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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1909)
THE OMAHA SUNDAY REE: A PHIL L 1WJ. I America's Greatest Women's Insurance Organization EM V i 1 t Auxiliary to the. Woodmen off tike World Strong in Tlilrty- r Eiplit States V h IPIM'H'KWIH i Has a Membership Over Seventy Thousand of And Is Increasing at a Won derful Rato Each Month The "Woodmen Circle is the only auxiliary of the Sov ereign Camp, Woodmen of the World. Members of that or ganization and any worthy woman who can pass the re quired medical examination are eligible to membership. The Woodmen Circle is organized for the purpose of pro viding relief for its members in times of sorrow and distress, pdurnlincr them in moral, social and intellectual matters and - ' ( E. promoting fraternal love and unity. The order also furnishes V K : 4 fcinn ttnn 41 nm 41 !Wi onA $2,000. Members pay an assessment each month in accord ance with their age at the time of joining the order and the ... amount or insurance tney carry. The Woodmen Circle has established anenvTaTilecof d among fraternal insurance organizations by the prompt pay ment of its death claims. imr J- v -' o tv states, not including the territory west of the Rocky moun tains, 'which belongs to a separate jurisdiction with head quarters at Portland, Ore. The organization has a member ship of something over 70,000, and is growing at the rate of, 2,000 to 4,000 a month. It has been rightly termed, "The, Little Giant in the Insurance World." V I- i t WHO CAN BECOME MEMBERS? a on rlrter find health between the area of 18 and 52 is eligible to the Woodmen Circle. A man must first belong to and be in good standing in the Woodmen of the World before he can join. Why should not the wife or mother or sister enjoy the advantages of a social and business fraternity as well as the husband or father or brother? Why should not the wife or mother or sister help provide for their loved ones as well as the father or husband or brother? THE HEADQUARTERS occupy the fourth floor of the WOODMEN OF THE WORLD BUILDING, on Fif teenth and Howard streets, and its work is so well system atized that only from twelve to fifteen clerks ate necessary to conduct its entire business affairs. Its plan is admirable, including an emergency fund, , monuments to its deceased members and funeral benefits. One of the most commendable features is the probationary 3 membership, in the thirteen years of its existence, have ac- cumulated an emergency fund of almost $l,UUU,UUU, a larger reserve per member than any other order in the United States. It is not fair to them that this be used for the payment of premature deaths and despite every safeguard which fra ternal organizations may establish, undesirable risks will at times slip in. So our certificates are issued payable one third if death occurs during the first year of membership, one-half if during the second year of membership, two-thirds during the third year of membership, and after three years the full amount of the face of the policy. Applicants who are apprehensive that they will not survive three years are tj not considered desirable material for membership, but if t such risks are accepted and die before the probationary period has elapsed their beneficiaries receive splendid re- 3 turns on the amount they have invested. This plan protects the living from the payment of extra assessments and is just and equitable to all. ' t ?: ?P: S'&WM vH. ,Ss -iiri-VH -1 The Woodman Circle has paid out every minute since the date of its organization an average of $4.42 to the bene ficiaries of deceased members, and yet, owing to its perfect plan and splendidly adjusted rates, the income has been ade quate to meet all obligations and establish a handsome re serve fund for future demands. Membership - - . . 70,000 Surplus Fund - - $1,053,342 Over 3,000 New Members Written N During March, 1909 EMMA R. MANCHESTER. SUPREME .GUARDIAN Largest Surplus Fund in Accordance With H Our Membership ol Any Other Order in Existence. WOULD PREVENT SICKNESS Dr. BurnsMe Poster Makei life In . surance President! Sit Up. WOULD EXAMINE BISKS OFTEN ItevoKnItloii of KrlT Sl ol Dl .,, and Pfeml Mll HU , llrmrdr o l.r Deatk lint f Pr. NKW TOUK. April :M.-Fr-e medical e amlnailon of policyholder every five yeart 8J a meant of prolonulng human life was Buggeited to the Aiaoclatlon of Ufe In- ir..i,i..nt this afternoon by Dr. Burntde Foater, editor of the St. Paul (Minn. Medical Journal, and alo a life Insurance medical examiner, ssucn wm.