MORNING SESSION. The delegates to the convention met this day in Mercantile Hall, Tenth street above Chestnut, Philadelphia, at 9.30 o'clock. President Edward M. Needles occupied a seat on the platform. The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Harry F. West). The meeting will please come to order. The Secretary will be kind enough to read the list of agents and invited guests. (The roll of agents was called by the Secretary.) The SECRETARY (Mr. Henry C. Lippincott). That completes the list of agents. It has been suggested that we omit calling the names of the other guests. The CHAIRMAN. Before we proceed to the order of business, I want to say that Mr. Gould will hand each gentleman a card be- fore leaving the room, with the request that he will put his name and address upon the card, as it is necessary for us to know at the office where each gentleman is stopping at the present time. 2 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ADDRESS OF WELCOME. GENERAL AGENTS, FRIENDS AND COMRADES: Our good President and Board of Trustees have allotted to me the pleasant duty and the honor of saying a few words to you on this occasion, and to bid you welcome to your home—a home that some of you have never seen, and still it is yours. One of the most agreeable features of this welcome is the fact that we bring you together just as we have completed the first fifty years of our existence. We have passed the old age of our youth, and to-morrow we enter on the youth of our old age. It has been the practice of life insurance companies, upon attaining their fiftieth anniversary, to call together their agents, and as the old "Penn" does not desire to be behind its fellows, our Board of Trustees and the officers have desired to have you with us, and to make the anniversary a joyful occasion. In addition to this, the Board of Trustees are not unmindful of the fact that YOU have done great work in behalf of the company, and they desire to show their appreciation of that work, and they also desire to show that they appreciate the many acts of hospi- tality of the Penn Mutual Agency Association. They have been invited from time to time to attend the meetings and partake of their hospitality, and they feel in extending their invitation to the General Agents, and especially to the members of that association, that they would like to make their visit as pleasant as possible. We are not inclined to talk over business matters on this anniversary, but will defer that subject until the centennial in 1947. Some of you have kindly responded to invitations to read papers, which will be most interesting, no doubt; and members of the Home Office propose to do the same, so with this intellectual feast, and a feast or two of another sort, we hope to give you an agreeable sojourn. "In this delightful land which is washed by the Delaware's water, Guarding in sylvan shades, the name of Penn, the Apostle." So said Longfellow, in his poem, "Evangeline," and it appears to be apt on this occasion; and, now, on behalf of the Trustees and officers, I bid you a hearty welcome to the city which the great THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 3 Quaker founded, and to the Home Office of the company which we believe worthily bears his name. (Applause.) The CHAIRMAN. The first business in order is the reading of a paper by General Agent Mr. J. E. Durham, but inasmuch as Mr. Hamer, the Manager of the Loan Department, is going to take the 12 o'clock noon train for the West, I will ask Mr. Durham to allow Mr. Hamer to read his paper first, and with his permission Mr. Hamer will now proceed to read his paper, entitled "Life Insur- ance Viewed from the Financial Department." Mr. JOHN W. HAMER. A very intimate friend of mine in talking with me in fun to-day expressed his entire confidence that I would be able to make a very poor speech. But he did not think it would be so extremely poor that I would have to take the next train from the city for the West. (Laughter.) ADDRESS OF MR. JOHN W. HAMER, "LIFE INSURANCE, VIEWED FROM THE FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT." MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN: Without intending to ignore the several mathematical departments, a fair introduction may be found in brief mention of the three departments of a life company dealing most directly with the people, the Agency, Medical and Financial Departments. The Agency Department, the popular one, whose aim is never to offend or drive away a patron, is the most obtrusive in its attentions and invitations to the public. It is a department of solicitation and never of denial. Wuhout it the physicians would have no risks to examine, the financial men no money to invest, and we no anniversary to celebrate. The Medical Department, that bulwark of the corporation's safety, gives about ninety-two favorable decisions out of every one hundred cases brought before it, and consequently disseminates among the agents a joy which is only ninety-two per cent. fine. This department is one of selection, the aim being to cull out the eight per cent. or ten per cent. of undesirable risks which in the ordinary course of business are presented. The Financial Department is necessarily built On other and harsher lines. The portion of those in charge of this department is chiefly unpopu- larity, due to the small percentage of occasions in which it is the privilege of a financial manager to communicate a favorable conclusion. As an illustration of this feature, it may not be tiresome to those interested in the business to be told that, omitting printed-circular offerings, and counting only those which appeared to be special, there'were submitted to our 4 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION company in the first six days of March, 1897, mortgages and bonds of various kinds aggregating $3,976,000.00. Anxious as we then were to get good things, the sum total approved out of all these offerings was but $47,500.00—merely a trifle over I per cent. Is it any wonder there should be a popular belief that the vocabulary of the manager of this department is limited to the single word "No?" One of the embarrassing things connected with the financial branch of the business (and I find on inquiry it is the same in all companies) is the life agent's frequent disappointment in connection with loans which he may present. Perhaps a few words upon this subject may be the means of explaining past experiences and removing future difficulties. Competi- tion in selling securities and placing loans is as great as in other lines of trade. There are certain bankers and brokers who either have larger capital, greater industry, superior facilities, or, it may be, more firmly established connections than have their rivals. Whatever the reasons may be, these firms or individuals are the ones who obtain investments attrac- tive to an insurance company. Good things, as a rule, seek this channel and do not get into the hands of persons not confining their efforts to this line of work. There are exceptions, but generally speaking, the best loan business does not come to a corporation in any other way than either directly from the borrower or through the hands of such brokers as I have endeavored to describe. Every honest man who presents a financial proposition to an invest- ing company considers that he has something which it is the company's duty to buy if the price is satisfactory. The life agent who submits one is no exception to the rule, and for a similar reason firmly believes his com- pany ought to accept it. He does not realize that the very fact of his possession of the application is an indication that the money probably can- not be obtained through ordinary channels. If the life agent knew with what reluctance loan applications which come through him are declined, and would appreciate the tact that the financial officers are always anxious, so far as can properly be done, to make their branch of the business assist the field work, there would be a better understanding between these two important departments. The points to which I have directed attention, however, are not of vita] consequence. They concern only those features of management which appear to need a little lubrication, that all parts of the vast machine may move easily and accomplish results with the least possible amount of friction. Paid-up insurance, optional extensions and similar concessions were changes in the right direction, and while increasing the expense of life insurance by reducing its dividends, this was more than counterbalanced by the furnishing of an insurance which was of inestimably greater value. Following these evidences of progress, however, there has been brought THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 5 forward a feature which is thought by many to attack the safety of the entire system. I refer, of course, to the loan and surrender values, and speak more for the business in general than for our own company in particular, as a glance at the condition of our collateral or temporary loan account will show that the Trustees of the Penn Mutual, with customary foresight, are already preparing for the emergency by accumulation of an ample amount of what are called "quick" assets, or those immediately exchangeable for cash. Lite insurance calculations are based upon the assumption that the companies will collect at least the required interest upon their entire reserve. Having this end in view, and tearing no general demand for settlement of unmatured policies, investments have been chiefly limited to real estate mortgages and a class of bonds which, while thought to be secure, are valued more for their income-producing power than their convertibility. It may be broadly stated that if there is removed from the horizon all fear of a sudden and general demand by policyholders for settlement in cash of running policies, there will be no difficulty in earning the full interest called for by our requirements, but on the other hand, should there be a general acquiescence in the proviso that without notice the holder of a life policy may at any time obtain either a cash surrender or a loan of nearly the full value of his policy, life insurance managers may find them- selves confronted with a condition which will call for a radical change in their investments, greatly reduce interest returns, and still further attack the item of dividends to the insured; for if there shall be outstanding as an obligation, payable on demand, any large proportion of the company's reserves, the investments must be readjusted and the companies, instead of carrying idle bank balances and quick assets of limited amounts, will find it requisite to regard almost their entire reserve of millions upon millions of dollars as demand deposits, to be invested in convertible securi- ties bearing the lowest known rate of interest. This change in the general character of. life insurance liabilities to a bank deposit basis is viewed with dread by the wisest and most conservative heads of the profession, and ought to receive early and careful attention by all the companies as it has had in ours. My own wish is that the life agents of this country, who are really the people's educators upon this important subject, may so point public attention to the perils of this feature of the policy contract that at some time in the near future the first question of the uninsured shall be, "Does your company, through loan or surrender values, carry its reserve as a liability payable on demand?" and if the answer be in the affirmative, then I hope the intending insurer may decline to risk his savings by entrusting them to a corporation which thus rashly jeopardizes its own very existence. This form of public opinion would speedily correct the evil. Gentlemen, a rumor reflecting upon any of our life insurance corpora- 6 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION tions carrying its reserves merely on deposit in this manner would bring rum upon that corporation. As a large part of American wealth is held by life insurance companies, this question extends beyond the confines of the life insurance circle and threatens the entire country. What company at the present time could meet an instant call for any large part of its reserve? Why should the sacred trust of life insurance be thus imperilled to meet the policyholder's temporary exigencies? Picture to yourselves the results possible in. the event of a general run upon life insurance com- panies, and having done this, I trust you may, before we have an object lesson, so direct your argument and influence that we may secure an early union of all the companies upon some safe and general modification of this most dangerous condition. