The midland journal., 1945-04-06

births and deaths for five-year pc
riod.
His tables were the precursor
for many others-such as the Eng
ish tables of 1862. But all such inn
proved tables over the last two CEN
turtles failed to keep pace with medi-
cal science.
Our first actuarial brainchild was
called the American Experience ta-
BILE, which was brought into usage
right after the Civil war. With minor
changes it has continued to be the
accepted base for computing life and
death chances up the present time.
Meanwhile the M. DIS were busily
engaged in making our American
Experience figures look sick. Their
success in keeping the lower age
groups alive longer is directly re-
sponsible for this major effort to re-
frame the basic structure of all
life insurance in the United States.
Just by way Of proving the point,
in 1900 the U. S. average age was
1924. A couple Of years ago 1t stood
at e4.82.
When it all began back in 1845,
this was husky young nation. But
many Of its huslziest young citizens
fell victims to one disease or an
other, diptheria and tuberculosis be-
ing the most active.
Many Hazards.
Even as late as 1900, more than 40
out of every 100000 people sue
cumbed to diptheria. Today it's only
one per 100000. Europe's black
plague Of the early 18th century
wasn't much worse q scourge than
the horrors Of pulmonary tubercu-
losis over the last century. Stats
tics for 1900 show that this killer
took 173 out Of every 10000. Today
less than 40 per 100000 die Of the
disease each year.
For these reasons, coupled with all
the other hazards Of living a cen
tury ago, the old boys scratched
their heads twice before insuring
their fellow men promiscuously.
When Ben Miller bought the first
life policy issued by Mutual Benefit
Life Insurance in Newark in 1845,
there were many "don'ts" tied to the
policy. Ben bought ST 500 worth of
insurance on his life at a premium
Of $51 a year with the provision
that: ~ He didn't die on the seas; !;
(2.) he didn't leave the country; !;
(3.) he didn't 60 south in the sum-
mertime; (4) he didn't without
consent) join the army; (5.) he
didn't cut his own throat to i'm
prove his wife's finances; (6.) he
didn't expose his insured and valu-
able carcass by duelling; (7) he
religiously avoided the gallows or
guillotine. and so on for quite
some distance in slightly more tech
nical verbiage. Gs@
Ben, it might be remarked, was
one of the harder sort, for he lived to
collect his own insurance at the
age of 90!
While the early directors Of insur-
ance companies had no worries
about clients being killed in an
automobile or airplane, the 1845 citi-
zens of Pres. James Folks nation of
~ states were liable to find them
selves without q scalp If they took
the "covered-wagon" trail west.
Life insurance companies also
could discount the probability of the
Ensured" dying from heart failure
because Of the then modest Is mil
lion dollar public debt. Perhaps it is
worth noting that over the years the
increase in heart disease (and 1t
has increased considerably is in
ratio to the governments debt to
the people - now at the quite
immodest figure Of almost 300 bill
lion, a very large hunk of which is
held by the same insurance COM
panies. %s
If as you read this, you've been
hoping to find that now insurance
rates will be lower because the doc
.-5