- . nr foater declared, would reveal the Inilplent atagei of unsuspected dla eaat that could be cured or hoe prog . ion could be materially retarded, and It would thua .be poastble to add five, ten or more ven'v wage longevity of polliii-.nWcra. pf courae. euch eiamlna . r.. .,. mi' ha made compulaory. but J - nr. foier thought that the propoaed In- vo welcomed by policy- holdeni onSe they reallaed the value and tig itfli-aiire of It. 1'ht UTe extension committee of the Prcldoft' association will consider Dr. Foater'a suggestion. This committee has already in hand the proposition of Prof. Irving Fisher of Yale university that tne life companies should contribute financial aid to a campaign of health education. Prof. Fisher having declared that the gen eral adoption of hygienic reforms would add fifteen years to the span of life In this country. 'Modern medicine has, above all, two chief alms, the prevention of disease and the recognition of it earliest signs in the Individual." said Dr. Foster In today's address. "In both of these aims the busi ness of life Insurance has an Immense In terest, alnce the nearer we approach to their accqmpllshment, the more we add to human longevity. Prof. Fisher's recen plea for concerted action on the part of Ufa Insurance companies to lend their financial aid to the cause of . preventive medicine Is one which meets with my hearty sympathy and approval. rreveatlve Medlcta of Merit. "Preventive ' medicine becomes more nearly sn exact science all the time, and while Its possibilities are far from being realised, this Is not because of Its own Inexactness or shortcomings, but because the peeple have not yet awakened to the fact that those diseases which cause the greatest number of deaths and the greatest amount of suffering are actually pre ventable. If money enough Is spent to prevent them. The only way to enlist all the people actively In the crusade against preventable disease is to present the sub ject as an economic one, which It surely la, and one which appeals directly to their pocketbooks. I am glad that life Insurance companies are beginning to be Interested In It from this point of view. Its study will prove profitable to them and will af ford a most valuable object lesson to the people. "As far as their policyholders are con cerned, life Insurance companies have two chief objects In view: First, that every policyholder shall be physically sound when his policy la Issued, and second, that he shall Uve as long and pay as many an nual premiums as possible. These two conditions are also of great Importance to the pollcyhllders. themselves, because a low death rate means a smaller cost of In surance and also because everyone wants to live as long as possible. All life Insur ance companiea are careful, some more so than others, to see that their risks are carefully selected, and on the whole, I be lieve thut the medical examinations of life Insurance In this country are rigorously and honesteiy made, and that the great majority of accepted applicants are sound at the time their policies arc Issued. Till, of course. Is as it should be, hut so far as I know, no effort 'S made by any life Insurance company to keep In touch with the physical condition of its policyholders after their polUU'8 are Issued. Would Lengthen Life. IJfo Insurance companies will, of course, ' admit that anything which would add five or ten or more years to the average longevity of their policy holders, so that they would pay Just that many more annual premiums, would be an Immensely valuable stroke of I J I 1 Home Industry in the Insurance Field r - r In September of 1OT the first multiple line Insurance v company west of Chicago was Incorporated under the laws of the state of Nebraska, securing a broad char ter from the state covering all the so called minor lines of Insurance as distin guished from Ufe and fire, among whkh are accident, health, fidelity and surety bonds, plate glass, burglary, employers iu biUty, steam boiler, automatic sprinkler, et?. In addition to the many millions, which have been paid by the cltlsens of Nebraska to eastern life and fire insurance com panies. It Is estimated that the eastern fidelity and casualty companies alone have secured in premiums over 14,W0,M within thi last ten years. Tills immense drain on the financial re sources of our state lias had its effect In retarding our material development, and Hie business men of Nebraska ara real 'slng this fact and are giving their aup port to home companies. It la a significant fact (hat three-fifths of tha actual money In the United States U controlled la the state of Naw York, and this Is largely accounted lot through the Immense accumulation of assets by the Insurance companies located there, and for the employment of this money Nebraska Is paying Its share of Its Interest income. It Is the eastern insurance companies who furnish most of the funds necessary to move the crops of the agricultural states, and the rates of Interest charged are largely determined by the speculative conditions existing- In Wall street. The growth of our western Insurance companiea, with hardly an exception, have far eclipsed the early history