The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-26

There is an impression that southern insurance companies are the only com panies organized in the United States
 which have failed or reinsured. This
 idea is spread abroad very indusIriously by scmc interested parties
 The fact is that the proportion of in- surapce companies which have failed CT gone out of business is smaller for the southern states than for other sections. The figures which prove this have been carefully collected by Robert r. Moore of the Southern States Life Insurance company of Alta nta and the article ap leared in the Baltimore Manufacturers Record of June 22. The Record, at the sanle time 1t prints MT. Moore s article, makes an editorial plea for southern in surance companies; appeals to the buy CTS of policies and all business men of the south to give these companies proper encouragement. MT. Moore'S figures show that five Alabama companies have failed or reinsured their policies. It is proper to say that of these five the last to fail was in 1888. This was before Ala
 bama had an insurance department or legal reserve law, and long before the Alabama legislature passed the law pro- Vlding as at present, for the deposit in the treasury of the state of interest bear ing collateral under the statute to pro- tect policy holders to the amount of the total reserve. MT. Moores article shows that southern companies now have over $697 100000 insurance in force and that they have combined assets of more than $72, ,ONOOOO.
 Here is MT. Moore's very thoughtful article in the Manufacturers Record:
 An idea seems to have been spread abroad, particularly throughout the
 southern states that no life insurance
 company which was organized in the
 south has ever made a success, and that
 failures of life insurance companies is
 confined to the south.
 This is very far from being correct,
 for while it cannot be denied that there
 lave been many instances of lack of success on the part of life insurance or gar;zatfons du the last 100 years, the record, so far as it concerns the scuth. does not by any means show that thls unfortunate condition has been con- fined to that section of the country. From the following analysis of com panies which have gone out of business it will be seen that, while the states
 comprising the southern portion of the country are responsible for 72 companies which have either reinsured, retired from
 business or failed, the other sections of the country show 216, or just three times as many.
 The following is a list giving the num- Der of companies in various states which have failed to make good since 1913:
 Southern States-Louisiana, 10; North Carolina, g; Kentuckfiy, 8; Tennessee, S.; Texas, 8; Georgia, 6; Alabama 5; Vir-
 gina. 5; Arkansas, 8; Maryland 3; Okla homa, 9 Florida, l. South Carolina. B.; Mississippi, 1; total 72
 Eastern and Western States-Ohio 16; Connecticut, 10; Minnesota, B. New York, 52; Iowa, 10; Indiana, 15; Pennsylvania, 20; Utah, 1; Rhode Island, 8; New Jer-
 sey, 13; West Virginia, 2; Missouri, 15; Vermont, 1; New Hampshire, 1; Massa- chusetts, 2; Delaware, 5; Kansas, A.; California, 4; Illinois, 26; Michigan 8; Washington. D. C., 1; Washington, 2; Colorado, ?; Arizona, 1 Oklahoma, l.;
 Nebraska, 1; total, 216.
 New York state the home of some of the most successful eastern life insurance companies heads the list with 52 Illinois in the west follows, with 26, and then comes Pennsylvania, 20; Ohio, 16; In
 diana and Missouri, 15 each; New Jer- sey, 13; Connecticut and Iowa, 10 each.
 and the other states varying from to g.. In the southern states, Louisiana
 comes first, with 10; North Carolina, g.; Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas, 8 each; Georgia. S. and the remaining states l to g.
  panes, or 55 per cent were able to re- insure their risks in other companies; 50
 of them, or 25 per cent, failed outright, while 45, or 20 per cent, retired from business; whereas in the south 45 com panes, or 25 per cent, failed entirely,
 and g. or 12ia per cent. retired from business.
 The foregoing figures show that the experience of the south has been much better than that of the rest of the coun- try in regard to companies which have not made good.
 Tn further combination of the idea that the establishment of a southern life in-
 surance company is not possible, it is only necessary to point out that on January 1, 1915. from the last available figures as published by the Spectator company of New York taken from the sworn published statements of the va rous companies to the insurance depart ments, there were 69 companies of southern organization, with insurance in force amounting to $697 151, ,6o7, whose
 combined assets amounted to s72, 962,