INSURANCE, LIFE, Statistics. The growth of life insurance and its large place in modern affairs can best be appreciated from a tabulation of the aggregate results since its be ginnings in America three-quarters of a cen tury Starting in Great Britain near the opening of the 18th century. the idea took •a small hold in the American colonies shortly after the middle of the same century but came to real utility 100 years later, since which time the American .business companies and fraternal insurance orders have far outstripped the Old World in their extension of life protection.
The first corporation to attempt life insur ance in America, the Presbyterian Ministers' Fund, was chartered in 1759 and is still in flourishing existence. It began on the assess ment plan, but changed some years ago to the legal reserve plan. This is not, however, a general business company. Several annuity companies started later, but business insurance took its first earnest start with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, whith began operations in 1843. The New England Mutual followed a year later, the Mutual Bene fit two years later and the New York Life, also mutual, a few weeks after the last named.
Thereafter the number of companies in creased steadily but slowly until the close of the Civil War, when life insurance organiza tion was seized with a speculative craze and companies multiplied rapidly; but thcpanic of 1872 exposed the weakness of scores that were insecurely founded or poorly managed. The number of companies doing business in New York State rose from 14 in 1859 to 71 in 1870, and fell back to 29 by 1881. The amount of business outstanding decreased about 30 per cent between 1870 and 1881.
The next period of expansion set in with the legislative investigations of 1905. Most of the larger companies have been or have re cently become mutual. Many of the newer companies in the southern, central western and far western sections of the United States are capitalized and the total of capital employed rose from $22,724,130 in 1906 in 138 companies to $54,764,732 in 241 companies in 1916; the dividends to stockholders increased from $956, 520 to $5,149,076 as between the two dates.
Table I shows that a large proportion of companies existing in 1917 were still young as compared with those that survived the stress of the 70's. A list of 309 American companies that have failed, reinsured or retired is given in the 1917
Table II exhibits the aggregate of results since organization of 194 of the existing life compahies and gives the principal items, not including assessment societies or fraternal orders. The showing is impressive from a financial as well as an economic point of view In recent years business assessment societies have greatly declined, while fraternal orders have advanced. Adding the nearly two and a half billion benefits paid out by these societies and orders to the death claims shown in the table, it appears that altogether over six and one-half billion dollars have been paid out to this account during the past 75 years by Ameri can corporations. Imagination can hardly ex aggerate the economic blessing of this provi sion to hundreds of thousands of families which would have been left embarrassed other wise, if not in want.
Table III is designed to exhibit the amazing growth of life insurance within the last 10 years. The pruning resulting from the 1905 investigation made by several State legis latures eliminated the false growth of tontine insurance and brought the business back more largely to its true function of life protection. All forms of endowment policies combine the element of saving with insurance, but the re turn to a larger use of whole-life policies shown in the table is a good symptom. It ap pears that, considering business companies alone, the use of life insurance in America nearly doubled in the 10 years exhibited. With the business of 1917 added, the items for 11 years will show easily twice the amounts of tom