of those com panies which have accumulated millions of asaets. and with proper conservative meth ods It la only a question of time when Nebraska will be able to finance Its own enterprises, and throogh the employment of assets of home companiea our financial Independence will be established. With the further development of home companies, Omaha Is destined to be an other Hartford of the west and take rank with Detroit, Ds Moines and other cities that have gained recognisance la the In surance world. It Is a recognised fact that money is always more abundant und avail able In insurance centers and many cities now point with pride to the home office buildings of their Insurance companies. In the accumulation of aasets. Insurance companies seek Investment and employ their money for development purposes and they are In position to come to the assist ance of banks In time of atrvss and are an additional safeguard and Intrenchment to the credit of any community. There Is no enterprise more far-reaching In Its benefits to a city than a well estab lished Insurance company. Its many agents scattered over the country are dally adver tlslng the place of Its home office and tons of the company's literature la sent out for distribution, bearing the name of the city where Its headquarters are located Commercial clubs and others organisations formed for the purpose of advancing the Interest of their city, could not do better than to give their support to the promo lion and advancement of home Insurance companies. EDWIN 8. SWOBE. business. I believe that this very thing Is possible, although, of course, I would not (fo so far as to state anything as to the average Increased longevity .that might be brought about. There Is probably not a physician who has not many times In his experience detected, while examining a pa tient for some other purpose, the early signs of some beginning organic disease, of which the patient had no suspicion. In such cases the early recognition of the first evidence of the disease has enabled the physician to so order the life of his patient as to prevent the further progress of the disease. If It Is a curable one, or to retard Its progress and to enable the pa tient to live much longer than he would have lived had the disease' not been de tected until later. "Many persons die of kidney disease, i f tuberculosis, of cancer, of diabetes, of heart disease, and of other disease every year, and many mlllons of dollars are paid by the lHe Insurance companiea which have issued policies on the lives of these per sons, who were sound when the policies were issued, and who might have lived much longer and paid many more annual premiums If the diseases which caused their deaths had been recognized and prop erly treated In their earliest stages. These are the very diseases which fUure most largely In your mortality Ubles. My con tention Is that it Is perfectly possible to reci'tfn'ie, In many cases, the early signs of these dlseasea before the Individual sus pects that any evidence of disease Is pres ent, and that life Insurance companies would save large amounts of money wnleh they now pay In death losses by Inaugurat ing a plan of systematic re-e lamination of all their policyholders at regular Intervals, say every five years. This, of course, could not bo made compulsory on all polieyiiold crs, but I believe that the great majority, if the reasons for the examination were explained to them, would be very glad to report to the medical examiner at a speci fied time and submit to the necessary ex amination. "The expense to the companies would be trivial, and in certain canes .where thn policyholder was Insured In to or more companies the expense might be easily di vided. The details of the plan which I sug gest would, of course, have to be carefully worked out by the companies, but I feel certain that by adopting some such plan ss I have In mind the statistics of life in surance companies would in a few years show a greatly reduced mortality wlt.i correspondingly Increased profits to th business and a lessening of the cost of life Insurance. The whole tendency of modern medicine Is toward the early rec ognition and the prevention of disease, and the life Insurance company which first makes a practical application of this prin ciple to Its business will not only bring about a revolution In the business of life Insurance, but will also confer an Immense and lasting benefit to the world. "Would It pot b good thing for the business of life Insurance If the public were to learn that the companies, besides offering a protection to the family after the death of the bread winner, were earn estly ami seriously engaKed In a concerted cffoTt to protect the bread winner during his life? I believe It would, and I be lieve that if the business of life Insurance and the profession of medicine were to Join