Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/499

 IMPROVEMENTS IN INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE 485

nary insurance and not Industrial, as held by the Department of this State, it is quite certain that comparisons should not be with our Industrial but with our Intermediate. Such a comparison shows that since 1895 this Com- pany has been furnishing the workingmen with cheaper insurance than he can get now in savings-bank insurance. — Letter of March 22, 1909.

This argument does not seem to be quite conclusive, since it is much easier for a workingman to pay monthly than quar- terly. But. it is also evidently unfair to compare savings-bank insurance rates with weekly premium rates.

Ordinary life insurance. — The industrial companies, or some of them, offer ordinary policies in competition with the regular companies. But this form is not of special interest to us here, because only the elite of the wage-earners can avail themselves of this method. There are some advantages, however, which seem to justify the union, since many workmen, starting with weekly payments while wages are low, are able to pass up into the ordinary class when their income increases.

■ "Our Ordinary policies are placed with the workingmen. Our average policy is considerably under $1,000, and that alone proves that for the most part these policies are held by the workingmen." — (From speech of Mr. Haley Fiske to Super- intendents of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., January 16, 1909.) This evidence alone is not sufficient The statistics taken from actual budgets of many thousands of workingmen by the U. S. Department of Labor seem to indicate that few working- men carry life insurance of this form; when they do, it is among the well-paid artisans. I suspect that many clerks, teachers, etc., carry a large part of this insurance.

There are about twenty industrial life-insurance companies. The business of the Metropolitan is claimed by Mr. Fiske to be about one-half of all (Civic Federation Speech). It is not possible to- give the tables for all the smaller companies; nor is this necessary for our purpose.

The Prudential Insurance Company announces to its old policy-holders that the voluntary dividend concession first made in 1897 on its regular industrial policies will be continued through the first three months of the year 1909. Additional