The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1920-04-02
INSURANCE RECORD BROKEN.
The Metropolitan Life Made World
Record for Business in 1919.

The Annual Report of the Metro,
politan Life Insurance Company
which is summarized to-day, shows
that the Metropolitan broke all the
worlds records for business in 1919
During the early part of the year.
many claims, traceable to the cpl
demic of influenza, which extended
roughly speaking, over the period
from September, 1918, to March,
1919, figured in the mortality OF the
Company, although general health
conditions during the year were bet
ter than usual. The industrial death
rate in 1919 was the lowest in the
history of the Company.
Notwithstanding the current sto-
ries of wasteful spending on the
part of those receiving more money
than heretofore, the experience OF
the Company indicates that a great
or number than ever are saving their
money and investing it in life insur-
ance for the protection of their fam
lies Increased wages, together with
the fact that the influenza epidemic
brought new emphasis to the need
of life insurance, and the Govern
ment's scheme of War Risk Insur-
ance, which placed the amount
needed by the average man at ten
thousand dollars, are reflected in the
world breaking record that the Com
pany made in writing new insur-
ancc. The total new business was one
billion four hundred and eighteen
million six hundred and eighty-one
Thousand, four hundred and ninety
two dollars, an. amount greater than
was ever placed by any company in
any year anywhere. People in all
circumstances seem to have held the
same attitude toward the taking of
new insurance, because the so-called
Ordinary insurance, the larger pol
icies, amounted to almost eight hun
dred million dollars, and the Indus
trial, the small policies on which pre-
miums are paid weekly to some
thing over five hundred million dol
lars, while the comparatively new
branch known as Group insurance,
where employers take policies cover
ing their employees, reached the to-
tai of nearly one hundred and TWEEN
ty-two million dollars. The total
number of policies outstanding is
$21,77O,671 for the enormous total
of $5,343, 652,434.
The income of the Company
amounted to two hundred and fifty
four million seven hundred and TWEEN
ty-nine thousand dollarGIan in
crease over the previous year OF
more than fifty-four and a half mil
lion dollars. The assets of the Com
pany increased during 1919 by $780,
367,126 and total $864,821,824. Div
idends to be paid to policy holders
this year are $7,625,723.
Claims paid numbered 289,125-
an average of one every thirty sec
onds of each business day Of eight
hours, while the amount paid to pol
icy-holders during the year was over
seventy-three and half million dol,
lars, or an average of $5O5.93 min
ute of each business day.
The Company's welfare activities
kept pace with the increased demand
for insurance. Some years ago the
Company established a nursing serv.
ice and entered upon an extensive
campaign for the improvement OF
the health of policy-holders. Any
holder of an Industrial policy, who
needs it, may have free nursing serv-
ice, and during the year the Com
oany's nurses made 1,300,S83 visits
% 256,000 sick industrial policy
holders. The Company's agent dis
ributed more than twelve millions
pamphlets, giving hints for i'm
proved health conditions, proper san
tation and preventive measures
his work, which has been in process
or a number of years, seems to be
effected in the steadily increasing
mortality. Tho reduction in the