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, we have been listening- with a great deal of interest to Mr. Hamer's paper, and as he is about to go into the far West, and, in fact, the state of Kansas, it occurs to me he might see Mr. McNall, and if he does see him, it would be a good idea for him to have a talk with him on this same subject. The next paper to be read is on the subject, "Public Opinion and its Relation to Life Insurance," by General Agent J. E. Dur- ham. ADDRESS OF MR. J. EDWARD DURHAM, "PUBLIC OPINION AND ITS RELATION TO LIFE INSURANCE." MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN: On this occasion it is impossible not to be slightly reminiscent and to bring to mind, in part, the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of those of fifty years ago. The old, with feeble step, were finding the golden age in retrospection- the young, with bounding pulse, looking to the future for happiness; an unrighteous war where might was not right cast its shadows over'the land; the evils of slavery were beginning to trouble tender consciences- politicians were serving their country in the way which then, as now, seemed best to them; newspapers were then, as now, advertising on the seventh page what was condemned editorially on the fifth, and oracularly setting forth absolutely infallible but diametrically opposite conclusions upon all sorts of subjects, although, perhaps, with a less wide range than the present, which extends from the higher criticism to the latest prize fight. Prophetic souls might dimly discern a part of the distant harvest to mature from the seed of inventions germinating in fertile minds- but who was the seer of visions, the dreamer of dreams, "the being of a large dis- course, looking before and after," who caught the gleam of that sun which THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 7 was even then firing "the proud tops of the Eastern Pines" with the promise of relief from that ever-present burden of fear, that the wheel would be broken at the cistern and the pitcher broken at the fountain long ere success should place helpmate and offspring where gaunt poverty might not replace peace and plenty? The need was there, but what mountains of difficulty to be overcome; supineness, distrust of that which is new and untried; ignorance of both principles and practice, and—tell it not in Gath; publish it not in the streets of Askelon—religious bigotry added its opposition, the dying echo of which has been just heard, no long time ago. That which is right cannot be overcome. "Neither evil tongues, rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men shall e'er prevail against it." Out of the holiest feelings of the fireside and the home, arose that noblest tem- ple of altruism, life insurance, built on personal denial and self-renuncia- tion. With infinite pains do the builders lay the foundations; some, alas, to be quickly undermined by the eternal waves; others solid and enduring. Stone by stone the work is done, without sound of hammer or tool, till at length nave and transept, choir and chancel, pointed arch and vaulted roof complete, with heavenward spire, the sanctuary for those who hav- ing taken upon themselves the sacredest of earthly obligations, desire that those who are the loved and the helpless shall have therein a haven of refuge from the tempests of adversity. Nevertheless, absolute perfection must not be expected. Some details, valuable in themselves, must be sacri- ficed to harmony; others to permanency; grace and lightness must give way to strength and solidity. The high priests in this temple of life insurance must not forget to what vocation they are called, "that it is a joy to the just to do judgment." Those who more humbly minister to the people must take heed to their ways and "speak every man truth with his neighbor." And here, with perhaps somewhat abrupt transition, we touch that elusive and imponder- able. but all-powerful, influence which we call "public opinion." Created in part by the justice or injustice of those who manage life insurance com- panies, the truth or falsity of the statements of those who represent them, itself reacts upon and modifies the deeds and decisions of the companies; sometimes wisely, sometimes unwisely. Public opinion is made up of the combined opinions of all individuals. Since many people are ill-informed, very often the combined result is error. Vox populi is very often not Vox Dei; e.g., what step more injurious in the last analysis to workmen could have been devised than that provision of the New York Constitution recently adopted which prohibits the employ- ment of convicts? Result tor convicts, madness; for workmen, increased burden. (Applause.) The opinions of one generation are reviewed and revised by the next. The intelligent minority of one generation is persecuted. It becomes the 8 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION persecutor of the intelligent minority in the next. Subtle and innumerable causes are at work making the changes, but when public opinion has de- cided what it wants kings and senates bow their heads in submission. Public opinion demands liberal policies, freedom from restrictions, big values in case of lapse. The public gets all these, but by so much that is .given in this way, by that much is the residue diminished. Public opinion confounds bigness with greatness. Crooked paths must therefore be set straight. Charges collect. Exeunt omnes is the stage direction of our play, but the mortality tables say one must not his exit with a bare bodkin make. Public opinion says claims arising from suicide must be paid as punctually and unfailingly as upon those who have withstood the slings and arrows of outrageous for- tune. Again,—charges collect. Over the door of every form of human endeavor may be written, "the consumer pays the bills." If public opinion demands a thing, whether good or bad, true or false, meritorious or unworthy, that thing it gets, and the public pays the cost of it. The bad, the false, the unworthy perishes, the true remains; but this getting to the summit is a toilsome process. Public opinion, reluctant and indifferent, demands that diligent and incessant effort be made to induce it to accept unwillingly that which it should seek with eager footsteps. Orators must therefore be employed at great cost to inform the conscience of the court. The progress from assessmentism, even to the partially sane methods of current assessment associations of to-day, has been very slow. It is almost impossible to get hold of an exact, uncolored, naked tact. Such a fact, based on "all men are mortal,"' seemed to have been imbedded in the mortality tables. Assessmentism thought it had explained- away the mor- tality tables, but careless of the passage of time, the laws of mortality still prevail, and the assessment associations have, in increased rates, declining membership, and inability to pay, at last substantially convinced public opinion that the mortality rates are yet entitled to most respectful con- sideration. Public opinion, however, while not perhaps well advised as to the best plan, has determined that a demand, arising out of the frequent necessity of cheap temporary protection, shall be met by the old line companies. At the present time the attitude of the intelligent public to insurance is practi- cally that it is a necessity, that temporary and cheap forms may be found in the fraternal orders, in which the social feature is an inducement to many, in the assessment societies and in the old line companies. For cheap temporary protection any one of these may serve the need. For permanent insurance, recourse must be had to reserve-maintaining com- panies, notwithstanding a rather prevalent belief that expenses are some- what excessive. These various forms of insurance benefaction are busily at work crys- tallizing public sentiment, showing more and more the value of insurance THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 9 as a balance wheel in the economic machinery of society; taking away the financial sting of early death, smoothing the pillows of the dying, com- forting those bereft, providing a fund for educating to good citizenship the young; leveling inequalities, relieving distress, and with "one increasing purpose," bringing nearer that "divine event" to which the whole creation moves—that Utopia which is the dream of lovers of mankind. (Applause.) The successful and rapid growth of a business substantially depends on giving the public what it wants. So long as there is no moral element involved, this is the weather signal corporations must watch. That com- pany which trims its sails to catch the first breath of the coming breeze will be most successful. It is easier to go with than against wind and tide. Concession to public sentiment must be made while desired, not after the public has passed on to some new position. Those companies which first saw that public opinion demanded, or would approve, prompt and certain payments, reaped a golden harvest. The giving of annual cash surrender values, which has at last been pretty generally adopted, was long post- poned, concerning which the aforetime position apparently adopted by the companies was that they were not only custodians of the insured's premium deposits, but also guardians for the insured and his family. What attitude is to be taken by the companies towards public opinion? First. They should endeavor to carefully study its trend and in what particulars they may mend their ways, so as to conform to whatever is good and desirable. Secondly. They should do their duty day by day as they find it, at the same time planning wisely for the future. Their lasting duty is to meet the public fairly and frankly, with sin- cerity, honesty and truthfulness. Let their literature, at whatever cost, be truthful; let representations conform to contract; their representatives adopt for their own the Baconian motto: "I hold every man a debtor to his profession from the which, as men, of course, do seek to receive coun- tenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor themselves, by way of amends, to be a help and ornament thereunto." Let it be known that in the one matter of expense there is something to be desired, but let it be shown that the reduction to the ideal minimum percentage of expense can never be made until wise public sentiment makes it possible—by voluntary insurance, fair jury verdicts, and a proper under- standing of the fact that legislative exactions are found in the expense, and not in the dividend column, and are taxes on thrift and industry. Time, with its modifying influence, is necessary to a proper compre- hension of these matters. The press, creator and reflector of public senti-^ ment, should, with persuasive intelligence, inform and instruct its mighty constituency that, concerning this subject, which now so closely and inti- mately entwines itself in the social fabric, there may be, in an elementary way at least, some exact and well ordered knowledge, and, as a last sug- 10 . SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION gestion, whenever possible, provisions should be made that instruction be imparted as to insurance in its various branches, it being certainly, in its intimate relations to the affairs ot life, of very great importance and most worthy of serious and systematic study. May it not be appropriate, in a parting word, to change from the general to the particular and say that one word as to our own Penn Mutual? Old we are in years, yet but come to man's estate; vigorous, yet only approximating maturity. What we now are but an earnest of that high destiny we are yet to fulfill. We close yearly our records, and with fresh impulse strive not only to live up to our honorable past, but to move upward our standard of perfection. We remove not the old landmarks, nor destroy the tradition of the elders, yet we trust to go on to higher endeavor. Hidden it is from us to foretell what of good or ill the future has in store, but this we can do: "Hitch our wagon to a star," and "tho' 'tis not in mortals to command success, we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it." Carlyle says: "My friend, all speech and rumor (perchance what we call public opinion) is short-lived, foolish, untrue. Genuine work alone, what thou workest faithfully, that is eternal as the Almighty Founder and World Builder Himself. Stand thou by that and let Fame and the rest of it go prating." (Applause.) The CHAIRMAN. According to this interesting little program, gentlemen, the next thing for us to do will be to adjourn until 2 o'clock; but it occurs to me that, these two papers having been read, and the hour being yet early, you will have ample time, if you would like, to discuss these papers. I am sure that all the members who are present would be very glad to listen to any dis- cussion. Failing in that, we will adjourn. (After a pause.) Evi- dently the gentlemen are all too tired to discuss the subject to-day, so we will leave the discussion for another time, and a motion to adjourn will be in order. A DELEGATE. Mr. Chairman, I move we adjourn. (The motion was duly seconded.) The CHAIRMAN. It has been moved and seconded that we adjourn. All in favor of that motion will please say "aye;" con- trary, "no." The "noes" appear to have it. The "noes" have it. Mr. Joseph H. Harrison has the floor. Mr. Jos. H. HARRISON. Mr. Chairman, I was getting up to go out. I am waiting to hear from some of the Southern orators. THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. II 1 have not heard from Mr. Schley for three or four years and from Mr. Martindale for about the same time. We have been taking part in these discussions for a good many years, and we hope to continue to do so, but we would like to hear from some of the new agents. (Cries of "Schley!" "Schley!") Mr. JULIAN SCHLEY. Mr. Chairman, I do not think my time has come yet. I have come a long distance and am in the fix you have just described—I am tired, and as my time will come later, I beg to be excused for the present. (Cries of "Biggert!" Biggert!") Mr. JAMES C. BIGGERT. Mr. Chairman, I am in the same condition as the other gentleman. The CHAIRMAN. President Needles very properly suggests that as you have all been so hard at work to bring- in the good business that we have had in the last day or two that you really deserved to be excused, and I think we will adjourn the meeting until 2 o'clock this afternoon. All in favor of adjournment will please say "aye;" contrary opinion, "no." It is so ordered. The SECRETARY. Gentlemen, before your departure, as there seems to be a misunderstanding with reference to the cards to be circulated now, I will state that we desire your hotel address written on the cards which will be distributed here, not the home address of each gentleman, but his location in the city of Philadelphia, so that he may be reached. Mr. Charles W. Gould will distribute these cards. Whereupon the Chairman adjourned the meeting until 2 o'clock P.M. AFTERNOON SESSION. The CHAIRMAN. The time appointed for our meeting this afternoon having arrived, we may expect to hear from one of our trustees, a gentleman who has taken the deepest interest in the welfare of the company for a great many years. He has promised to deliver an address. I take great pleasure in introducing to you Mr. William H. Rhawn. (Applause.) 12 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ADDRESS OF MR. WILLIAM H. RHAWN. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Perm Mutual Life Insurance Company,. Agents, Officers and Fellow-Trustees: I am glad to have this opportunity of saying a few words upon this memorable occasion in the life of the Penn Mutual, as it enables me to greet and congratulate you and to rejoice with you upon the event we are gathered to celebrate—the fiftieth anniversary of the commencement of the business life of the company, which was begun upon this same day of the week, as well as the month, fifty years ago—and most heartily do I felici- tate you upon it. Had I been left to choose, I would add nothing more, and as it is, it is not my purpose to inflict upon you any lengthy remarks. The Committee on Celebration having assigned to me the duty of making an address, without naming a subject, I shall, for your sake as well as my own, en- deavor to observe the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit. The inevitable tendency upon such an occasion is toward retrospection. There is a disposition to review the past that comes with age, and upon arriving at the age of fifty years there is a natural desire to pause and look back over the road we have come. In this case, however, we find that our work of retrospection has been most happily anticipated, or at least made easy for us, in the admirable Condensed Record of the company, compiled by the able and scholarly secretary of the committee, which, as its title-page indicates, is at once chronological, reminiscent and statistical, and surely deserves a wide circulation. So fascinating was this beautiful and 'well- prepared volume to me that I was unable to lay it aside until I had ab- sorbed its entire fifty-six pages, and I commend a like perusal to each one that has not read it and who may be desirous of quickly reviewing the salient points in the history of the company from its commencement on May 25, 1847, in an office barely fifteen feet square, with a single clerical employe in the person of its founder and first secretary, John W. Hornor, during which year it issued 142 policies, down to the close of 1896. its fiftieth business year, which finds the company in the seventh year of its occupancy of its present great marble building, with eighty-five official and clerical employes in its home office and hundreds of agents throughout the thirty-nine States in which it now does business, whose efficiency is well attested by the 71.881 policies it issued in the past ten years, of which 8013 were issued in 1896. The history of the Penn Mutual is practically contemporaneous with that of life insurance, as almost the entire growth of the business, in this country at least, has occurred din-ing the last fifty years, and the greater part of that growth has been within the last twenty-five years, in which it has been my privilege to observe it as a trustee of the company. Indeed, the chief growth of the company has been during the eleven years of the THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 1-2 .-administration of President Needles, who, unhappily for us, but happily for himself, is all too soon, but entirely upon his own initiative, to enter upon that well-earned retirement from the more active management of the company which he has chosen, as during those years were issued 76,092 of the whole number of 117,880 policies issued by the company to the close of 1896. The new business increased from $8,430,635 for 1885, to $24,514,312 for 1896, premiums from $1,826,701 to $5,552,301, total income from $2,370,- 213 to $6,959,739, outstanding insurance from $47,989,223 to $134,594,870, assets from $10.338,654 to $29,405,529, death claims paid from $691,450 to $l,7ll,3l9, and the surplus from $1,370,751 to $3,594,127. It is amazing to contemplate that from so small a beginning there could have been gathered even in fifty years, from a business previously almost entirely unknown, receipts aggregating $86,545,545.63, out of which were paid $22,808,250.68 death claims and endowments and $13,063,193.16 surplus premiums returned, and leaving, after all other payments/a balance of assets, January I, 1897, of $29,405,529.08. It may be interesting to briefly inquire into a business so new to the world, that has assumed such vast proportions within the lifetime of many present, that we may endeavor to ascertain the cause of its rapid growth and speculate somewhat upon its future development. Chief among the mighty forces that have combined in the marvelous advance of the world in civilization and material progress during the last halt of the nineteeth century will be found steam, electricity and associa- tion. The first two represent physical forces that have been harnessed through the inventive genius of man and used in doing the vast work, while the last represents the power through which alone it has been possi- ble to utilize those forces in the attainment of the stupendous results achieved. The physical forces would have remained almost entirely dor- mant and undeveloped without financial aid far beyond any that could be furnished by uncombined individual capital, which aid it has been possible to obtain and effectively combine only through the power of association Through association the capital of the world is concentrated and applied to all the various purposes of man. J. Stuart Mills says: "Almost all the advantages which man possesses above the inferior animals arise from his power of acting in combination with his fellows, and of accomplishing by the united efforts of numbers what could not be accomplished by the detached efforts of individuals." (Applause.) Association tor financial purposes finds its highest development in institutions such as banks, trust and life insurance companies, in and through which the capital of individuals is concentrated and applied to an extent hitherto unknown and far beyond computation. The growth of these financial associations has been enormous during the past fifty years and, as before mentioned, the development of life insurance, in this country at least, has almost all taken place within that time, and largely within the 14 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION last twenty-five years. The tabulated results of fifty-five American life insurance companies from their commencement to January I, 1897, show that but one of them had then been in business fifty-four years, and that all have averaged but twenty-eight years; yet the total number of policies issued by them from their organization was 34,886,682, insuring $18,725,- 384,322, for which they had received in premiums and interest $4,013,126,352, of which they had paid to policyholders in death claims, endowments, divi- dends, and surrender values, $2,043,858,429, leaving in force 9,256,540 policies, insuring $5,928,577,706, for which they held assets amounting to $1,246,378,340. This enormous concentration of capital in this country alone has been an immense factor in our marvelous advance in civilization and progress, in which the world has shared. What is the basis of this business that has sprung up in the world and assumed such gigantic proportions almost within our day and generation? In other words, what is life insurance that has been so quickly and enor- mously developed through the modern power of association? Insurance is defined as indemnification against loss or damage. Life insurance is indemnification against loss or damage by the death of a per- son whose life is insured, or the loss or damage arising from the passing of the