I
INSURANCE coup-Anise.
ml; nix-ounces Busmnss .‘ongrnn CQUN:
TRY 1s CENTRED-JN NEW-YORK.
m? GIANTS » or LII-‘13;- FIRE; MARINE anode-
CIEDENT corIPANIES—gFIGUREs 'RANG-ING INTO
Tl-IE BILIJIONSeGROWTH 0F BIG con-l.
CERES UNDER WISE MANAGEMENT.
The‘ annual business transacted by the numer-
ous insurance companies which have their main.
offices irrLNexv-York is of such vast proportions
that eveiifflgures fail in fully expressing its true
significance. From the time when the city first
began to assume its importance as the commer-
cial.centre of the United States incorporators
Ind stockholders of insurance concerns have
recognized the unusual benefits offered for cons
ducting the general management of their~ af-
fairs within its limits. The fact that New-York
is the money centre of the country has. had much
to do with the establishment, growth and de-
‘velopment' of insurance corporations. Insur-
ance and finance go hand in hand, and the suc-
cesflul management of the funds of insurance
companies in this city has barn due largely to
the facilities for investments in the best class of
securities in the way of stocks, bonds and realty.
During the present year, for the first time
since the Civil “far, the officers of all kinds of
insurance companies were brought face to face
with the conditions resulting from a declara-
tion" of war with Spain. Policy-holders of life,
fire, marine and accident insurance. read their
contracts over with care for. the first time in
many cases, to find out what protection was af-
fiOrded them in such a situation. The life in-
surance companies were kept busy issuing circu-
lars explaining the stand the companies would
take with policy-holders who went to the front.
Marine insurance companiesdid a thriving busi- >
nose in writing war risks, while the. fire insur-
ance companies found themselves besieged with.
applications forlbombardment insurance. Some
at the fire insurance companies started in to
:the State Insurance Department. it being tound
that their charters did not cover the.- ground.
,Whatever- bombardment insurance was written
1was taken by foreign companies; -'A1l_ln all, the
2year has been {all or bites-eatingsituations tram
:an.,insurance--point of View. ~. . . , y.
In the State of. New-York there are twelve
'~ companies: doing a. life insurance business. All
*- 'of these arewithtnthe limits of the greater city,
and the annual report'of‘the State Superintend-
‘ ent of Banking shows that in- all essential char-
acteristics they are more than .one~half again
asimportant as all the other life insurance coin-
panies of the United States. Of the fifty-three
fire insurance companies in the State, exclusive
of mutual and foreign companies, all but five
.or six are controlled in New—York, and. of the
_premium income of over $31,110,000 received by
the total number nearly nine—tenths goes into-
the treasuries of local offices. In the department
city again makes a. showing unedualled- by any
~0ther city: All of the twelve companies in the
.~State which do this kind of business are located
here. The combined capital invested for this
companies of all the other States of the Union
put together. In addition, all or nearly all of
.the foreign companies doing a life, fire or casu-
alty insurance business in the United States
have their head offices in New-York. At a rough
I estimate the total gross assets» of all the compa-
nies within the city are $850,000,000. The rec-
ord of the past shows that while there have
been several failures. on the whole the manage-
ment of the insurance business locally has been
on a. high plane of business honor and ability.
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HISTORIC FEATURES OF' LIFE INSUR-
ANCE AND THE THREE PERIODS
OF ITS . EXISTENCE.
