The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-05-23
IOWA INSURANCE
companies ALERT
Are Awakening to an Interest In the
?resent income Tax Bill as
Passed by Congress and
Legislature.
GETS STOCK HOLDERS
Ex-Governor jackson Says Bill Tries
to obstruct Rather Than 10
Encourage Taking Out Of
Life Insurance.
Especial to The Gate civ i


DES MoINE5 Iowa, May 23.-Iowa
insurance companies. which In the
final analysis means every stock OF
policy holder, are awakening to an
interest in the present income tax
bill that has passed the house OF con
gress and consequently in the propo
sition that passed the recent Iowa
legislature providing a constitutional
amendment to let the state establish
a tax on incomes.
This quickened interest is because
of the discovery that the national in.
come tax bill provides tax on life
insurance dividends.
Iowa now has eighteen home life
insurance companies with hundreds Of
policies scattered over every county
of the state. Some OF Iowa's most In.
fiuential men are interested in this
business including Ex-Governor Jack.
son, Ex-Governor Carroll, etc.
The attitude assumed in this ma.
tional bill and by the various states
which try to obstruct instead OF en-.
courage the life insurance business,
Is entirely wrong,a said one OF the
prominent Iowa insurance men
today in commenting on the
national measure. 1T is hard to
believe the drawers of the income tax
bill did Intentionally what they have
Gone In the measure While insur-
ance companies have no objection or
quarrel with the general principle OF
taxing incomes We do believe that a
false Interpretation has been placed
on the term dividend as applied to
insurance companies. A life insuI..
ance dividend is not profit. There
are, In commercial sense, no profits
IN mutual company. 1t Is true such
companies do not speak of profits,
put such words as profit and dividend,
borrowed from the stock market yo-
caouiary. are misleading and have
helped fix in the public mind a wrong
notion OF life insurance This notion
has now found expression in this pro.
posed federal taxation OF dividends
and interstate robbery OF funds OF the
thrifty. This attitude displays the
extent of the general misunderstand-
ing of the real place life insurance
fills in society.
A tax on dividends will naturally
revert to the policy holder and accord
tngly will increase the cost of carry
Ing insurance. 1t seems the govern
ment ought to take no steps to make It
more difficult for Americans to carry
insurance, when other countries in
order to get men to carry insurance
are offering premiums to such S put
away part of their earnings in In
surance policies. 1t is as much inter
est to the nation and state as to the
direct beneficiaries that men carry In
surance. 1t saves the public burden
of caring for those same dependents
All other governments are encourag-
ing insurance. Some countries are Of
fering cheap insurance themselves.
Even in this country the state of Wis
oonsin has originated state insur-
ance. Now in this bill that has pass
ed the house of congress it is propos-
ed to put an additional tax on every
man who is thrifty enough to take
out life insurance and provide protec
ticn to his family"
In the insurance department of the
(