productive years of the life of the insured. The amount of loss or damage indemnified against is agreed upon between the insurer and the insured and stipulated in the contract between the parties, which contract, when reduced to writing, is known as a policy. The insurable value of a human life, as measured in money, has, perhaps, not yet been determined, and the full amount of insurance that may be placed upon a single insurable life has probably in no case been reached. The insured is generally the support of a family, and the usual motive for insurance is to provide for a continuance of the support of that family upon the death of the insured or upon his arrival at an age when his ability to support himself and family may be expected to become impaired. Lite insurance is the laying up in store against the unknown contingencies of the future. It is the saving and capitalization of the earnings of the in- sured while in health against the day of his death or loss of earning power through advancing years. The support of a family commonly devolves upon the husband and father, though it often falls upon the son or brother. So long as he who thus supports his family lives in the fullness of that health and strength which enables him to earn the means tor the purpose, he may not feel it incumbent upon him to save anything, but if he realizes his full responsibility to those dependent upon him for support he will consider the uncertainty of life and the tact that he may die at any moment, and it he is a provident man he. will seek to do. what he can to provide against such contingency. To the great majority of persons there is no other way for them to measurably provide against such contingency than by life -insurance. If THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 15 the provider were sure of living a certain number of years, it might be sufficient for him to lay by a certain sum every year, in order to accumu- late an amount that would, .at the termination of his life, leave his family in comfort; but he must have the skill and judgment necessary to enable him to at all times safely and profitably invest his savings for a long period of years, and it may well be questioned whether the majority of men have such skill and judgment. The proper investment of money, always most difficult, is becoming still more and more so through the multiplicity of investments, many of which are unsafe, if not entirely worthless. But as no man can be sure of living for any given length of time, he will, if a wise man, consider in what way he may best apply his savings so as not only to surely accumulate an amount that will leave his family in comfort at the end of a long life, but will assure that amount to his family at any moment death should suddenly and unexpectedly overtake him. In most cases the only way that he can certainly accomplish this by an adequate insurance upon his life. The amount of money that he might save in a lifetime would then at all times be where it would be paid to his family whenever he might be suddenly called from life. He would not be troubled in the meanwhile as to the proper investment of his savings, as that would be better at- tended to by the company insuring him, which, through its well-informed and experienced officers and trustees or directors, trained in the business would continuously secure such safe and proper investments that would be impossible tor him, with his limited knowledge, experience, and oppor- tunities, always to obtain. (Applause.) It will be seen, from this definition of life insurance, that .it is the re- finement of benevolence; it is among those best of all charities that teach and encourage self-help, and it is a question whether a purely mutual life insurance company should be taxed by the State. It is a business of pure beneficence, based upon what Henry Drummond calls "the greatest thing in the world"—Love! The love of a husband and father for wife and children, of a son for parents, of a brother for those nearest and dearest to him; and it would seem to be a business capable of unlimited extension and duration. But, notwithstanding this powerful motive that lies at the foundation of the business, the average man is prone to put off until to- morrow. Indeed, whilst young and strong, rejoicing in the fullness of life and health, he takes no thought for the morrow. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. He therefore needs to have the importance and ad- vantages of life insurance brought to his notice and explained and pressed upon him again and again. This has rendered necessary the services of that unique specimen of the genus homo, the life insurance agent, a being unknown to our fathers, the peculiar growth of the business of life insur- ance itself, and without whom it would seem impossible for it to thrive. It may be that at some time in the dim and distant future men may generally come to realize not only the great importance of insuring their lives for the protection of those they love, but also the danger of procrastination, that l6 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION they will need no prompting to induce them to take out all the insurance they may be able to carry. But that happy time is yet a long way off. Hence the necessity for a class of men of integrity and a high order of intelligence, ability, persistence and tact, whose business it is to seek out available men, impress them with the value and duty of insuring their lives, and persuade them to a prompt and liberal performance. The Penn Mutual is fortunate in having a corps of agents of this character, who have added to their efficiency in the service of the com- pany through their organization of themselves into the Penn Mutual Agency Association. This association, with its three representatives in the Board of Trustees of the company, and presided over by its senior general agent, the esteemed Dr. R. Allison Miller, is an organization somewhat unique in the history of life insurance. In the thirteen years of its exist- ence, it has loyally subordinated itself to and worked in entire harmony with the company in all things tending to advance its best interests and those of its policyholders. The result of such co-operative action may be seen in the large increase of business that has followed the organization of the association, as since then the business of the company has increased threefold, and under the well-assured continuance of the same loyal and harmonious conditions still further and more rapid increase may confi- dently be expected from year to year. On this golden anniversary of the company its members, agents, officers and trustees have been happily brought together as never before upon the common ground of mutual interest and regard, and the occasion is fraught with good and becomes a bright augury tor the future. What that future may be, who can predict? If those five venerable patriarchs who have been with the company from the beginning, and are able to look back over the road it has come tor the past fifty years, could be endowed with prophetic vision to look forward over the road it will travel for the next fifty years, they would doubtless foretell what those present members who may in like manner follow the fortunes of the Penn Mutual tor the next half century will see on the way, and the wonderful story of its pro- gress they will have to recount at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the company. 0 prophet! look and see What things are yet to be! And do thou us foretell That all will still be well! (Applause.) Master George William Rhawn, a grandson of Mr. William H. Rhawn, after rising, was introduced by Mr. Rhawn in the fol- lowing words: Mr. RHAWN. There is a young man here who, I believe, en- THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 17 joys the reputation of being the youngest insured member of the company. He does not hold the young-est policy, but he is the youngest in years. He told me this morning at breakfast that he expected to attend the Centennial anniversary of the company in 1947 (Applause), and bring a knife with him that Messrs. Plymp- ton and Bunting very kindly sent to his grandfather. Gentlemen, I present to you the youngest insured member of the company, now in his sixteenth year. Master Rhawn was received with applause and bowed in acknowledgment. Mr. G. A. WATKINS. Mr. Chairman, if a motion is in order, I move you that this assemblage tender Mr. Rhawn a most hearty vote of thanks for his very instructive and interesting paper. A good many who are here perhaps meet Mr. Rhawn to-day for the first time. I have know^n him for a long time. Now, do not be frightened; I am not going to pronounce a eulogy on him, be- cause he is a long way from being dead. But I wish to say to you that, to not know Mr. Rhawn is to not know one of the corner- stones of life insurance, as he is one of the oldest and best-known life insurance men in the city. I therefore move that a vote of thanks be tendered him. Mr. W. W. MACOMBER. Mr. Chairman, I second the motion. The CHAIRMAN. All in favor of that motion please say "aye;" contrary opinion, "no." It is unanimously carried. We have now on the program "Discussion of Papers." It is not necessary for me to say how that shall be done. There are a great many gentlemen here, and nearly all of them have heard the papers that have been read, and all they have to do now is to adopt the life insurance plan—talk. (After a pause.) It seems to me we are all very modest this afternoon. Is no one ready to get up? I am afraid I shall have to name some one. I do not care to do that. Mr. F. A. KENDALL. Mr. Chairman, in explanation of the silence of the members I would say that perhaps it is because of this convention being held in the Quaker City and they are waiting for the spirit to move them. The CHAIRMAN. That is the most satisfactory explanation I have yet had. But the explanation comes from one of the great l8 SEMI-CEXTEXNIAL CELEBRATION lakes. Now I am going- to get another gentleman from one of the great lakes to stand up and talk to us. I think I will call on Mr. Macomber. Mr. W. W. MACOMBER. Mr. Chairman, it does not take a good deal of influence to make the spirit move within me to-day. I think the spirit of the Quaker City has fallen upon my spirit. Without any further preliminaries, I will say that certainly this is a most inspiring assemblage for any one who can talk at all, and should lead any one who can talk at all, to open his mouth. I will occupy only a moment or two. While the two papers of this morning were being read, there were two thoughts, and diverse and contrary thoughts, that were evoked by the argument of the respective papers in regard to the effect of the present scheme so largely adopted by the life insur- ance companies to make their policies popular, or for whatever rea- son it mav be, by putting in the actual cash surrender value or know^n value equal to almost the entire reserve, after the third pay- ment. The officer of the company who discussed this topic, to a certain extent seemed to give the force of his very clearly worded essay, or of a portion of it, against this practice; while the paper read by the gentleman who represents the general agency of the company seemed to give all its influence in the other direction. Now, I do not profess to be an actuary at all, nor very much of a student of life insurance or of its statistics, but I have discussed, with various agents who have had a great deal of experience and who have studied the subject, the question whether the practice that is spoken of, of giving an actual cash surrender or known value after the third year, will deplete the coffers of the company or necessitate the keeping of a large amount of quick funds—ready funds—on hand and so lessen, in the strongest degree, the advan- tages of long loans. They declare—I believe I can quote the agents of those who have