The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-05-13
big Four" Grip Life
Of Nation
Continued from Page OneJ

one cent of his deposits. If he misses
four weekly payments his policy is
cancelled and his cash is forfeited.
This type of thievery is called Sim
dustrial" insurance and is so named
because it is sold primarily to the in
dustrial classes, that is to say, to the
worker.
Little Inner Circle.
While the "Big Four" are avowedly
mutual" companies, actually the ter
rifle power as represented in the COM
pany assets are left in the hands of
comparatively small group of Wall
Street financiers.
Somewhere on the policies issued by
these companies we find this pretty
legend, "The election of Directors of
the Company is to be held in New
York on the second Tuesday Of April,
1927, and every second year there
after. The holder Of this policy while
it remains in force. will have a
RICH ito vote, either in person or by
proxy or by mail"
Hard to Vote.
This sounds very nice, but in fact,
not y of 1 per cent of the policy
holders ever vote. The privilege of
voting is so bound up with red tape,
and the nomination of directors is so
fixed and faxed that the franchise is
a huge farce.
So much so, that on the boards of
directors, year after year, we find
such names as Charles NJ. Schwab, of
the Bethlehem Steel and the Chase
National Bank; Henry Ollesheimer of
the Chase National Bank and the
Broadway Safe Deposit Company;
Frank P. Noyes, president of the AS
ISOLATED Press which supplies news
service to 1920 newspapers in the
United States and Canada; Albert n.
Wiggin, president of the Chase Ma
tional Bank and director of a string
Of million dollar companies.
Leland Odds, statistician for the
Federated Press, in press bulletin
recently said, "The big insurance
companies are really great reser-
voirs of social credit, but the adj
ministration of this enormous power
is left in the hands of private bank
ers like J. P. Morgan & Co., to be
used in furthering their plans to
dominate the country. The direc-
torates of the. leading compan-
les interlock with practically all
the great banks and trust compan-
les, the railroads, public utility
corporations and big industrial COM
bines which control the country's
economic activity"
The menace which the "Big Four
offer to economic life of the nation
lies in the fact, that, due to the muir
derous overcharges and forfeitures
THEN assets pyramid more than twice
as fast as do those Of the ordinary
companies.
Aggregations of Wealth.
In 1905 the combined companies
operating in the State Of New York
had 10 billion dollars worth of in
surance in force with total assets of
two and half billion dollars. Twenty
years later these companies had AZ
billion dollars of insurance in force
with a little over 10 billion dollars
in assets. Thus we see that the ratio
OF aaset-increase with ordinary COM
raries is proportiona.e with their in
cIease OF insurance in force.
!. With the "Big Four" it is different.
In 1905 they had three billions of in
surance in force with total assets of
| $245,O00, 900, less than a quarter of
a billion. Twenty years later we find
these ghouiish outfits with total of
20 billions of insurance in force with
over three and half billions of as
sets.
Geometrical Progression.
While the Ordinary" companies in
creased their assets in ratio to in
surance in force, the "Big Four"
pyramided their assets more than
twice as fast as their increase of in
surance in force.
We may well look With fear to The
day when these four companies will
dominate the economic life of the ma
ton completely.
Today these four companies hold
more assets than there is currency in
circulation. These assets are in quick
fern and can be liquidated within 4S
hours.
This colossus rests on base built on
petty life insurance policies which
may be found in every American
workers home.
1t Goes On.
Fraudulent, cynical and ironically
contrary to even the decencies of mod
ern business "ethics" the swindle con-