The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, January 1886: Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, January, 1886Various
History
The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, January 1886: Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, January, 1886
Various
New England -- Periodicals
There is one other form of insurance practised by level-premium
companies that demands brief notice here. It would seem that to mention
it would be to call down upon it public reprobation: we refer to what
is called prudential or industrial insurance. The peculiarity of this
form is that its patrons are found among the poorest and the lowest
classes of our population, and, in the judgment of others than the
writer, it appeals to the very worst instincts of those unfortunate
people. The insurance is effected upon the lives of helpless infants and
children to the amount of one hundred or two hundred dollars or more,
ostensibly to provide for suitable burial expenses in the event of the
child's death. While, doubtless, in some cases the motive is a worthy
one which prompts to such insurance, one's thought shrinks with horror
from a contemplation of the crimes which it must, in many cases, suggest
to the minds of the low and depraved. How many children are there in our
large cities whose lives are not worth even one hundred dollars! How
many are there whose death would be hailed as a deliverance from an
expensive and unwelcome burden! The simple suggestion is enough to carry
with it a sense of obligation to lovers of humanity to see that a
premium is not placed upon infanticide and kindred crimes. If such
insurance is to be effected at all, which is extremely questionable, it
should be under the strictest restraints of law.
Another serious objection to the system is that it necessitates nearly
double the cost of even regular level-premium rates, from the fact that
weekly collections of five and ten cents must be made by agents employed
for the purpose.
Of course a large part of these collections, wrung from the poor, are
absorbed in agents' fees, the balance going to the company. The lapses
also must be very numerous, and but little benefit is ever realized by
those who part with these pittances from their scanty earnings. It is a
well-known fact that companies realize very large profits from this
business, and in some instances the writer has been credibly informed
the expenses of the general business are met by the profits of this
branch. This article is written in no spirit of hostility to
level-premium insurance; it is simply a criticism upon its defects and
its abuses. Properly administered, there is an ample field for the
prosecution of its business. There will always be those who will prefer
to pay the larger price, for what to them may seem the better form of
insurance; but there will be large numbers, as now, who will prefer
assessment insurance in reliable companies.
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