PRESENT PROBLEMS IN INSURANCE 241 



and respectable classes. The methods of industrial insurance in 

 collecting small premiums at brief intervals are expensive and waste- 

 ful. The army of house-to-house solicitors and collectors must be 

 clothed and fed. But we cannot suddenly unmake the character 

 and habits of mankind. Present methods of industrial insurance 

 are adapted to human nature and the existing state of society. In- 

 surance methods and conditions of society may change together, and 

 with the lapse of time improved methods may exert an increasing 

 beneficial influence upon the attitude of society toward insurance. 



Regarding the gains in membership of fraternal societies, the 

 reports of insurance commissioners show that in many parts of this 

 country these gains exceed the gains made by old line life companies. 

 In part, the gains in fraternal membership are doubtless the result 

 of natural growth and the more or less artificial multiplication of 

 orders; in part, they are probably due to the wholesome reforms 

 which many of these societies have instituted; but to a large extent 

 these gains must probably be attributed to the appeal to prospective 

 members, successfully made, as the figures show, that old line insur- 

 ance is too expensive and that fraternal insurance meets the needs 

 of the man in moderate circumstances. No opinion is here ex- 

 pressed relative to the merits of this appeal. The fact of this appeal, 

 however, must be observed. This fact carries with it a note of warn- 

 ing to the old line companies that they may not lose sight of the great 

 central idea of pure protection; and to the fraternal orders that they 

 may be prepared to assume and faithfully discharge the duties 

 which they have assumed and are desirous of assuming. It is a 

 matter of common knowledge that scores of fraternal orders are to- 

 day openly and persistently violating the most elementary princi- 

 ples of protection. To bring about changes in legislation which 

 shall compel every fraternal order to observe and rigidly obey these 

 elementary principles is one of the greatest problems in the insurance 

 world of to-day. The spectacle of conventions to determine rates 

 of premium and mortality tables by popular vote is as absurd as 

 a popular vote to determine the latitude and longitude of the mag- 

 netic pole. It is more than absurd; it is criminal. A popular vote 

 on the location of the magnetic pole is simply nonsense, and science 

 continues to advance hi spite of the nonsense. A popular vote for 

 the formulation of mathematical principles upon the accuracy of 

 which the welfare of millions of our population may depend is arro- 

 gant ignorance deserving of the penitentiary. To continue to solicit 

 membership at rates which have been condemned by competent 

 authority is at least as culpable, if not worse, than to receive deposits 

 in a bank after the same is known to be insolvent. And the latter 

 has long been a criminal offense. Some fraternal orders have em- 

 ployed competent actuaries; a small number have followed the 



