never taken any insurance upon his life except once, and that was when he was about 25 years of age, and it had lapsed many years ago; that he is now 68 years of age. Being asked if he knew of any life insurance being now upon his life, he said he did not know of any. He also stated that he had been laid up with rheumatism for fifteen years last past; that for four years he had been a little better, so that he had been able to be around, but that he was liable to drop away at any time.

THE PENINSULAR STATE MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION OF ITHACA.

The investigation of this association by your committee was made on March 31, 1887. But a limited amount of information could be obtained as to its inner workings from the fact that one thousand of its applications could not be found, and no proper books were kept of its business. From the information obtainable your committee is of the opinion that this association is practically owned and controlled by one man, the secretary, who has managed it in a manner calculated to produce the most profit for himself. Your committee are informed that he came to this place eight years ago with no apparent means, that since then the conduct of this association has been his only visible business, and that now he is rated by common report as being worth from twenty to forty thousand dollars.

The plan upon which this association is organized to do business, as stated in their circulars, is as follows:

Every applicant must undergo a medical examination by some competent physician.

The beneficiary must be the husband, wife, family or heirs of the member insured.

All certificates will be forfeited if assessments are not received at the home office within thirty days from date of notice.

The annual election of officers and trustees shall be held the last Monday in March of each year.

A persons at 60 years shall be assessed thirty-five cents for each one thousand dollars carried, which shall form the basis of assessments for all ages thereafter. There shall be no assessment for annual dues; but 20 per cent of the amount collected for death assessments shall be placed in a sinking fund and used to defray the expenses of carrying on business. Eighty per cent. collected on each assessment shall be placed in the death fund and shall constitute the same, and no part thereof be used except in paying death losses, and no assessment can be made while enough remains in this fund to adjust a claim.

When death occurs after two years from the date of a certificate the amount paid upon the same shall equal such part of one assessment (which is placed in the death fund) as the certificate is a part of five thousand dollars, but not to exceed the amount named in the certificate. If death occurs within sixty days from the date of a certificate, nothing will be paid except all moneys which have been paid upon the same. If after sixty days and before one year but one-fourth, and if during the second year, but onehalf the amount will be paid that would have been paid had the certificate been in force two years or more.

The deaths occuring during two months shall be paid by assessments made the two following months, which assessments can not amount to more than three single assessments for the two months. Should it require three assess

ments during any two months to adjust the losses of the two previous months, the amount thus received shall be divided pro rata among the losses thus occurring, and shall be a settlement in full of said losses.

Five thouasand dollars may be issued upon one person, and may consist of one or more certificates, but no fractional part of one thousand dollars will be issued in a certificate.

Membership fees for the first thousand dollars shall be ten dollars; five dollars for each additional one thousand dollars thereafter.

Persons less than sixty years of age may take certificates by paying thirtyfive cents for each one thousand dollars carried when there is an assessment for death. The greatest age st which a person may join is eighty-six and the assessment for that age is $3.50.

In the actual conduct of the business of this society no statement in the application is required as to the insurable interest between the insured and the beneficiary, and there is nothing in the application, nothing in the certificate of membership, nothing in the death proofs, and nothing in the books, files, or records of the office to show any relationship existing between them.

They do not require any medical examination of an applicant by a competent physician, as set forth in their articles of association. The reason given by their officers for not following that provision is that other companies do not require it, that they found they could not do business if they insisted upon such an examination. They have a blank physician's certificate printed upon the back of their applications, and they have also a separate blank which is headed "Family Physician's Certificate," which is intended to be filled out by a physician where he does not see the applicant, and which is also, in some cases, signed by a beneficiary.

Death losses in this company have never been investigated at all. When death proofs come in the claims are paid without question. The belief of the officers of this company is that, even though a person procures the insurance of someone for his own benefit by fraud, yet from the fact that the beneficiary concerned in that fraud pays his money in assessments to help pay the losses of other people, that when his insured person dies he is entitld to recover something upon his certificate, and therefore the association puts honest and fraudulent beneficiaries upon the same footing and treats them accordingly.

There was no annual meeting of the members of this society held during the year 1886, the officers of the year 1885 holding over. There was an annual meeting held on the last Monday in March, 1887. No special notices of that meeting were sent to its members. In fact the only notice of an annual meeting is that contained in the circular. Those circulars are always in the hands of agents, and are said to be inclused to beneficiaries with their assessment notices. At the annual meeting held on Monday preceding the visit of your committee there were six members present. These were the secretary of the association and his wife, the book-keeper of the association and his wife, and two other members. The former president of the associa tion presided at the meeting, and the six members present elected an almost entire new set of officers for the coming year.

The notices of assessment in this association are sent to the beneficiaries in most cases. The secretary says that he does not know that the assessments are paid by the beneficiaries in most cases because they do not assess any one individually, they assess each certificate by its number.