studied into the subject against the idea that because the members of the association, or of the society, or of the company, can get at their funds in this way, in having the actual cash surrender guarantee, that therefore they are going to take advantage of that privilege. In the same line the statistics of the cash surrender companies do not show that such companies THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 19 have more lapses on their books than those that do not grant them. It is on the same principle as that illustrated by the old story, with which you are perfectly familiar, of the tremendous rush upon a savings bank at a time when there was a panic and when a great crowd was gathered before its doors, and when there was a certain old Irish woman came up with her book, and panting pushed hei- book over the counter. And as her money was being counted out, said she: "Can I get it?" The reply was: "You can get it." "Well, then I do not want it; take it back." The idea is that, be- cause they can get it they will not want it. Now, I merely state this thought to-day in order to start this discussion—if it is thought best. It is a tremendous subject—the subject of what is the best policy. But we as a company have cer- tainly adopted that policy. We have put these figures right into our policies. We know that it helps to sell those policies, and the question seems to be too late for us to discuss as to whether or not it would act with an untoward influence upon the interest earning power of the company. The CHAIRMAN. We have heard with a great deal of interest what Mr. Macomber has said in answer to Mr. Hamer's paper which was read to us this morning. But I think he takes a little stronger view of it than he ought to do, and, if there is no objection, I am going to call on our Secretary to answer for Mr. Hamer, because Mr. Hamer, as you know, went West this morning and is not here to answer for himself. I would like Mr. Lippincott, if he has no objection, to take the floor and answer for Mr. Hamer. Mr. LIPPINCOTT. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I am afraid that there has been a very wide misconception of the purpose, the scope and effect of Mr. Hamer's paper. Very often a paper read upon the platform seems to be, to those who listen most attentively, a very different paper from what it is when it is read in type. I liave had the opportunity of reading Mr. Hamer's paper in type, and I doubt very much if it is open to the construction that has been placed upon it by our friend Mr. Macomber and others. It is not, to my mind, an indication that our company or any company should take the back track on the subject of cash surrender values or loan values upon policies. If you will read his paper carefully 20 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION you will observe that there are saving- clauses throughout it. When he speaks of a company holding upon demand all the re- serve of a policy, he evidently speaks of a company that does not exist, because there is no company that I know of that has ever agreed at any time to pay as the cash surrender value the full re- serve upon the policy existing at that date; certainly not until the lapse of a number of years, possibly ten or fifteen, or more. And again, in speaking a word of caution to the management of this company, it is a question in my own mind whether or not that caution is not a timely one. And there is not in any sentence, that I can discover, any suggestion that the trustees or managers of this company have gone too far or must now recede from their position. On the contrary, he has plainly said that the time has come when other companies must take into consideration the question of whether they have not reached the limit of surrender value, as has already been done in ours. I want to emphasize that remark by reading the last line or two of his remarks on that subject: "This change in the general character of life insurance liabilities to a bank deposit is viewed with dread by the wisest and most conser- vative members of the profession and ought to receive early and careful attention by all the companies as it has had in ours." Now if anybody can find in that a suggestion that there has been action without caution; without due regard to the rights of all members and providing adequate protection for the future responsibilities of the company, it is certainly beyond any suspicion I have attached to it. I think, gentlemen, when you have read that paper you will all agree with me that the time has come when an exceedingly great degree of caution must be exercised. When companies as- sume to pay any considerable percentage of the reserve on policies as their cash value or loan value, as Mr. Hamer clearly indicated this morning, they must necessarily keep in quick assets a large proportion of their holdings, and that proportion so kept must be low interest earning assets. The paper, to my mind, was largely in line, if not wholly in line, with that read by Mr. Durham, because it accentuated the idea that, whatever value the policyholder re- ceives, the policyholder, in the long run, pays for, whether the benefit is by cash surrender or otherwise. THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 21 Mr. KENDALL. Mr. Chairman, I have heard it said that many years ago people insured their lives for dividends; that dividends was the cry of the solicitor. Later, the investment element sup- planted the dividend idea, and the Tontine was presented to the public with promises of large returns. And for a period of fifteen years the changes were rung upon the great investment that might be expected through life insurance, and the elastic solicitors gauged their customers and enlarged the profits as they saw it was necessary to bring them into camp. I remember a circular that was issued by President Needles about twelve years ago to the agents on making estimates; that they lay largely in the imagina- tion of the solicitor making them. I think the result of these ten per cent. and fifteen per cent. promised invesments has served to make a great change in the minds of the insuring public and that with the duration of years and the solidity and stability of the companies going through different crises where they were not injured in the least, has served to develop more confidence in the principle itself, and to-day people are discouraging the idea of great investments, the idea of great dividends; but are insuring their lives on the principle of love for their own and as a protection to their own; and I believe that to-day the change that has been wrought in the character of the policies put forth by the different companies, mainly embodying the idea as one of protection, is the popular one and is to be the popular one; and it is helpful and sig- nificant that the policy taken out by the applicant of to-day is taken out through love and affection for those to wdiom he is bound to love. The CHAIRMAN. It is hardly fair to put upon the Chair the naming of the next speaker, but unless some one rises pretty soon, I shall have to do so. As vou appear to prefer my method to your own, I would ask Mr. Darwin Barnard to take the floor. Mr. DARWIN BARNARD. Mr. Chairman, I certainly prefer the other method. I could hardly hope to add anything to what has already been said by those who have preceded me, and cer- tainly I could not add anything to the able and valuable papers which have been read to us, and which I have seen to be so deeply interesting. 22 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Mr. Hamer's paper was upon a very important subject. It is a subject with which the agent has directly nothing to do in his work, but it is a subject of vital consequence to everybody. I did not understand him to take the ground against cash values. As Mr. Lippincott has said, it is very difficult indeed to catch just what a man does mean. It would be very difficult to carry away the figures which Mr.- Rhawn has given us this afternoon. We know they are accurate,'but we cannot get exactly the full benefit of them until we have the pleasure of reading them. I think that the experience of those companies which have for so long- a time practiced putting cash values upon the back of their policies and paying them if they are called for, proves that there are no terrors in so doing. And yet it is perfectly proper for a man occupying the responsible position which Mr. Hamer occupies, to turn the question over and look at the other side, and to ask himself, and to ask us the question whether or not it is not possible to go too far. So far as I believe, it is safe to put on these cash values, and if it does diminish the dividends a little I think the satisfaction which it gives a man and the evidence which it gives him to be able to borrow or sell upon occasion, is worth all it costs. I remember, in a village where I once lived, they organized a new engine com- pany and celebrated the event with a little dinner, and one of the toasts which was given was: "May this engine company be like old Nick—always ready, never wanted." The experience of those companies offering to pay or paying cash values shows they have always been ready when the cash was wanted, and there has not been a great deal more money paid out by the companies who do agree to do it than by the companies who do not so agree. Mr. Durham's paper, like everything which that gentleman has to say, is simply charming. It is full of beautiful expressions which correctly express his ideas on the subject. Favorable pub- lic opinion is of more importance to a life insurance company than to any other institution. Most contracts have a specified time for completion: six months, nine months or a year, and are nearly always completed in the lifetime of the negotiator. But life insur- ance contracts cover the whole of a man's life, and go beyond it, and do not reach their completion until the head that plans and the hand that has executed it has perished in the grave.
TESTIMONIAL TO PRESIDENT NEEDLES. THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 23 No man is ever strong enough to overcome unfavorable pub- lic opinion. It is as necessary that a life insurance company should enjoy the absolute confidence and trust and be favored with the good opinion of the public as it is that the preacher stand- ing in the pulpit should have the confidence of those to whom he preaches in order that his preaching shall be effective. I remem- ber many years ago of a clergyman in one of the large cities on the eastern sea-coast, who was charged with having done some- thing wrong. There was no legal proof of it, but there was so much suspicion and so much talk that he called a meeting to defend himself, in one of the largest halls. In the course of his remarks he asked the question: "Who says that I have done any- thing irregular, improper or wrong?" Some one from the gallery answered, "Public Opinion says it." The congregation murmured an amen, and that man had to leave the pulpit. And he went into the real estate business, but public opinion followed him, and he had no better success in the real estate business than when he stood in the pulpit before his congregation. I do not suppose, Mr. Chairman, that in the discussion of the papers we are expected to comment upon your delightful address of welcome this morning, but I could not help thinking that as vou looked upon your large family of workmen whom you have summoned to come here, that you and your associates in office must have concluded that they are all growing wiser and better as life wears away, because, I assume, they never obeyed any sum- mons which you have given them, so promptly, cheerfully and unanimously as they did when you called them here. When a distinguished United States Senator was asked how he managed to be such a successful leader of men, he said: "I first find out wrhich way they want to go, and then