The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1912-10-04
The COrTectOr of DeStinieS
Being Tales OF Randolph Mason as Related by
His Private Secretary, Courland Parks
THE LAST CHECK
By Melville D0vfsson Post
Copyrights by Edward J. Ciods

q diniculy.
The invalid put out a trembling
hand to q glass of some colored liquid
or the table. drank It, and finally ad.
dressed Randolph Mason. speaking In
a thick, scarcely ineligible voice.
you see," he said, how fatally
truthful my statement was. / could
not come TO your once. shall take
but one more journey"
Randolph Mason nodded his head
slightly. as though in assent Of some
trivial statement and in invitation 70
proceed to other matters more impor.
tant.
The invalid continued:
Within the last day or two. I have
been going carefully over my affairs
under q sense Of impending death. In
one matter / conceived myself to have
made q mistake. and ] wish to correct
II, II possible. You are aware OF the
recent vicious public assault on the
insurance companies, a wave OF hos.
tile. rabid. universal sentiment. There
seems to be no particular reason for
II. The movement Is a phenomenon
recurring constantly in the history OF
our civilization. i believe these pc.
riodic storms Of public opinion to be
organic and inevitable. All establish.
ed institutions. no matter how excel.
lent, arc subject to such assaults. l
pointed this out ten years & TO the
bank officials OF New York when a
wave Of sentiment threatened the es-
tablished monetary standard"
He pulled his baggy form together
in his chair. AS he spoke, his voice
became somewhat clearer.
Now. in al this investigation what
none, outside Of a few companies, ex-
cept that those In control OF these
insurance companies had the use Of
large sums OF money and, not being
infallible. made sometimes question.
able investments; and the further fact
that considerable sums were used in
politics. Why, gentlemen, everybody
knows that the average Assembly o:
the State is composed largely OF men
who scheme to extort money from com
mercial industries by threatening them
with destructive legislation. The CON-
MERGE OF today Is no better OF than
the commerce OF the middle ages. II
must still purchase immunity from the
banditti. Sometimes these highway
men car be fought, but usually most
fnitnsfrinC haH-n f1,Yod 10 lagc r~nanafy.n
10 pay the toll. Consequently, no
higher injustice can be imagined than
TO hold officials of an insurance CON-
pany responsible for such expendi-
lures. 1t Is like shooting q captain
for handing owe his ships money TO
pirates in order TO save his cargo.
Why, there Is not an insurance com.
pany In America that could hold IL
self together for a year as q money
making concern II It neglected to keep
q representative at Albany"
"Sir," said Randolph Mason, this
statement Is neither entertaining MOI
instructive. Please come to the
point"
Il beg your pardon" replied the In
valid; Il am coming to the point. Five
years ago I foresaw the arrival OF this
outbreak. there were certain signs
which l shall not stop here TO dis
cuss; and began to prepare my com-
pany for this era Of exposure. The
result OF that labor is today evident.
Ny company stands almost alone with
q clean bill of health. But the cost
10 me as an individual would stagger
America II It knew. I have done the
labor Of fifty years in five, and have
expended every dollar that ! or my
family possessed to accomplish this
result.
you are not to imagine that during
this time the political bandltti were
any the less threatening or avid. I
fed them as usual. but, unlike the 9TH
er companies, / paid this tribute with
my individual fortune. Now. then,
gentlemen, ! have come to the mat
ter in hand. One year ago a politician
OF national reputation determined TO
force my insurance company to bear
the expense OF his candidacy for a
high Office. He controlled certain sve-
nues OF legislation. and threatened us
with a statute which would have 90
questered the assets OF our company
In a dozen different states, recalled
its investments. and left II no way
%profitably TO place its surplus funds.
II would have been, in fact, ruin I'M
der the guise Of law. In plain
terms, his price was three hun
dred thousand dollars. I got him
down TO two. I had no longer any
money or my own. and / would not
use that OF the company, even to
save Il from destruction. Ny wife
owned this house. built with money
inherited from her father in England
we were both born In Sussex. ! ex-
ecuted q mortgage on II directly to
this politician for two hundred thou
sand dollars. I took this chance with
my family and myself. ! felt sure
that this present wave Of insane out
cry against insurance companies would
finally pass. and that when business
quiet was again established ] could
rebuild a fortune"
The man afonnod hfa tougue Waa