The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-05-05

having legislation passed Tor weed
ing out the insurance companies of
one kind and another which were
not able to carry out their contracts.
The Supreme Court of the United
Staes has just affirmed a decision of
our w Supreme Court, written by
Chief Justice Gary giving the Insur-
ance Commissioner the right to de-
mand security, such as he thinks
requisite, from life insurance COM
panies doing business in this state.
The legislature, when it meets
again, should deny any insurance
company, or any organization, en-
gagged in the life insurance business,
the right to do business in the state,
which has not the requisite legal re-
serve, and which is not charging suf-
fcient premiums to enable it to COM
ply with its contracts; and it should
none the less give him the right to
deny all insurance companies or as
sociations the right to do business
in the state whose rates are exorbi-
tant, or excessive, or whose policies
are inequitable.
A great many persons will tell
you they carry insurance in this or
the other fraternal or mutual COM
pany, because it is cheap, and that
when it grows burdensome, they ex-
pect to drop it. Every such man
knows the Importance of keeping his
life insured. But he does not cal
culate that ten years from today,
when he is no longer able to obtain
insurance of any kind, and when he
is unable to pay the exorbitant
charges of his existing policy, and
when reverses may have come upon
him, that then he needs insurance
most.
We have had enough lessons of
this kind in Abbeville in recent
years to warn our people against
these contracts. Several years ago
an old man who had carried a policy
in a so-called mutual company as
long as he was able, turned it over
to the son, provided he would keep
up the premiums. The son paid
for a few years, and then the pre-
miums began to grow; they contin-
ued to grow until it took the greater
part of the sons wages from himself
and his wife in order to keep up the
insurance. In the course of ten
years the company failed, and not a
dollar came back to those who had
paid their money in order to provide
against the losses by death; and
when the company had failed the
health of the son too had failed, and
he could no longer provide for his
wife. Other people in Abbeville
lost heavily in the same company.
Onlv a few weeks ago our towns
man, Mr.. H. T. Tusten died. Many
years ago he took a policy in the
Knights of Honor. This was then
believed to be the best fraterpal in
surance organization in existence.
He paid the premiums On the policy
until his family reached maturity,
and then turned the policy yer to
members of the family. They paid
the ever-increasing premiums on
this policy of two thousand dollars,
until just before the death of the in
sured, these premiums were amount
ing to about two hundred dollars per
annum. The benefciaries after
the policy was turned over to them
paid several times the amount final
ly collected on the policy.
The reasons are obvious. In the
first place the organization had no
right to be in the insurance bust
ness unless it had an insurance de-
partment, and regular legal reserves
fixed by law; there was consequent
ly many mistakes made, if not mis-
management. The premiums at
first being too low, the funds paid
in by members were exhausted in
meeting the death claims of the
members who died first. AS the
years passed, the members grew old
err, and deaths became more fire.
quent, and claims more frequent.
! I'll ~ ----I