Evening star., 1939-01-21
Insurance Leaders
Forecast Notable
Gains During 1889
SoIes Congress Told
Of Rapid Upswine
In Recent Months
BY EDWARD C. STONE.


In Recent Months
BY EDWARD C. STONE.
Five hundred members of the
District of Columbia Life Under
writer's Association and the Bal
timore Association wound up their
annual sales congress at the Willard
Hotel yesterday in the firm belief
that 1899 will see substantial gains
over 1888 in the amount of life in
surance written. While the speak
ers on the program dealt largely
with ways by which underwriters
may boost their business, yet the
leaders of the congress were prac-
tically unanimous in their optimis-
tic views of the business outlook.
Holgar j. johnson, president of
the National Association of Life
Underwriters, the guest of honor,
declared that the lines on the in
surance chart follow the lines of
general business. Suddenly. life in
surance bounded forward in Octo-
Der, went still higher in November
and continued the rise in December.
That was due to the better general
business conditions prevailing ma
tionally, he said.
The improvement has continued
so far in January; the insurance
line will drop some in February and
turn upward again in March, he
continued. For the rest of the year
the amount of new life insurance
should mount steadily. In an inter-
view he said he found business NOV
ing forward in one section of the
country at about the same rate as
in another. Pittsburgh, his home
city. has experienced a very broad
pickup in the steel business, which
promises to continue. The steel ad-
vance has helped all other lines, Mr..
johnson said.
Information Bureau Urged.
In a luncheon address before gen.
eral agents and managers, Mr. John
son declared that a national bureau
of insurance information should be
established. Policyho.ders in all
companies have the right to ask
questions without limit about life
insurance and life insurance COM
panies. There should be some place
where all such questions can be ac-
curately answered.
At another point in his talk he
said that the income of insurance
agents must be stabilized, which
means a readjustment in salaries
and commissions. One year an
agent may earn $1,000 and the next
year $4,000 He lives on the $1,000
basis during both years, expecting
soon to return to the top figure
That situation is causing a great
deal of difficulty among agents. 1t
Is one of the biggest management
problems to be met in the next five
years. A fine start has already
been made, many life insurance
presidents already being alive to the
fact that something must be worked
out along this line.
One of the features of the after
noon session was an insurance play,
The Trial of John @. Agent" put
on most successfully by Philadel-
phia underwriters. Two fine ad-
dresses were heard, one by Isaac S.
Kibrick of Brockton, Mass, and the
other by Spiller Hicks of Richmond,
Va.
The congress was the 2lst of the
kind. The committee in charge con-
sisted of Harold D. Kraft. chairman;
Richard H. Lee, Baltimore, co-chair-
man; F. Bowie Addison, John B..
Cleland, jr.: Theodore w. Cook,
James A. De Force. Richard w. Girls
void, c. L. u; j. Vernon Hinton,
Albert H. Jackman, Russell l.. Law,
j. E. (BilD McCombs), John A. Men
ton, jr.; John E. OBrien Charles
w. ODonnell, Paul H. Primm and
Herbert M. Taylor.
Adams Plate Glass President.
At the annual meeting of the
stockholders of the Home Plate Glass
Insurance Co. of the City of WASH
ington, held Thursday, the following
trustees were chosen for the ensuing
year: Byron S. Adams, William H.
Baden, Charles R. Brown, George
NJ Emmerich, Philip L. Gore, Charles
E. Hood Albert w. Howard. Andrew
Saul and William H. Somervell.
The board organized with the Sc
lection of the following officers: By
ron S. Adams, president: George M.
Emmerich, vice president William
H. Somervell, secretary treasurer,
and William H. Marbury, assistant
secretary treasurer.
The financial report showed an
increase in the business for the year.
The company was incorporated in
1882.
Morris Plan Official Raised.
Harry E. Small, president of the
Morris Plan Bankers Association.
announces advancement of Richard
H. Stout of Washington from field
secretary to executive vice president.
Robert E. Spooner has been named
assistant secretary, to assume his
duties in the national Office here
Oil February l.
Mr.. Stout was formerly cashier of
the Morris Plan Bank in Louisville.
Mr.. Spooner recently employed by
the Federal Services Finance Co. in
Washington, was formerly con-
nected with the Morris Plan Bank
at Springfield, Ohio.
The District of Columbia Building
and Loan Leagues executive council
will meet next Tuesday noon at the
Raleigh Hotel, with Arthur G..
Bishop presiding. A number of new
faces are on the council, the
personnel including William N.
Payne, jr.. Eastern Building Asso-
citation: Wilfred H. Blanz. American
Building; Clarence E. Kefauver, Co.
lumbia Building; R. w. Santelman,
Metropolis; Carl J. Bergman,
Washington Permanent: Robert E.
Buckley, National Permanent;
Chapin B. Bauman, Oriental; c.
Clinton James. Columbia Perma-
merit, and F. Wilson Camp, secre-
tary.