IMPORTANT STATISTICS OF METROPOLITAN con-
PANIES REVEALED IN THE LAST REPORT
To THE. .STATE DEPARTMENT-LIB-
ERAL POLICY CONTRACTS OF.-
THE PRESENT DAY.
the popular support of the people in a more
,marked degree than that which aims to make
-_...._..-_._
P
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5‘ write bombardment risks”, but were‘stopped‘i ij‘ ,
of accident and casualty insurance the greater ‘
purpose in'the city is equal to that of all the -
N0 branch of the insurance business receives
good-the financial. lossincurred by the death at
those upon whom depend the support and live-
lihood or wives and children. ‘More money is, in-
vested in life insurancethan inaii other kinds.
put together, which. is'th‘e highest commentary
which could be passed upon the provident char-
acter of the American citizen. It brings peace
and confidence to Fifbusands of families who
would suffer an irreparable blow in the loss of
a. parent and his support. It has enabled those
who were insuredrto borrow money, who on ac-
count ot the nature of their estates could not
have. done so without its aid, and it has given
credit to young men of business who have used
.it to their advantage. -
Life insurance may be said to have .had three
distincfp‘eriods. ‘In the first one the business
was conducted almoSt entirely by'proprietary
corporations, which were organized for. the pur-'
pose of doingFan insurance business, also bank-
ing and trust business. The second period found
the early mutual companies entering the field
and restricting their operations to life. insurance
solely. For twenty years following 1843 these
concerns met with marked success, and their
number multiplied with great rapidity. Between
1800 and 1861 the business grew so rapidly that
by 1870 there were seventy-one different com—
panies reporting to the State Department,-which
was the highest ever reported. In that period
the new business written and the gross assets
of the companies increased over tenfold. In-
eight, years it is estimated that the assets in-
creased by $230,000,000 and the" risks in force
by $1,800,000,000.
The annual valuation of all the seventy—one
solvent companies doing business in the State
of, New-York in 1871' showed $2,000,000,000 of
insurance, $269,000,000 in assets and $48,000,000
in. surplus. This year is noted down in insur-
ance history as the one in which the first meet-
ing of insurance ofiicials occurred. For the next
nine years following and up to 1880 there were
many failures, and the,period- Was one of the
most trying in insurance history. No less than
forty-six companies ceased doing business in
Neerork. and of this number there were only
tour which. reinsured With companies which. re?
Vmained solvent. Twenty-seven of these com-
panies which failed had their domicile-_in.-New:- -'
York State. .Tbe financial panic _o£‘187~;3, is held
accountable‘for a great dealer ”the trouble'at
that time. ‘The-failure otlirailroads and-«the de-- ‘
cline of securities seriously affected the-homing: -' '
of ithe- insurance companies. 711-. Willi be remem-
beredvthat about one-fourth of." all the savings.
banks in the State of New-York went out of ex--
:istence during the years immediately following .
1871. As a. result of this period of losses and de- ._ -
pression it was not until, 1886 that the insur-
ance in force of the companies doing business in
New-York became asgreat as it was in 1872. In
188'? the total income. had again equalled what
(it had been in 1873, and in 1888, by dint of un- '
tiring efforts, the companies had succeeded in
securing as much new business as in 1869.. In
Other words. it took from fifteen to twenty years
for the insurance companies to regain the
ground lost in the panic. From that We to
this the business of the insuranceficompanies of
the country and of the city of NewLYork-in pat- ’
ticular has been one of steady growth and de-
velopment. Success has followed their every
step. The last fifteen years has been a period of
uninterrupted progress, and during that time '
there has been only one failure of any impor-
tance. The features which stand out during this
time have been the decline of interest rates, the
rise of industrial insurance, the liberalizing of
the policy contracts and an increase in the ex—
pense- rate.
The present period, the third, has been char-i
acterized by the changes in the policy contracts.
At one time the competition between rival com—
panies was conducted on the basis of the com.
pany which was most likely to pay the biggest
dividend. Now the company which offers “the
simplest and most liberal policy contracts is the
one which gets the business. The aim of the
officers of the great New-Yerk companies is to
relieve the policy-holder of all vexatlous re-
strictions relating. to residence, travel, occupa-
tion, military. and naval service, intoxicants
and narcotics. days of grace for paying pre-
miums, privileges of reinvestment. loans on the
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THE METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY’S BUILDING;
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The magnificent office building of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which stands
. MUTUAL. RESERVE BUILDING.
