San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-09
'SAYS BUSINESS
|. HAS A 300 PER
|. CENT INCREASE
franklin Life Reports Gain
Of $l5,000,000 for
1923.
e ASIER TO SELL
Life Insurance Companies
Barometers Of
Prosperity.
Il ASIER TO SELL

| undH SO,Ntb,VbO Ill IT, Oh tue II Tuuh-
lin Life Insurance company OF
Springfield, ILL.,, SAYS Peter p. Hoef-
gen, local agent. lit is approximate
| ly S1J.000,000 for 1923, making the
total insurance in force, to be exact,
$3.50. 1877 $40"
This gain of almost 800 per cent
in the year just ended over the gain
of the preceding year." says Mr..
Hoefgen, "means great deal more
than that the company has simply
experienced a remarkably successful
year. 1t means that the great Mis-
sissippi Valley states where the
Franklin is most active have also ex-
perienced a profitable and satisfac-
tory year of business, because life
insurance companies are the most ac-
curate baromcters of prosperity or
depression that we have.
This conclusion is based upon the
indisputable fact that the average
American, the farmer. the merchant.
the salaried man and the business
man, does not apply for life insur-
ance unless his earnings are suffi-
cient TO meet the demands of his
high standard of living with rea-
sonable surplus for other purposes.
People More Prosperous.
when the demands of the moment
are easily met, the average American
invariably uses his surplus to protect
his own and his dependents future,
usually by increasing his life insur-
ance, which provides the best finan-
cial protection. In the light of this
fact, it is logical to conclude that
since the Franklin has issued policies
for such an increased amount of in
surance. the people who have taken
I it were far more prosperous in 1923
than in 1922.
I'm addition TO this the proportion
| of people who, under stress, were
constrained to discontinue their IN
surance during 1920, 1921 and 1922.
has decreased materially, many OF
them in fact not only reinstating their
old insurance but adding to it. which
indicates further that the nast year
has witnessed vast improvement in
general conditions.
Cautiously enough, the actual writ
ing Of policies in the field during
1873 has not been an easy matter
. Agents have reported that theil
clients show stronger inclination Il
know in full, every detail regarding
life insurance policy than has beer
the case for some years. The com
pany welcomes this tendency as proof
that initiation, ;he bugbear Of post
war times, is at last a thing of the
past.
Large Legal Reserve"
"The item legal reserve which is
the fund accumulated from premiums
and interest earnings and maintained
according to law, is sufficient tC
meet all policy obligations of the
company as they mature. On Janu
airy /, 1924. this legal reserve amount
cd to S14,423, ass.
This is the fortieth anniversary
of the Franklin Life Insurance com
pany. The company was chartered
on Jul. %, 1884, and is the Oldest
existing organization of its kind tc
receive the original grant of its char
ter from the state of Illinois.
"Custom has decreed that upon sucl
anniversaries as this, some interest
ing phase of the history of an or
ganization be reviewed for the inform
alton of its patrons, and this we pro
pose to do, in the hope that an ac
curate idea of this company's ideal;
may be impaired.
at is often said that good bust
ness and altruistic motives cannot b.
combined with efficiency in com
mercial or financial organization, bu
this has been so often disproved that
it is hardly worth while to deny it
The rule that men always go into
business for the money they can gel
out of it, and for no other purpose
has its notable exceptions, and thu
Franklin is, as it were, one of them
Merriam Is Elected.
"This does not imply that the of
ficers, directors and stockholders o.
the Franklin fail to appreciate earn
ings and profits, for efficiency ant
business health depend upon the care
full consideration Of such things.
"On November IL, 1923, George Il
Stadden, late president of the Frank
lin Life Insurance company, died a
his home in Springfield after a pro
, tracted illness, and on November 20
Henry NJ. Merriam was elected t,
the office of president at meeting
Of the board Of directors of the com
, pany.
, "Mr. Stadden served the Franklin
: for 26 years, first as general agent
| then as associate manager of agencies
2 as vice president from 1907 TO 1914
and as president from that year unit
o his DEATH
: His successor, Mr.. Merriam, ha
= been on the Franklin board of ii
rectors for the past % years, holdin
+ office Of vice president since 1914. A
1 chairman of the company's invest
3 ment committee Mr.. Merriam's lon
{ experience rs a banker, his intimat
( knowledge of finance and sound judg
Q ment of investments have been of dis
:. tinct value to the company in il
: financial development.
president Merriam, Vice Presiden
{ Abels, Secretary Taylor and othe
$ present officials, together. with tn
l. late Mr.. Stadden, have developed til
r company from one of comparative in
+ signifiance to its present rank as
= financial institution Of high recogn
{ ton in tine insurance world. Th
+ tradition of fine ideals and the teste
: policy of aggressive Conservatism
d responsible for its growth in the pas
= will characterize Franklin operation
D in the future"