the yellow journals and the public which is always finding fault and trying to tear down the one who is leading, is constantly finding fault and spreading untruthful information for the purpose of unsettling those who have tried to protect their loved ones in the only way in their power. And I say to you today that we ought to go from this hall, this grand convention, the largest we have ever held, determined to make it our work, not our convenience, not a side issue, but our work to see to it that the good that this association is doing is personal to each and every man, not only who is working in the field, or who is occupying the official's chair but who is carrying a life insurance policy in any company in America today. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr. Philip H. Farley, New York-Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I presume that there is no one present who is not an affiliated member of a life underwriters' association. Consequently,

I shall take as a text for my five minutes this suggestion: "The Duty of the Agent in Respect to Life Underwriters' Associations" is to become a member thereof and having become a member to be a persistent member, and always feel an obligation to enlist any fellow agent who has not already enlisted in life underwriters' work. Life underwriters' work is for the good of every agent, be he in the national guard, the regular army or a bushwhacker. Therefore it is the duty of the agent in respect to life underwriters' associations that they should become members thereof and persistent members. Life underwriters' association work reviewed throughout this country has given ample demonstration of its utility. I shall refer to no commonwealth by name, but I could tell of a life underwriters' association having held in check the very evils that have been discussed here. And what can be done in one commonwealth by one body of life underwriters can be done every where else.

Now, there is another great reason. As the Moham

medan goes to his Mecca; as the Hebrew goes to his Jerusalem; as the Christian goes to his Palestine, so the life agents should go to their life under writers' convention as a shrine, and going to the shrine they should emerge from it filled with sentiments of friendship, charity and love for one another. "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." That is the duty of the agent in respect to life underwriters' associations. [Applause.]

Mr. Percy V. Baldwin, Boston, Mass.-Mr. President and Gentlemen: As life insurance men we enter this business primarily to make our living and that we should

make a living and as good a one as is consistent with our brains, ability and opportunity is correct, right and just.

But if we accept from this business in which we are engaged the privilege of making our living from it, we must at the same time assume towards that business certain responsibilities which have been well stated by our president this morning; to make the work easier; to make it more remunerative; to reduce friction; to inspire confidence; to develop initiative and moral courage; to make ourselves more effective, and to make life insurance more popular and better understood in the community. And it is to do that that we have organized our life underwriters' associations. We have realized that in this work as in every other work in this country, in government, in business, in society, it is only through co-operation that results can be accomplished; and if it be incumbent upon us to accomplish those results, and if there be but one way in which those results can be accomplished, our duty is, as has well been said by the gentlemen who preceded me, to join the underwriters' associations. But having joined the associations our duties do not cease; our responsibilities become heavier than ever. We have joined an organization which stands for something, and it is our duty and our privilege to carry out the objects of that organization with which

we have allied ourselves. Many of us, I think, in times past, and perhaps some of us in the present have had or still have rather erroneous ideas as to the objects desired by the organization known as the life underwriters' association, and while I am not going to attempt to name them all, there is one of them which in my opinion stands out prominently, that we should achieve, and that it is our desire to achieve through these organizations, and that is a knowledge of the good points of our competitors. We shall find out enough of the bad points meeting them day by day in the offices or on the street, but if we can meet these men socially, if we can meet them pleasantly, if we can meet them as friends, either at a dinner or at a meeting, or in any other way, we shall eventually learn that a competitor need not be an enemy, and that the men from whom we try to take business honestly and fairly and squarely, and whom we meet in competition on that basis, may be friends as well. And if, as members of these associations, we see things which we do not like, or things of which we do not approve, do not let us forget that it is easy enough to criticize; but that it is foolish to criticize unless we have a remedy to offer, and if we will stay right straight in that association and work our best and our hardest to have an association and carry out the ideas for which it was organized, we shall to a certain extent at least be doing our duty, and it seems to me that we can say, summing it up completely, that so far as this association is concerned, the duty of a life insurance agent towards his association is "to look up and not down, and to lend a hand." [Applause.]

President Dolph-I am going to ask our friend Mr. George L. Root of Peoria, Ill., to take up not more than five minutes with a little fun, and I think he will entertain you.

Mr. Root-You do me quite an honor to call on me to give you entertainment. The only entertainment that I could give you would be to illustrate to you human nature. I am going to show you that deception is used in every day life and in all business. And life insurance is not an exception. (Mr. Root then performed a very amusing trick with a small machine like a wringer, by

which he apparently printed ten dollar bills on ordinary pieces of paper.)

Continuing he said: We are here celebrating our six

teenth anniversary, and there are grave questions in our business before the country today, and I do not think this association should adjourn without taking some action and going on record in some way as to whether they are in favor or not of national supervision of our business. [Applause.] Now, I am not going to express to you what I think about it, but I am just advancing to you that suggestion. With this crisis right on us the world is agitated and we are the representatives of the agitation. Now, in body assembled, would it be right to adjourn this sixteenth convention without saying to the people whether as an association-you don't have to speak for your companies, you don't have to speak as an individual, speak collectively as a National Association of Life Underwriters-whether you are in favor of national supervision or not. That will strengthen your Congressmen and your Representatives from all over the country, because there is going to be legislation of some kind at the next session of Congress, and if you are in favor of national legislation you should assist your Congressmen and the Representatives in your district by telling them so, and if you are opposed to national legisla. tion you should not be afraid to say so, and this is the time and the place. [Applause.]

President Dolph-If any one has an announcement to make this is the time.

Mr. Collin Ford, Cincinnati, O.-I would like to say just a word on that subject of legislation. Some years ago Hon. John M. Pattison of Cincinnati was elected to Congress, and went there for the express purpose of putting life insurance under federal supervision. He introduced his bill. When the constitutional lawyers got hold of it they said, "Mr. Pattison, we have not jurisdiction; the Supreme Court of the United States has decided that

insurance is not commerce, and that Congress can only deal with commerce. But recently a suggestion has been made by President Roosevelt that looks a little as though that obstacle might be removed. You may recall that in his inaugural address he said that life insurance had become so great an interest in this country, not only inter-state in character, but even international, that he hoped Congress would find some way to place it upon the schedule of Congress. That opens the way, so that if that can be done then the Congress will have jurisdiction and they can legislate upon that subject, and I think myself it would be well for this body to put itself upon record as to what the members think ought to be done in the premises. [Applause ]

President Dolph-Is it the disposition of the convention to continue the discussion of this topic? It is now twenty-three minutes past four. I think it would be in order to entertain a motion to adjourn.

Mr. J. J. Raleigh, St. Louis, Mo.-Before we adjourn I would like to introduce a resolution upon one of these subjects brought up by Mr. Root. With your permission I will read this resolution:

Whereas, The public press, official committees, life insurance departments, and legislative inquiries have disclosed methods and practices in the management of some life insurance companies which, if not criminal in their nature, appear to be grossly irregular and in violation of the principles of the trust involved; and

Whereas, These disclosures threaten to create in the minds of the uninformed a suspicion regarding the integrity and management of all life insurance companies, and to bring the business into general disrepute; be it

Resolved, By the National Association of Life Underwriters in convention assembled that we, the members of this association, who have been chiefly instrumental in inspiring confidence in the minds of policyholders, and in building up the magnificent structure of life insurance, owe it to ourselves and to those who have reposed confidence in us, to