted the pay
Iment or large dividends to its partic-
ipating policyholders, making the
net cost among the lowest Of any
company.
The investment record of Ehe
Union Central is indeed the wonder
and the envy Of rival institutions
and q brief description Of 1t may be
given here. The company's invest
ments consist almost entirely OF
mortgage loans on western farms. OF
It's eighty-seven millions of assets at
the close of 1911, more than sixty
nine millions we're invested in farm
mortgages distributed throughout
thirty-four states. There were 49,
|e4s OF these mortgages SO that the
average lean is less than $4,000. This,
class Of security, as is wen known.
yields a very high rate OF Interest
and to this cause is due the fact
that the Union Central has, for q
quarter of century past, realized 9
higher rate of interest upon its as
sets than any other American COM
pany. The principal states favored
in the matter Of loans are Kansas.
Nebraska, Texas. Iowa, North Da-
kota, Missouri, Oklahoma Mime
sofa, Ohio and Tennessee. On loans
in states such as Texas the company
often secures interest as high az 8
per cent, and Ia North Dakota 2 per
cent In the other states between 81
and I per cent ID the average. The
gross rate Of interest earned last
year upon th mean amount Of total
assets was $50 per cent. No other
company comes anywhere near this
result. None of the larger companies
average as much as per cent, al
though several of the second-rate
ones do. Thus the Manhattan, the
Michigan Mutual, the Pacific Mutual,
and the Phoenix Mutual each aver
aged a little over per cent gross
interest rate for the ten years end
ing 1910. 1t would seem that large
volumes Of assets and high interest
rate do not go well together. The
gross interest rate earned by the
"Big Three of New York is less
than that earned by many Of the
smaller companies, being between 4
and per cent. The Union Central
appears to stand out as a solitary ex-
ception to this rule Of diminishing
It has attained to great /,
size without sacrificing its high I'M
terest earnings. The secret lies in its
spIendidIy organized investment de-
partment.
It has been shown that the supe-