" Northwest Corner Broadway and Duane—st- 1.. 3 ~. , «C
At the northwest corner oi Broadway and Duaneest. stands an imposing building of rough-
hewn Indiana limestone. It is one of the many fine structures of which New-York is justly
pram]. and it rears itself high above its surroundings, a. monument to the system of co-opera-
the insurance as built up by the Mutual Reserve Fund'Lite Association. It also speaks, in
yards more powerful than tongue can utter, for the indomitable will and pre-eminent ability
0! Edward 13.. Harper, the late president 01 the association. In 1881 the home ofiice was” a
modest little room in the Bennett Building in Nassau-st. The present magnificent office
building represents an outlay of about $1,200,000. The ground for the new. building was
broken in the fall of. 1893. Founded upon bedrock, it rises two hundred feet above the side-
walk, but, great as is its height, so perfectly is it proportioned, and so admirable in its archi-
tectural treatment of its two facades, that few careful observers would dream that it attained
such an altitude. Entering the building by adoorway of- unusual grace of outline, as shown in
the accompanying illustration, the visitor finds himself in a spacious and lofty vestibule. lined
with African marble. There are four elevators of the most improved type, which .run night and ‘
day for the benefit-or the tenants: The ofiices of the Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association
are on the second, third, fourth and fifth floors, forming a suite complete in every appoint-
ment. The oflices 01" the president and his cabinet are on the fourth floor. The" general
offices of the association are on the second. Above the fifth floor the building is arranged in-
excellent design like any other office building intended for the use of general professional
and commercial tenants. There are. many superior convenience: and exceptional provisions
made for those who occupy quarters in the building, and every device almost that has been
hand practical and useful has been furnished. ,,_.,, , Ms
facing madison Square from the east, has never ceased to be the object of admiration and
praise from the hosts which dwell within the limits of Greater New—York and the thousands
or stral'gers within thegates. Of splendid architectural design and perfect building con-
struction. it fairly eclipsed the highest ideals of those who planned it. The building is a.
monument to- the success and progress of one of New-York's great insurance corporations.
According to the last official report Of! the New-York State Insurance Department, there
were thirty-five legal-reserve life insurance companies operating in this State. Omitting
the Metropolitan, all the other companies taken together showed a. grand total of 5,681,000
policies in force- The Metropolitan alone had nearly 4,100,000—a number equivalent to 72
per cent of that of all the others combined. Deducting a single company from the grand
total above,_and we 'find the Metropolitan with more than a million policies in force in ex-
cess of all the other companiesggput together.
With such an immense clientage it .is easy to perceive why no unusual loss of life can
occur on land or sea, by fire or flood, by war or pestilence, but that this company is in evi-
dence. As near as it can determine, the Metropolitan had at least a dozen policy-holders
on the ill-fated Portland, wrecked the latter part of November off Cape Cod._ How many it
had on the fifty other vessels reported lost is not yet known, but there will doubtless be many.
The sinking of the Maine resulted in some twenty claims. " The only man killed on the Yan-
kee before the Santiago naval battle, and the only one killed on the Texas during the fight.
were both insured in the Metropolitan. In the recent battle at Omdurman, in the Sand-anr
under-the British General Kitchener. one .of its‘ policy helder‘s was slain. His policy was
paid by telegraph, as is the company’s custom with all its claims except those in the im-
mediate home office district. In the SL Louis tornado, out of a total of 400 killed, sixty-eight
policies were paid by this company alone. In the Johnstown flood it paid sixty-One; and
thus the narrative might be indefinitely continued. ,
It patronage be fair evidencevof popularity. then the Metropolitan would seem to be A
.public' favorite; and where the public is generous in its recognition of a company it is only
reasonable to infer that, in plans and manage ment, it is entitled tc the confidence it enjoys.
Norwalk Chronicler