upon and decide all the vital questions that arise in the progress of the Company's business. The great majority of them are men in the prime of life, and their policies date among the earlier ones. It is a fact worthy of special note that every one of the official managers of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, including most of the members of its Board of Directors, have been connected with it in responsible positions from its infancy to the present time.

The onerous duties imposed upon the managers of a life insurance company of this magnitude, require in their proper discharge the greatest skill. and judgment. Among other things, determining what charge should

laid on the premiums what, reserve should be laid up for future liabilities and coningencies ; what constitutes entire safety ; what should be sacrificed to extend the business ; what should be strenuously resisted to save the society from danger or insolvency ; and what measures should be adopted to give families the greatest benefits, and the public the highest confidence in the institution. All these matters, and many others, are considered and acted upon by the officers of the Connecticut Mutual, and every other well managed life insurance company—demanding technical and mathematical skill, courage and prudence. That the officers of this Company have been equal to this responsible work is fully demonstrated by the wonderful success and triumphant career of the Company, and the proud position it now holds among life insurance companies of the age. It is a monument to integrity, industry, and skill, such as few men can point to as the result of their chosen labor.

SCRUTINY OF AFFAIRS.

We noticed still another commendable feature in its management ; and one which, so far as we can ascertain, characterizes no other company. Three auditors are elected annually, 'whose duty it is to closely and carefully ex-amine, from week to week, all of the accounts and the minutest and detailed transactions of the Company—scrutinizing everything done in all departments of the business. We were especially gratified to notice this feature of the Connecticut Mutual, because it is praiseworthy and peculiar to the company, and only regret that it is so much a novelty that all corporations and organizations in which the public are interested cannot claim it. The too general tendency of this age is to accumulate and hoard wealth in gratification of self; and when we find an institution like the Connecticut Mutual adopting in the management of its business every plan which human ingenuity and intellect can devise for protecting and caring for all those who seek its benefits and confide in i , we are glad of an opportunity to record the fact and bring the merits of the institution prominently before the public.

These officers are selected from the best and most competent business men of Hartford ; are paid for their services, and make annual reports of the results of their investigations and labors. This is, we repeat, an admirable feature, and is specially commendable as showing the entire openness and honesty of the management, and must strengthen and fortify the confidence of its FIFTY THOUSAND MEMBERS, and the public generally, in what all deem of vital importance in a life insurance company, viz : safety and protection,

The closest scrutiny is also exercised over every application for a policy, and from fifty to one hundred are rejected every month. Dr. L. S. Wilcox, the home examiner, is one of the leading physicians of the city, and distinguished in his connection with the Company, by his zealous care in the examination of every risk upon which the Company is asked to write a policy. All these things evidence a determination to protect those already insured with them, and not to jeopardize their security and interests by taking unwarrantable risks. The Connecticut Mutual is a

NATIONAL COMPANY.

New England cannot alone claim this Company. Its influence and benefits have extended _ o nearly every State in the Union, It has ex-