Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-12-09
HEAVY INCREASE
IN ASSETS LIFE
INSURANCE co.'s
AT ANNUAL CONVENTION CHAIRMAN
SAYS THEY HAVE DOUBLED IN
THE PAST TEN YEARS.
CONVENTION MEETS TO DISCUSS
SUCH SUBJECTS AS CITY DEvEL-
0PMENT, FARM ACTIVITIES.


New York. Dec. 9.-The ninth annual
convention of the Association of Life
Insurance Presidents met in New York
today for three dayS' discussion Of SIrh
subjects a. the development of city com
muniticS. farming act'vitlcs, and Of
railroad facilities. ard the part which
life insurance investment funds play in
al three. Polly Reserve Investments
in Relation to Economic Progress was
the broad general topic, and federal Of
ficialS and transportation and agriyul-
tural experts were invited 10 Join y it'll
the life insurance men IL discussing
ways AMI means 10 still further advance
this progress.
The chairman of the convention, Will
liam d. Wyman. president Of the Bcrs
shire Life Insurance Company. of Pitts
field. Mass. reported that the assets of
Life Insurance companies of the country
had practically doubled in the last ten
wears and said this was characteristic
Of the ability of the American people 10
ama>S large funds rapidly and wiihou,
much ado The assets now amount a.
nearly five billion dollars said Mr.. wv
man. and hy investments in the city AMI
farm real estate. and in the bonds If
paliticS and school districts. they were
advancing the economic progress of the
country. He stated that the life insu-
rance companies a. 4 class. are now the
largest holders of farm mortgages III
the United States. having having out
li>tamed the banks. The farm mortgage
loans made hy thclife insurance compa.
nic> are largely in the West and South
4.
lion dollars in all the Eastern and Mid
dc Atlantic States. those III the NOrth
western States alone amounted 10 S2Si.-
OO0 400
While thca>Sct> nf American life ~
>urancc companies have doubled ~ the
last ten wears. the amount loaned by
them on real estate mortgages has iE
creased more than two and half times
said Mr. Wyman "Of the assets held ~
the life insurance companies M the end
of last year. over II 200 600 600 were in
vested in real estate mortgages. St1ti>
ties which have inst been collected bv
the association show a separation Of
these investments between farm loans
and other kinds of real estate securities
for - ont of the 30 life Insurance com
ranicS in the United States These -
companies had 9S II per cent of all real
estate mortgages held by American life
insurance companies.
These reports show that Si.'5 400 0oI
or 30 n3 per cent were nj the end of l9l
invested ~ these iiS companies III farm
loans: ~9a3. iS0. 600 or 1921 per cont Wcrr
invested IN other real estate securities
in the United States; while the biInnrr
Of S2S .97i .000or ! - per cent We're in
vested in real estate securities. chiefly
| in Canada. As the value Of farm lands
and improvements according to estimates
Of the United States Census Bureau. IL
only little over 20 per cent Of the ini'i
value of all real property in this coun
try ii appears that life insurance COM
panicS have shown 4 marked preference
for farm loans rs compared with city
and village loans.
I'VE arc hearing much today of tho
rural chcdit problem and are being told
that farmers in some sections Of the
country are aften compelled to pay TX
orbitant interest rates" he continued.
IF this be true. we must look for it,