Year: 1876

us We'll Us lts Deltnls, Us tudt VI llle lH-
surance. The rapid growth of the busi-
ness itself since It's Introduction. attests
its popularity with the masses, and its
history and practical workings demon
strated its permanency as one Of the in
stitutions of civilization. In all our
principal cities we see splendid palaces
of marble and brick, reared among the
monuments of business enterprise, for
the convenience and the profit of the
Life insurance companies, and the So
licitors and agents of the various and
rival corporations, who control the vast
business and capital that has centered in
their hands, jostle and vie with each
other in every village and sooner or
later in every household The number
of men who hold polices, is constantly
increasing, and the never eeasing inter-
course that all must leave in the great
business and social world, with the in
surance enterprise, makes it subject
that every person should understand. 1t
is too common to point at financial sue
cess as evidence of dishonesty, and the
fippant talk of enormous commissions
to, and the unscruplous persistence of
insurance agents, has in many places
raised prejudice against the business
that little candid consideration will
dispel Insurance solicitors are men,
usually without special education or ap-
titude for their business, and they have
the general in6rmities of humanity.
Some of them are scamps of the first
water, but the whole number are fairly
up tosthe average for honesty, intelli-
gence and enterprise with other avoca-
tions of business life. Their business is
one that must be created by personal eff
fort, and earnest solicitation. 1t never
floats into an office and seeks out the
agent and makes known its wants, but
must be sought after on the streets, in
the markets and the stores, and the man
who is bashful or lacks push and enter
prise, soon starves out of the insurance
business to life where retiring industry
is better rewarded.


We hear great deal about the ex-
pense to policy holders of doing business
by life companies, and figures are par
AIDED to show the percentage of premi-
ums paid to agents, to discourage men
from purchasing the protection of a life
policy for their families. Many careful
men have been staggered and have post
poned the purchase Of insurance that
they really needed by the astounding
fact that the company of their choice
pays its agents twenty-five per cent of
first years premiums for commissions
1t does look large when viewed as a per
cent, ON premiums, but when the mag
nitude of the contract, and the careful,
| as well as persistent, labor necessary, to
do the business, is considered, the com
pensation dwindles down to even less
than the returns of ordinary enterprise.
Prudent men often pay more than ten
per cent, commission on the sale of
lands the same rate is small profits to
the merchant on the cost of his goods,
and brokers are allowed from one to
three per cent for negotiating loans of
money. These commissions are assessed
on the full amount of money involved
in the contract, while in Life Insurance
the commission is computed only on the
first year of an annuity that is equivalent
during the expectancy of life, to the
purchase price of the policy. For in
stance man takes a thousand dollar
policy, upon which the annual premium
is say twenty-four dollars. If the pre-
MUM was all paid at once we will sup
pose it to require four hundred dollars,
which is an approximate rate for man
whose age would require a twenty-four
dollar annual premium. Now the true
transaction in financial sense, which
the agent has accomplished has been the
sale of one thousand dollars worth of
insurance, for its equivalent of four hun
dred dollars, with payment extended
for the convenience of the insured into
small annual payment. If the solicitor
was to guage his compensation at low
rate of profits on dry goods, say ten
per cent, he would receive forty dollars
for his services in affecting that insur-
ance, but at the rate fixed, of twenty
five per cent, on the first years premiums
he really receives just six dollars. Who
will say that the average labor of plac-
ing one thousand dollars Life Insurance
is fully equal to that of selling four hun
dred dollars worth of land Still the
currents rates for selling the insurance,
at the rates supposed, are about as one
to seven.


We know that we are met with the
objection that there are annual premi-
ums to collect during the life of the in
sured, upon which companies allow
commission of FIVE per cent This, how