There has never been a dollar of the money of the association paid over by the secretary to its treasurer, but the secretary has deposited the money received by him from assessments in bank, taking certificates of deposit therefor in his own name as secretary, and at this date he holds in his hands in that way $8,684.64. No account has ever been kept with the treasurer, nor has the treasurer ever kept any account with the company. No bond has ever been given the association by any of its officers.

The former president of this association, who was deposed by the annual meeting on Monday last, was examined by your committee, and gave a history of the association. The idea of its organization with him was gained from a visit which he made in Ohio, from hearing of this kind of companies, and forming the acquaintance of a gentleman engaged in that business, and whom he sent for on his return home, and who has been and is the secretary of this company. From his evidence it appears that the secretary has been the executive of the association, running it as he pleased, receiving and paying out the money as he saw fit. No accounting has ever been made by the secretary to the members, and they have no means of knowing whether its funds were properly or improperly distributed. Lately, the former treasurer had demanded the treasurer's books of the secretary, and had been refused any accounting, and the president also had made a similar demand, and had been told by the secretary that it was none of his business. From the manner in which the business of the office has been conducted it would have been possible for the secretary to have disbursed only a part of the mortuary fund instead of the whole, and no one would have been the wiser. Your committee went to Detroit April 4th, and on the days following examined several of the coöperative insurance companies doing business there.

THE DETROIT MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION.

This association was organized in 1880, and has a present membership of about 660. Its membership fees are ten dollars. It does not differ materially in its articles of association from other companies of this sort, except as to its class A, which is upon a somewhat novel plan. This class includes persons of from 18 to 65 years of age, who are assessed one dollar upon each death and the amount of insurance, amount paid beneficiaries and the disposition of the assessments is shown in the following table:

In this class there are 520 members and the practical working of it would be something like this: If a person died, aged 64, and each member paid his assessment of one dollar, the beneficiary of that person would receive 50 per cent of $520.00, or the amount paid in (but never to exceed one thousand dollars), which, in this case would be $260.00. Of the remaining $260.00 one-half would go to the mortuary fund and the other half to the expense fund. When another death came there would be an assessment for that, and it would be paid according to the same rule. When enough money was accumulated in the mortuary fund to pay a loss in full, then the next loss that occurred after that would be paid out of the mortuary fund upon the basis of the last assessment collected, and no assessment would be made for that loss. Its class B is composed of persons joining between the ages of 65 and 84, and the assessments are graded somewhat after the manner of other companies which we have examined, 80 per cent of such assessments going into a mortuary fund and 20 per cent of them to the expense fund.

The expense fund of this society is made up from annual dues of two dollars from each member, and in class A, from one-half of the over-plus of each assessment beyond what is required to pay the loss from which the assessment is made, and if an assessment is not paid until within 20 days after it became due then one-half of the assessment goes to the expense fund (and the other half to the mortuary fund), and if the assessment is not paid until after 20 days from the time it became due then the entire amount goes to the expense fund, and in class B 20 per cent of the assessment collected, and the same disposition of money paid in upon lapsed certificates as in class A. By their rules they are also entitled to take for the expense fund one dollar per year for each member out of the mortuary fund if necessary. This was found necessary and was done in the year 1886.

In this association applicants are required, in both classes, to sign their names to the application in person, and no certificate would be issued upon an application whereon the name of the applicant was signed by the beneficiary. Notices of assessments are sent to the insured parties unless they request them to be sent to some one else. The officers do not recognize an insurable interest outside of the immediate relatives of the party insured. A

creditor is not recognized as having an insurable interest, and no certificates are ever issued to a creditor.

THE COMMERCIAL MUTUAL ASSOCIATION.

This Association was also incorporated in 1880. Its plan of insurance is something similar to that of the last mentioned company, as will be seen from the following tables.

This Association will insure any person between the ages of 15 and 65 inclusive, who complies with its conditions. The following table will show the per cent of the assessment to which the beneficiary shall be entitled, and the maximum amount the beneficiary can receive:

The following table shows the cost of a Whole and a Half Certificate, respectively:

Applicants for insurance are required to be examined by a physician in good standing who has a diploma from some regular medical college. The examining physicians are not appointed by the associations, but where applicants are examined by other than physicians of known reputation, such applications are submitted to the medical director for his approval. Otherwise they are not submitted to him.

A

The manner of keeping the accounts in this office is rather crude, but the money is apparently all honestly accounted for. Is is received by the secretary, entered upon the assessment register as received and turned over daily by the secretary to the president and by him to the treasurer and his receipts taken therefor. No collectors are employed, but the members are expected to pay their assessments either in person or by remitting the amount at their own expense. ledger account is opened with beneficiaries when the certificate in which they are named becomes a claim. When the assessment for that claim is completed their ledger account is credited with the amount due them from the assessment made to cover their loss, or their share thereof, and charged with the necessary postage used in making the assessment, and with the balance of cash when paid them.