hands on the platform of preventive medicine they would both earn the grati tude of humanity. The financial rewards to the life Insurance companies would also be great; the people would share largely In the financial benefits, since the cost of their Insurance would be lessened, and the medical profession, while not profiting financially Indeed, preventive medicine Is directly ngalnst the financial Interests of tho nieUlcil profession would take pride In Its share of the added benefits to mankind. When preventive medicine becomes actu ally preventive, a large number of dls ease.", no'.ahly the communicative diseases, will become practically extinct, Just as the bubo plagce and c olera are n w practically extinct la most highly civilized communi ties. Control of Disease Possible. "The possibilities of properly directed scientific effort In the control of disease In animals have been amply demonstrated by the I'nlled States government In the work that has been done during the last twenly Mvc years by the Department of Agricul ture In protecting hogs, cattle and domestic fowls from the many pests which formerly were so fatal to these animals, and the millions expended by the government In this work have been returned many times in the form of Increased profits to the farmers and stock raisers and have added Immensely to our national prosperity. The problems of the control of the diseases of mankind are not very different from the problems of the control of the diseases of beasts. Are not Its citizens at least as great an asset to a nation as Its hogs? The government undertook the matter of pro- tecting the lives of Its hogs and cattle be cause the people demanded It. When the people demand It, It will also undertake to protect the lives of Its cltlsens. It Is as simple a problem to drive typhoid fever out of the I'nlted States as It was to banish yellow fever from Havana and from Pan ama. The medical profession has for years been pleading for governmental aid In Its efforts to prevent preventable disease. Tl has pleaded to deaf ears. Let the Immense Influence of the life Insurance oompanlcs be brought to bear upon the government In this matter and those ears will be deaf no longer. Whether. gentlemen, the dlrectots of the companies represented In this asso ciation see any merit In any definite sug gestion I have made to you today or not la a small matter compared with the Im mense educational value to the people ul witnessing an active effort on the part of the great Institutions which you rjri'"en to prevent preventable disease and to add to human longevity." Work of the Woodmen Circle. The supreme forest of the Woodmen clr- cle was organised twelve years ago and ita marvelous growth haa astounded thoaa , who are' familiar with the history of fra ternal organisations. Mention of this substantial Increase Is due to the wise guidance of Mrs. Emma B. Manchester, . who has been for ten years the supreme guardian of the order and who has won both success for the order and re spect for her own ability as the head ol one of the largest fraternal organisations for women In the country. There are few women ' who have de veloped the keen business abilities that ars possessed by Mrs. Manchester. Her strong mentality, sound .financial advice and ster ling womanly qualities have made a plac second to none tor the supreme forest ol the Woodmen circle. She hss brought It to a place In the business Vorld where It Is recognised as an Insurance order that not only rests on a sound financial basis, but which offers the best possible protec tion to women, being regarded as one ol the safest Insurance organisations In ex istence. This order has its headquarters In Omaha and gives employment to many clerks and thus marks another step In the progress of tLe growth of Omaha, whose Importance ac a business center brings to It the head quarters of so large an order as tha Wood men circle. N. f. DODGE, Jr. W. X. DICKEY M. IP. DODGE & CO. GENERAL INSURANCE I OUU FIRE COMPANIES! Founded 44 14 44 Royal Exchange, Law Union and Crown Mercantile Fire and Marine Cachin and Munich Shawnee - We also represent THK KM R I RE STATE, Which write Security, Liability, Accident, Plate Glass and Sprinkler. 1720 1825 1823 1825 1883 CI1TI7ICATI Or TTBUOATZOV STATE OK NRBRA8KA. OFFICE OF AUDITOR OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. LINCOLN. Feb. 1st, ltt). IT 18 HEKEBV CERTIFIED. That the Royal KxcharUe Assurance Com pany of .London, England, has com piled with the Insurance Law of this State, applicable to such Companies, and 1 therefore authorized to con tinue the business of Fire Insurance In this Httte for tho current year end ing January 31st, 1H0. Witness my hand and the seal of the Auditor of Public Accounts, the day and year first above written. SILAS R. BARTON. (Seal) Auditor of Public Accounts. C. E. PIERCE. Deputy. TT