beyond the ordinary rate of interest. But after the number of policies and the amount of reserve from premiums becomes large enough to remove any probability of loss that will prevent the steady annual increase of the said premium reserve, there is no longer any use for guarantee capital. When this is true the best policy for the policyholders, if at liberty under the charter to pursue it, must be to pay the capital equitably for its past services and dismiss it." And in the same report we find it stated that only three out of nineteen companies had at that time any need of a guarantee capital. All those who advocate the retirement of capital stock do so on the ground that it has fulfilled its mission, and that therefore there is no further use for it, but this implies that a company is financially strong enough to part with its capital and that its surplus funds shall be available for the same service that the capital was used for. If the surplus funds are not available for this purpose then it would seem as if there were not only a permanent use for capital stock but also that it was quite essential for the normal increase of business. It is urged that the panacea for all the troubles in life insurance is to compel the distribution of surplus annually after the second policy year. A participating premium is one that under certain conditions entitles a person to share in the profits, and if for any reason it does not participate in the profits, it thereupon becomes a non-participating premium, and the number of years it has been paid, whether one or nineteen, makes no difference. Seeing then that it depends on the future to determine whether a mutual premium participates in the surplus or not, calling it a participating rate at the beginning does not make it such. No man can tell when taking out a policy whether his premium for the third or tenth or nineteenth year will be paid, and if it is wrong to charge a non-participating rate on a participating basis for nineteen years, it is equally wrong to make the charge for two years, and the logical deduction from this viewpoint is that all companies should be compelled to write nothing but non-participating policies at low premiums, thus permitting every policyholder to get his dividend in advance with the payment of each premium whether it be the first or the last. The atmosphere of life insurance has been surcharged with rumors of profligate management; of betrayal of trusts of an utter disregard of the rights of policyholders; of an inordinate ambition for personal gain; of pushing for business beyond the limits of propriety, and manifold other evils, all calculated to create a deterring influence on the public mind, and leading up to the charge which is believed by many that life insurance is not as popular now as it was once. For the purpose of getting some light on this question I sent a letter to all the life insurance companies in the country, of which the following is a copy: "New York, July 21st, 1905. "Gentlemen: The annual meeting of the National Life Under writers' Association, to be held at Hartford, Conn., in September, will unquestionably be of unusual interest because of the great publicity given to life insurance this year through the newspapers and magazines of every description. "Many of the newspapers have endeavored to show that a feeling of disquietude prevails among policyholders, and that with the public generally a diminution of confidence in the management of life insurance companies has followed. "I have been invited to address the members of the association, and it has occurred to me that if the figures could be presented to them and through them to the public, showing the aggregate loss or gain of business written the first seven months of this year, compared with that written during the corresponding period in 1904, it would clarify the insurance atmosphere somewhat and modify the ideas of those who think the system has reached the zenith of its power. "With this objeet in view, may I ask if your company would be willing to give me the loss or gain in business written from January 1st to July 31st, 1905, as compared with the same period in 1904. I make the period seven instead of eight months, because of the fear that all the figures for eight months might not be available in time for use. "The figures will be held strictly confidential and the aggregate results only for all companies will be used. "Any use I may make of the aggregate figures will of course depend upon the results they show." It gives me pleasure to say that the companies generally took an interest in the subject and fifty-six of them gave the information requested, including all the New York State companies of any magnitude. A tabulation of the reports shows a total net increased writing of $58,000,000 during the first seven months of 1905, over the corresponding period of 1904. This is something more than an average increase of $1,000,000 per company, and certainly does not justify the charge that life insurance is losing ground in popular favor. We are indebted to the faithful services of the field force as represented at this convention for the results secured during the first seven months of this year. The life insurance agent has not walked our streets with forebodings of evil. He has remained at his post of duty with unshaken faith, representing the companies on the one hand and the public on the other. He has stood as the bulwark against false reports and rumors of extensive wrong doing in high places, and he comes to this meeting with the laurel of victory upon his brow-a victory not easily won-but nevertheless a decided victory, and it gives me very great pleasure to bring you the proof that life insurance is as popular today as it was last year or ever in the past. [Applause.] The Toastmaster-Through the courtesy of the next regular speaker, the Chair is permitted to make an innovation. Members of the Association, I congratulate you upon your new president. [Applause.] He richly deserves your honor. He merits the highest recognition you can give him, not only because of his past services but by his loyalty to our cause and his greatness and accomplishments as a man. