Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-01-07
INSURANCE LAWS
TO Be PROPOSED
Most Important Measure
Pertaining 10 fralcrnal So.
cietieS viii be Offered
New. Measures viii Make
Sweeping Changes and
Give More Protection

or all the proposed insurance lcgisla
ton which the Thirteenth Legislative
Assembly will be called upon to consid-
or, undoubtedly the most important
measure, from the standpoint Of the gem
eral public, will be a bill for the regula-
ton and control Of fraternal benefit So
~cieties. This, ut ~any rate. is the opin-
ion Of Insurance Commissioner W. c.
Taylor, who will urge the passage Of the
co-callcd Mobile Bill" which Is design.
ed to secure Il standard Of solvency for
fratcrnal societies which issue insurance
certificates. This bill was formally adopt
ed by the National Convention of lnsnr-
nncc commissioners at their annual con
vcntinn heid. in Mobile. Ala, in 1910.
From that fact the measure has come TO
be known as the Mobile Pill" II has al
50 been endorsed by the National Fra
tGinal Congress, the Associated trater-
mites Of America and the Federated Fra
tcl mites. these being the leading assoct-
atoms Of fraternal societies in the United
States. representing in their membership
ninety per cent. of all societies which
can be denOminatcd fraternal beneficiary
societies.
The importance Of this measure. from
the standpoint of the insuring public
said Commissioner TayOr today, sis at
once indicated by the fact that the thir-
ty-fnur fraternal benefit societies which
are authorized in North Dakota "'had
nearly eighty millions Of dollars Of in
Insurance in force upon the lives of citl-
%anS of this state on Dec. 81, 1911. Are
these societies charging adequate rates?
Can they fulfill their sacred obligations
tn the widows n orphans who are to
- lsl..lJ XIn Il; = 80, ..r alan, sS,,,t 80
ance,' with all Of the disa appointment and
dismal failure that have been wrought
in It's NAME. profit us nothing?
MANY people are of the opinion that
on Y II comparatively small portion Of
by the fratcrnals, most OF II going to
the 'old line compaiIes. But thje Is not
the ease. Take our own state, for ex-
ample. ON December 81, 1911, tho forty
legal reserve life insurance companies do
Ing business in North Dakota had $751;
25o,7l0 Of insurance in force herein,
chile on the same date the thirty-four
authorized fraternals had $77,07i,577 Of
insurance in force In this state. There
Is no question as to the adequacy of the
premium rates charged by the legal re-
serve companies. 1t Is equally as i'm
po"tant that there should be no question
as to the adequacy of the rates Of con-
.tribution charged by fraterna' benefit So
cicties. They can charge adequate rates
and still have Il substantial advantage
over the old line companies because OF
the loyalty and cohesion of their mem
bership. coupled with the fact that it
costs them less to get the business on
the books han it does the old liners
The Mobile Biz WIS introduced as a
Uniform measure in the legislatures of
some thirty states tw, years ago, and
was enacted in sixteen Of them. 1t fail
cd of enactment in Nrrth Dakota, not
on the question of its intrinsic merits,
but for lack of proper support and Il
clear understanding Of the imperative
need for such Il measure. In view Of
tho unqualified endorsement which has
leen given the Mobile Bill by all of
the leading f~ratcrnallsts of the country,
It's enactment b. the Thirteenth Legisla-
tive Assembly OF Moth Dakota should
be !; foregone conclusion. | can conceive
of no a~ntagOnism to the measure which
Is not based upon prejudice and lack OF
infCrmation."
Commissioners Taylor states that the
kernel Of the Mobile Bill" is to be
found ii section 90 M pa thereof, which
provide as follows:
Section 23. (AnrNal HepOrts). Every
society transacting business in this state
shall annually, on or before the first day
or March, file with the Commissioners of
Insurance. in such form as he may re-
Gu'rc, a statement Under oath of it's pres
ident and secretary or corresponding Of
ftcers, of it's condition and standing on
the thirty-firs day of December next
preceding, and of it's transactions. for
the year ending on that date, and also
shall furnish such other information as
the commissioner may deem necessary
to a proper exhibit of it's business and
plan of working. The commissioner may
at other times require any further state
mont he may deem necessary to he made
rc'atins to such society.
IN addition to the annual report here
IN required. each society shall annually
report to the commissioner a valuation
CT its certificates in force on December
3lst. last preceding; excluding those is
81 I'd within the year for which the re-
port is fled, in cases where the contrib
utions for The first year in whole or in
part are used for current mortality and
expenses: provided, the first report of
shall be made as Of December
"lst. 1912. Such report of valuation
SI;tll SIbW, iS contingent lIubIllllCS, Tx
mid-year value Of the promised
benefits provided ii the constitution and
laws of such society under certificates
subject to valuation: and, as con-
tingent assets, the present mid-year val
ue of the future net contributions pro-
vided in the constitution and laws as the
same are in practice actually collected.
At the option Of any society, in lieu of
the above. the valuation may show the
net value of the certificates subject to
valuation hereinbefore provided. and
said net value. when computed in case
Of monthly contributions, may be the
of the terminal values for the end
Of the preceding and of the current in
years.
Such valuation shall be certified by a
accountant or actuary. or. at
The request and expense of the society,
by the actuary of the department
IF insurance Of the home state Of the so
ciety. and shall be filed with the conf
missioner within ninety days after the
submission of the last preceding annual
The legal minimum standard Of
va uation for all certificates, except for
dis ability benefits, shall be the National
Congress Table of Mortality as
adopted by the National Fraternal Con-
gress August %, 1899. or. ut the option
of the society. n higher table. or, at
its option. it may use a table based upon
the society's own experience of at least
twenty years and covering not less than
one hundred thousand lives with interest
assumption not more than four per cent
UNI per annum. Each such valuation. re-
port shall set forth clearly and fully the
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