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to present to you Mr. Charles W. Scovel of Pittsburg, manager of the Provident Savings Life Assurance Society of New York, as the president of the National Association of Life Underwriters. [Great applause.] Mr. Scovel-Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have at times heard other words to that tune. (Referring to the tune which was played by the band when Mr. Scovel rose, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."') They were, "We Won't Go Home Until Morning. I promise you that it will not be any words of mine that will keep you here until morning. His The position of the new president at this particular moment has always in past years been somewhat of a puzzle to me. He is of course not expected to make a speech. He may occupy, as in my own case, the end seat in the minstrel show and yet he gets very little of the "fat" usually falling to the end man. name is not known in time for the printer and being entirely ignored upon the circus bill, he evidently can be nothing but a He has already been introduced and installed, and has already made his pledges, in the regular course of the convention during the day. What is he trotted out at the dinner for? I have sometimes thought that possibly this second opportunity, this opportunity to reaffirm his pledge of service to the association, was in the nature of the duplicate marriage system which prevails in France; where the civil ceremony has already been performed, and where later, in the presence of the clergy and society, one is again enabled to pledge his vows. I take it in that sense tonight and I say to the association gladly and with all my heart: "I take thee to be my wedded wife, to love, cherish and protect." [Applause.] side show. And that may be no joke either. [Applause.] A friend came from my home who was there yesterday, and told me that rumor had reached the house that something of this kind was being talked about at Hartford on Tuesday. Mrs. Scovel said to him, "Tell Charlie that if he accepts that position, if it is offered to him, I know I have lost him for a year. Tell him if he comes home president, he needn't come home at all." So the association may be all the wife I will have. I notice only one other speaker so far whose name has not appeared on the programme, and his gracious part was to say grace before meat. I will take for the few words I have to say, the equally gracious task of giving thanks after meat. At the close of the convention, and of the dinner and programme that we have been enjoying this evening, I verily do wish to give thanks. I wish to give thanks to the outgoing administration, to President Dolph, and I would like to cry right now: "What's the matter with Dolph?" (All joining the shout) "He's all right!" "Who's all right?'' "Dolph!" We have all found that out about him, and about Chairman Plummer of the executive committee, and all of those who have labored to make this the most successful year the association has ever had, and to bring about the largest and most successful convention that the association has ever held. Their example, their work has given us momentum, and gives inspiration to the incoming administration. I also want to give thanks to those who have provided for us the literary menu of the evening; to the speakers, who have given us such solid food for thought, and enlivened it with the wine of their wit. It is pleasant to notice that on this literary menu there has been conspicuous by its absence what we have seen in most current literature recently the roast. I also want to thank the guests for their attendance here tonight; the ladies in particular, who form the decorative climax to this beautiful interior, and have furnished such inspiration to all the speakers. And in this connection particularly, as president of the association, and in its name, I would express appreciation of the faithful attendance and participation in our proceedings of the New England Women's Life Underwriters' Association. And then a word of thanks to this city of Hartford: to the association of Hartford, that has done so much to make this a memorable convention in every way. To the beauties of the city, from the new capitol with its beautiful tower, to this old hall with its traditions of years gone by. And also to the citizens of Hartford, particularly the gentlemen who gave us not only their machines but their personal guidance on the delightful automobile ride that unfolded the city to our eyes. I Last, but not least, I wish to thank the Hartford weather man. want to thank him for those two rainy days, those days when the skies were lowering, and our clothes were sticking, and everything seemed gloomy and dark, and for this glorious day which has burst forth smiling upon our vision, and made us all feel doubly bright and cheerful. I know that this will be the case with the cloudy atmosphere now existing in the insurance world; that this last bright day in Hartford is but a presage of the glorious sunrise that is sure to come for us all. And I can only hope that this year's administration of the National Association will, like this convention, come to its end under the glowing sun of success. [Applause.] The Toastmaster-We have with us tonight another gentleman of the grand old commonwealth of Massachusetts, a state whose pride is in Plymouth Rock, Faneuil Hall, and Bunker Hill. The "goodnight" will be said by a distinguished member of the bar of Springfield, Massachusetts, a gentleman of whom his native city is proud. It is with pleasure I present to you, Hon. Charles W. Bosworth. [Applause.] Hon. Mr. Bosworth-Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen: The good-night word should be of peace and rest and hope; of comfort for the day, and promise of a better morrow. We cannot understand the time aright unless we know the spurs and motives which incite the actions. The evil and the good we see are only relative. Perfection since Adam's garden sits in weary waiting far down the horizon and beyond our earthly vision. Macaulay has said of the Puritans and their keen perceptions of reality, "The difference between the greatest and the meanest of mankind seemed to vanish when compared with the boundless interval which separated the whole race from Him on whom their own eyes were constantly fixed." In the excitement which is sweeping through the insurance world, fanned by rumors, by investigations and disclosures, we must not lose sight of the precise question which is at issue. It is not "Is the insuring of the money earning power for the benefit of wife and children a useful and expedient expenditure?" It is rather "Is that expenditure reduced to a minimum by prudence and foresight and integrity?'' In the march of civilization the laws lend their aid to the bereaved and the helpless. The song of the Homeric bard lights the dark pages of pagan history with stories of knightly honor and chivalry and love. And yet when the father, slain by his victor, fell to the earth in his armor biting the dust, his child then was an outcast, his wife was a slave. Andromache mourns the fate of her boy as she weeps with her maids in the palace: 66 hard and evil yet will be His lot hereafter; others will remove His landmarks and will make his fields their own. In part to secure a certainty in the vesting of legal ownership, and in part to secure the happiness and protection of those who were the inspiration to an acquisition of property and power, the statutes of inheritance and distribution have been enacted in every Christian land. And now through the energy and wisdom of private enterprise, a marvelous development has been made, insuring the continuance of an earning capacity, when death in the twinkling of an eye shall call the worker from his own. I count it one of the blessings of life insurance that it has thus far escaped the legislative rapacity for inheritance taxation. Our ancestors, the robber barons, stole the dead man's goods. I sometimes |