I lead them that way." It must be that you, Mr. Chairman, and your associates of the com- mittee and in the company, have adopted the same system. Some- how you managed to discover where we all wanted to come to-day, and then you ordered us in this direction. I know that the occasion will be pleasant to us throughout and I hope it will be equally pleasant to you. I believe it will be both advantageous and profitable to us, and when we take our final departure at the 24 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION end of the week, we shall carry pleasant recollections with us, and I hope we shall also leave them behind. With reference to Mr. Rhawn's paper; when he was reading- it, as I said, I could not quite follow him and tell whether it was seventeen hundred thousand million or what it was he was saying. I was reminded of what I heard a distinguished lecturer once say, and .that was that an idea or a thoug-ht was increased in value in proportion as there was a man behind it. Carrying out what General Watkins has already said, our confidence in and our respect for our trustee, Mr. Rhawn, gave everything he said an increased value by our knowing that there was a man behind it. In his remarks upon association and union of force and effort, I called to mind what I once heard or read in regard to a single brick; it was said that it had no value whatever except to throw at a midnight cat, taken alone, but taken in connection with other bricks, it helped to make the costly, the elegant and the useful structure. It illustrates one of the valuable thoughts which our friend Mr. Rhawn presented. Mr. WATKINS. Mr. Chairman, I am quite interested in Mr. Barnard's minister. He left him in the real estate business. I would like to ask if he is now in the life insurance business. Mr. BARNARD. I am happy to say he is not. The CHAIRMAN. We have heard some delightful words of wisdom from our friend Mr. Barnard, and it seems to me as he is from the Atlantic, we might go West to the Pacific and call for Mr. Hart, our agent at San Francisco. Mr. E. H. HART. Mr. Chairman, I do not know that it would be possible to add anything of interest to what has been already spoken. I will simply state that the impression which I gathered this morning from the paper read by the manager of the Loan Department was to the effect that, in his judgment, our own com- pany in its method of endorsing cash surrender values had perhaps exceeded the limit of prudence. But, through the force of the astute construction of our manager of agencies, I see we are all entirely mistaken in the suspicion we received from that address or paper, and the fact is Mr. Hamer is thoroughly in sympathy, no doubt, with the practice in vogue by our company at the pres- THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 35 ent time, and consequently it would be entirely useless to present any reasons or arguments upon the other side of the question looking to the possibility or probability of pointing out the wisdom of the practice that has been adopted by the Penn Mutual. But in the line of that thought, it has been my experience, as no doubt it has been the experience of all the agents present with us to-day, where we have policies possessing cash surrender values or five-year option contracts, many of them have run for five years or ten years—none of them that long in my agency—but it has been my experience that the percentage of surrenders upon those policies has been as small—maybe smaller—than upon the ordi- nary policy; and it is my firm conviction that in all the contracts which we are writing to-day guaranteeing yearly cash surrender values, that the percentage of forfeitures in future will be even smaller than upon the old form of contract. As far as I am con- cerned, my own judgment, from observance and study of the practice by other companies, is that the system which has been adopted by the Penn Mutual is a wise and judicious one, not only for the procurement of business, but also for the general upbuild- ing and strengthening of the company, and I am thoroughly in sympathy with it. And if Mr. Hamer were here, he would prob- ably explain to us clearly what he did mean, although I think that, possibly, from the expressions I have heard from a number of gentlemen, it was probably the most judicious thing he could do when he took the train at the time he did? (Laughter.) I can state, gentlemen, that this invitation to come to Phila- delphia and meet you, our brethren from all over the country, was received with very great pleasure by me. I suppose my pleasure should be greater than that of most of you, because it is more expensive to the company. (Laughter.) And I am sure that the week which we propose to put in here in Philadelphia will be one not only of great pleasure to us all, but one of permanent profit and advantage; one that will result in a vast augmentation of the company's business, and I believe I voice the sentiment of every one here when I state as my conviction that when we go back to our respective fields, we will not only be filled ourselves with added enthusiasm, but we will be able to so inspire the workers 26 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION about us that we can increase the volume of business beyond any- thing in the history of this company. The CHAIRMAN. I am almost ready to agree with Mr. Bar- nard—my method is the best. I little thought when I called on Mr. Hart to make these few remarks that I would have held in my hand, while he was talking, one of the most delightful telegrams that has come to the company from the far Pacific Coast. It is dated "SAN FRANCISCO, California, May 25, 1897. "Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Your proud achievements render this day notable to all. We extend our hearty congratulations. "PACIFIC MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY." Now I think, gentlemen, that inasmuch as our agent from San Francisco was talking when this arrived, it would be entirely proper and correct for us to send our congratulations or rather our thanks to the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company by Mr. Hart on his return—and we will not hurry him. (Applause.) I observe that the next business in order is "Recommenda- tions or Suggestions by Agents and their Reference to a Commit- tee." Now, I have been pretty familiar with all that has been going on in regard to this celebration, but I must confess I am a little at a loss in regard to this matter, and I am going to call on the Secretary to say exactly what he means by "Recommenda- tions or Suggestions by Agents and their Reference to a Com- mittee?" The SECRETARY. The ways of life insurance men are past finding out, gentlemen, and the ways of committees are equally inscrutable—sometimes. (The Committee on Claims, I am happy to say, has kept the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company out of court for a long number of years, and as long as it remains under the chairmanship of Mr. Rhawn, there is no doubt that it will continue to be able to do so.) I think, gentlemen—mark you, I say "I think"—in arranging the program in regard to "Recom- mendations or Suggestions by Agents and their Reference to a Committee," that the committee had in mind that the Chair, or THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 2/ this body itself, would appoint a committee to consider any plans or suggestions which might be made in this audience. For in- stance, our friend Mr. R. E. Wight, of Buffalo, might favor us with a suggestion as to a change in our policy, or as to the allow- ance of better dividends, or as to the restoration of the post- mortem dividend. Now, it was quite possible, in the contempla- tion of the committee, that numerous suggestions might be made and a committee could be appointed by the Chair, which com- mittee could organize and consider such suggestions and report on them at a later meeting. The CHAIRMAN. Do I hear any suggestions or recommenda- tions? Mr. GEORGE L. BAHL. Mr. Chairman, during this discussion I would like to say a policy, for instance, that would insure a man for one thousand dollars the first year and was increased ten per cent. for ten years and the other ten years be full paid for two thousand dollars, and he be insured for that amount during his life, would be desirable. Mr. C. S. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, I would recommend sug- gestions of this sort be referred to the committee when they are in executive session. The CHAIRMAN. What committee? We will have to appoint a special committee. Mr. S. A. STOCKWELL. Mr. Chairman, in order to do that, I move that a committee of five be appointed to take this and all other propositions which may be made under consideration. The CHAIRMAN. I was going to say any suggestions that were made had better be put in writing. Mr. KENDALL. Mr. Chairman, I make an amendment to that motion: that that committee be reduced to one and Mr. Lip- pincott be the chairman of that committee. The SECRETARY (Mr. Lippincott). That motion falls for want of a second. The CHAIRMAN. The motion of Mr. Stockwell is in order. Has it been seconded? (The motion was seconded by several members.) The CHAIRMAN. All in favor of that motion will please say 28 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION "aye;" contrary "no." It is agreed to. The committee will be appointed by the Chair at his leisure. Mr. MEYER HARRISON. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Miller suggests the committee be appointed after we all go home. The CHAIRMAN. No; the committee will be appointed this evening. Has Mr. Meyer Harrison any suggestions to make? Mr. HARRISON. No, Mr. Chairman, I am getting my in- spiration from Missouri here. (Referring to Shelley F. Miller.) Mr. LIPPINCOTT. Better try Kentucky. Mr. KENDALL. Mr. Chairman, I think that the Chairman probably filled out this program in order to make it occupy its share of the page; merely to fill it out and make it appear as though we were going to do something. Things are about right in the Penn Mutual; I do not think that anybody here has any suggestions to make. The CHAIRMAN. It looks very much like it. Mr. KENDALL. I think the management of this company are pushing forward the good things so fast that the agents are hardly able to take them in before some new ones come along. I think the trustees here look after all the latest things most neces- sary for our advancement. The CHAIRMAN. While we are on that topic, gentlemen, it seems to me that the man who is most troubled by suggestions and recommedations is the Actuary. Now, I think I will ask the Actuary just to say a few words on "Suggestions and Recommen- dations." Mr. J. J. BARKER. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, it seems to me the lack of suggestions which have been offered here is perhaps somewhat due to the fact that the new rate book has been com- pleted. (Laughter.) That has been the panacea for all the evils that have created a disturbance heretofore. We are getting out some new forms of policies, and the rates and estimates of the special annuity bond will be in your hands within a day or two. The continuous instalment policies required a considerable amount of calculation; it requires a couple of hours' steady work, in a single case, by two men to make the joint life calculations necessary for the rate in the case of these survivor- THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 2Q ship or continuous instalment policies. I think that the form of that policy has about perfected the system of trust certificates which was inaugurated and invented by the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company about nine years ago, and which has been since copied and improved on by some of the other companies. While Mr. Hamer's paper was under discussion there was one little point which I think you all failed to touch upon and which came to my mind, but my natural modesty prevented me from getting up, without the invitation of the Chairman, and mak- ing any allusion thereto, and that is as to Mr. Hamer's suggestion, that it requires an immense amount of assets at a low rate of inter'- est to meet the possible run that might be made upon the com- pany by reason of the availability of the cash value at any moment. In that event, it occurred to me the renewal commissions of the agents were likely to be greatly lessened in value, and that if the Vice-President, who is acting as Chairman at this meeting, should take the same view as you gentlemen do of Mr. Hamer's paper, he might be unwilling to loan you quite as much upon your com- missions as he would otherwise. (Laughter.) Mr. MACOMBER. Mr. Chairman, I would have enjoyed the flow of eloquence of our honored Actuary still more if he had con- tinued a little longer. I do not know anything about this special annuity policy. I received one solitary copy from headquarters, and it was left when I was very busy and could give but a few moments' time to consider its terms, and it did seem to me it would be a better policy if one-half of its face was paid, and the other half in an annuity, rather than vice versa. The CHAIRMAN. The Actuary, I know, will be glad to answer any questions you would like to ask. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Chairman, the question Mr. Macomber suggests, if I understand it, is he first desires to know the peculiar features of this policy. Am I correct? Mr. MACOMBER. Why you pay half the policy at the end of the entire time, after you have paid the annuity, rather than vice versa; that is, half the policy at the beginning and the rest as an annuity. Mr. BARKER. The reason for that is that we desire to pro- 30 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION duce a policy which while combining the greatest number of ad- vantages possible should at the same time bear the minimum amount of costs, the insurance in that policy being payable one- half in instalments. Take an endowment policy, for instance, pay- able in instalments for twenty years, and continuing for twenty years, after which, one-half of the policy becomes payable, this represents an insurance actually of only about $5815 to the ten thousand. Whereas, the form of policy which you suggest, whereby one-half the policy should be payable in one sum at the end of twenty years, and the remainder in instalments, would combine the rate of twenty-year endowment for half the policy and require a trust certificate premium for the other half, and would be largely more, in actual premiums, than the form which has been adopted. Then again, the policy was adopted at the suggestion of some of those who had come in competition with a similar policy issued by the Mutual Life under the name of their five per cent. gold bond, and also a policy which is similar, issued by the Travelers' Insurance Company of Hartford. And that is the reason why it was made in that form. Mr. HARRISON. Mr. Chairman, in regard to that committee I would suggest that, by reason of the fact that we have such a limited number of plans of insurance which the company is writing at the present time, that that committee be instructed to report at the Centennial celebration of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance- Company. Mr. RHAWN. Mr. Chairman, you would have to put this young man (referring to the youngest member) on the committee if you carry that out. Mr. A. A. WALKER. Mr. Chairman, while I seconded the motion for the appointment of a committee, I really do not see what that committee could accomplish. I do not see that a com- mittee would do any good. We have a Secretary, an Actuary and a Manager of Agencies, and we have our Trustees: they are looking after our interests here. That new rate book—I mention that in passing—that new rate book that has been mentioned just now, is just about the perfection of human wisdom in life under- writing. I do not see, what that committee could accomplish, THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. -;I but I would be perfectly willing to call upon them for a report at the Centennial celebration of this company. The CHAIRMAN. As Mr. Walker seconded Mr. Bahl's motion to have a committee of five appointed, and as there -seems to be no other suggestions or plans proposed, it occurs to me, with Mr. Bahl's permission, that, if he will withdraw his motion, it will not be necessary for us to appoint that committee, and for this reason; that the matter will require but a short discussion at the home office, and instead of having a committee talk it over, it can be very readily arranged in my office in connection with the Manager of Agencies. Mr. BAIIL. Mr. Chairman, as I said, I simply made that motion to start the discussion. The CHAIRMAN. To start the ball? (Laughter.) Mr. BAIIL. Yes. Mr. WATKINS. Mr. Chairman, I think I have discovered why Mr. Lippincott referred to that committee business. He and all the other officers of the company have been receiving letters for a great many years from many of us who are scattered all over the United States, and by those letters you would think we knew better how to conduct a life insurance company than the officers themselves do, and I think Mr. Lippincott's idea must have been to give the people who come here who think they knew more about life insurance than the Actuary, more about risks than the Medical Examiner, more about the funds than the Treasurer, and more about agencies than our Vice-President—I think his'pur- pose was to give them all a chance to do all their talking to-day here, and have a committee appointed to wait upon them and get instructions and suggestions, and then to boil those suggestions, and simmer them down so they would be satisfactory to the Penn Mutual, but the people here do not seem to have caught the inspiration. The CHAIRMAN. Evidently the general agents appear to be entirely satisfied, Mr. Watkins, and for that reason they have not said anything. I saw Mr. Durham rise just now, and I know he has some- thing to say. We will be very glad to hear from him. 32 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Mr. J. E. DURHAM. Mr. Chairman, I think my remarks now would be, perhaps, out of order. I have passed that time to which I referred in my paper, when public sentiment called for a thing. I had only this one thought in mind. I do not know how far it reaches; I do not know how many will agree with me, but I agree with everything that has been said so far, as to the number of policies now in existence covering every possible contingency. They have gotten to such a state where it is almost impossible to inform a solicitor thoroughly in less than a year or two—I should say. Personally, mv own preferences have always been in the line of the old-fashioned policies, but I think there are certain cases that arise which could be met by the stock rate which cannot be met by any other. I think the best evidence of that is that almost all of our mutual companies are issuing a stock rate. I believe they are coupling with that a small commission. As to that, how- ever, I am not certain. And I am aware that there is in the mind of the Actuary and others a prejudice against the form. Perhaps I ought not to say a prejudice—that conveys perhaps a strong impression—but the belief that perhaps our charter would not permit of the issuing of a stock policy. But I think there must be at least a dozen of the mutual companies that are issuing stock rates and I think if there is any demand at all for an increase in policies in any way it will be for the issuing of the stock rate on the various plans of life and limited endowment insurance. The CHAIRMAN. Our President says that we issued that class of policy at one time—stock rates—but it was decided, as a mutual company, we had no right to do it. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Chairman, I do not want to weary you, but most the agents are familiar with the fact that in one form of policy we accept, a thirty per cent. note which reduces that premium to a rate which is as fully as low as the general rate adopted by the stock companies. The company being a mutual company, it was held many years ago that it had not the right to issue policies at stock rates which possibly might be lower than the rate required to carry the policy and bear all the expenses of the policy, and if that was found to be the fact, that the difference had to be made up by the other policyholders. It was guarantee- ing to the stock rate policyholders a dividend in advance. But by the system that was adopted to take its place, the thirty per cent. note, it was calculated the insurance could be furnished at as low a cost as it could be by a stock company, and still afford the insured all the rights and equities which apply in a mutual company. Mr. HARRISON. Mr. Chairman, I would ask the Actuary how long it would take before this note or the policy itself would be exhausted? Upon the thirty per cent. plan, I ask whether the note would finally exhaust the policy or vice versa? I wrote one of these policies in Colorado. Mr. BAHL. Mr. Chairman, I have been in the field but a short time. In my own field, of course, the first thing we show is our lesser rate. After we get the man well informed on that, an agent of another company comes around and he immediately swings in on the stock rate, which he tells him is fifteen, eighteen or twenty per cent. less. We of course come in and speak of the dividends we pay, and we tell him they are from ten to twelve per cent. the first year. And then the other agent will tell the man it will take at least five or six years to get up to a twenty per cent. rate. Then we come in with the thirty per cent. loan. Our own experience has been that the most unsatisfactory policy we have is the thirty per cent. loan policies; because a man, every time he comes to settle his premium, says to me: "How is it my interest instead of getting less each year is getting greater?" And we now absolutely refuse to write any of these policies, because some men who have received them from us are dissatisfied—mainly, of course, because they do not fully understand the situation. I know most all agents say that we cannot write stock rate policies, but three of the largest companies are writing them now. And I would rather get a smaller commission on a stock rate than no commission at all. Mr. CHARLIE THAW. Mr. Chairman, I am surprised to hear from some of our agents on the subject in the way they have ex- pressed themselves. In my general agency, we have policies that have been running twenty years and thirty years on a fifty per cent. note. I have a policy of that kind myself. I have been carrying 3 34 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION that policy since 1869 in the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany. I never have any difficulty with them, either. I think that the great trouble in all life insurance is that irresponsible agents insure people to get their money and do not let them understand what they are doing. I do not think we want any stock rate policy at all. We had one for many years when I was first a general agent of the company,, but I never wrote a policy on it and never wanted one. I think the thirty per cent. note policy answers the purpose admirably, and the company as well as the policyholders who have been paying premiums for a long time have been amply protected by it. Mr. A. A. WALKER. Mr. Chairman, I could not answer for thirty or forty years; but we issued a thirty per cent. loan policy to a man thirty-eight years of age ten years ago, and if he were to die to-day he would get twelve hundred and forty-odd dollars of insurance that never cost him a dollar. Mr. MACOMBER. Mr. Chairman, excuse me for speaking so often. I am almost ashamed to have spoken so often and so poorly as I have, but I feel interested in the subject of this stock policy. It has cost me policies. The argument that the Actuary has adduced; that this is a purely mutual company and its charter therefore forbids the issuing of other than mutual policies, has cost me policies. I remember the Actuary worked out a plan in one of these instances, of taking a policy out on the thirty per cent. loan basis, and as soon as it was offered to the man he threw it aside and would not consider it. And it seems to me now that the onlv serious objection we have to the stock policies that are under discussion is that this is a purely mutual company. There are other companies also purely mutual. No one will deny that the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company is mutual. Some of the large New York companies may deny being purely mutual, under the control of their policyholders, but I have been always told and have believed that the Penn was and is mutual—really the company "for the policyholders, by the policyholders," and so on. Now, if this is so, ought we not to take this into considera- tion? Let the Actuary be the chairman of a committee to con- sider it, if it be thought best, but it seems to me the most vital THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 35 thing that has been brought up here this afternoon is the subject of issuing a form of stock policy. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Chairman, I am informed that at this very moment there is a suit pending in New York City against the Mutual Life Insurance Company as a mutual company, protesting against its issuing policies on the stock rate plan; that it has no right under its charter to put up the assets belonging to the other members, as a guarantee that there shall be a twenty-five or thirty per cent. or any annual dividend in advance on any form of policy. Mr. WM. L. LOTT. Mr. Chairman, I have had experience with the thirty per cent. loan policy, and I find as a general thing they are a satisfactory policy in my territory, and I have a number of them that in the course of time have been reduced. It has been a very satisfactory policy. While I have had some little trouble occasionally coming up, I consider that I have had virtually none whatever. Of course, some of the competing agents occasionally run down the policy, but a little explanation generally satisfies the policyholders. It is a policy that I think is good. Mr. A. C. PHELPS. Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to that stock policy for two reasons. The first is, I think the twenty and thirty per cent. loan features meet the objection that these gentle- men have raised. And the second is this, that by the adoption of the stock rate it destroys that magic phrase which I am sure has served to make this grand old company what it is—purely mutual. Mr. HART. Mr. Chairman, my experience has been in line with Mr. Bahl and Mr. Harrison who have spoken in favor of stock rate policies. In my judgment a policy with a thirty per cent. or twenty per cent. loan of premium is undesirable. But the increase in dividends does not always and at once offset the in- crease in interest. It has not been my fortune to have a delightful experience with that policy. It is a fact we have lost insurance in spite of our best efforts, in competition with the stock rate. Of course if there is an inherent objection in our organization to the issuing of such a policy, there is no use talking about it, but if it is only an opinion of somebody who did not want to issue it, I think it is a proposition worthy of the most serious consideration. 36
SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
I know if we have a policy of that kind that we can write such insurance in our field. Mr. H. I. PINEO. Mr. Chairman, the ordinary thirty per cent. life policy has been my salvation. If there is a possibility of making- a stock plan or some other plan which will reduce the rate and not have the loan note, then that plan will be adopted I hope. I do not know whether we can discuss the subject here intelligently because we do not know whether we have the right to make such a plan. But if there is any such plan that can be devised, it would be the best thing for this body to introduce it into the Penn Mutual's plans. Mr. KENDALL. Mr. Chairman, when I took the agencv in Cleveland I found some fifty per cent. loan policies and some thirty per cent. loan policies. I find that the fifty per cent. loan policies are more satisfactory to most people than the thirty per cent., from the fact that they pay their interest on the fifty per cent. every year, whereas the interest is added on the thirty per cent., and as time g-oes on the thirty per cent. loan makes an unfavorable showing. I have absolutely refused to write thirty per cent. loan policies, and I hope that policy will be withdrawn, and say instead, that a twenty per cent. loan be the limit that we accept. Or, if we accept a thirty per cent. loan, that the interest be not added, but that the interest be paid every year, so that the note shall not be increased. I have written a number of such policies, and, for mv own salvation, have limited them to a twenty per cent. loan. As we used to give loans of twenty per cent. or thirty per cent. the first year, with our large dividend of twenty per cent. commencing the second year, it brought the policy, from that time, down to the stock rate; and I do not know why we should accept a loan note for the first year and not afterwards, because a dividend of thir- teen, fourteen or fifteen per cent. would very soon bring the policy to a stock rate. And by so doing, we would not violate our char- ter, and a man would only have the note to meet that he g-ave in the first instance, and that being very small, it could be lifted at any time. Mr. M. HARRISON (ironically). Mr. Chairman, I think it THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 37 would be a wise thing to leave this entire matter with the Actuary, and at the same time I think a committee of ten ought to be appointed—a permanent committee, by the President and Trustees of the company, and call it a "Plan Committee," and they ought to get up two or three hundred more plans—we have not got enough. It is very difficult to instruct an agent now, as it is, and I think the idea of suggesting any more plans is absurd. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Chairman, another word about the note policy and the stock rate. The stock rates of the stock rate com- panies are perhaps about twenty-five per cent. below the rates charged by the mutual companies. Of course in the earlier years of the stock policy the insured would obtain his insurance at a considerably lower rate than he is afforded now in our mutual company, as our dividends start at say ten or twelve per cent. and gradually increase until it takes perhaps eight or ten years to bring them up to twenty per cent.; perhaps fifteen to twenty-five years. Therefore in the earlier years, as I said before, the stock rate poli- cies would obtain insurance at a lower rate than our ordinary policies. But our older policies are receiving dividends as high as sixty to seventy per cent. Would the holders of stock policies, when such policies get to be as old as the policies obtain- ing sixty or seventy per cent. dividends, be willing to continue to pay that rate which at first gave them a reduced charge for their insurance and greatly increased it in the later years of the policy? I think not. I think they would object. Mr. G. L. ROOT. Mr. Chairman, I would like to know what length of time it will take to equalize a thirty per cent. loan policy —how many years to bring it down to a fair rate. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Chairman, I think the question asked was. how long would a thirty per cent. note policy take to eat up the face of the policy. I figured that out once and found it would take about 150 years. And this assumed very small dividends, indeed. Mr. ROOT. Mr. Chairman, that is not the question that I want the Actuary to answer. When I first became connected with this company in 1888, Mr. McCary was working for the Equitable Life, in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Penn Mutual was writing thirty per cent. loan policies. And Mr. McCary gave out in the 38
SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
newspapers in a good long article a statement, and showed bv correspondence from our Actuary, that it would take between twenty-six and twenty-seven years for that policy to equalize itself at thirty per cent. Mr. BARKER. Mr. Chairman, in answer to that question I will say I have forgotten what I calculated upon at that time as the length of time. At that time I had calculated, upon the basis of the dividend declared that year, that the thirty per cent. note policy would have the notes wiped out within a certain time. Mr. Root's recollection of it is that it was twenty-six years. I have no doubt that that time is correct. I remember the circumstance very well in which this gentleman who was the agent of the Equitable Life Insurance Company secured a policy of the Perm Mutual and wrote to me for my opinion on this po'int. I first referred him to our agent, Mr. Guenther. And he was not satis- fied with that, and wrote me again and wanted mv reply direct. In my perfect innocence and unsophisticatedness, Mr. Chairman, I was tempted and fell. (Laughter.) I made the calculation, and I therefore opened my mouth and put my foot in it. I found that it would take—I believe that was the time—twenty-six or twenty- seven years, to wipe out that note. And that letter was published far and wide by the Equitable Life as a canvassing document. But it only required the usual astuteness of the average agent to take away entirely the sting of that circular, and that was to have the desiring applicant ask the Equitable whether they would issue such a policy as that, and permit the payment of part of it bv note. The answer would be no; that they wanted it all in cash. I know that at that time as now, our dividends far exceeded the dividends of the Equitable Life. The insurance of the Perm Mutual there- fore was in every way far ahead, in desirability, of that which the Equitable could issue. Mr. C. S. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, I have sold a great manv thirty per cent. note policies. I have accepted a great deal of busi- ness from the Mutual Benefit on the thirty per cent. note plan be- cause we write that kind of policy. I am heartily in favor of it. It is one of the oldest forms of insurance known and I do not think it right for it to be discontinued. Ten or twelve years ago we were THE PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 39 justified, on account of the dividends we were paying at that time, to tell a man that the note would be wiped out inside of twenty- seven or twenty-eight years. We were justified in making that statement, and we could figure it out on the basis of increase in the dividends and show him that it could be done in that length of time. I hope that the suggestions made in regard to discontinuing the thirty per cent. note plan will not be put in the shape of a resolution to be acted upon by the Policy Committee of the com- pany. I hope we will continue to keep the policy and write it. Regarding the non-participating rate or stock rate, as you might call it, I think it is a very desirable form of policy to write. The Northwestern write it, and other companies write it—mutual companies. If our charter does not permit us to write a stock policy we ought not to consider it. The CHAIRMAN. I wanted to say, gentlemen, that there is one feature of our gathering here to-day for which we had ar- ranged that we unfortunately miss, and that is the face of our Vice-President-elect, Mr. George K. Johnson. You probably have heard that he has met with a very severe loss in his family— his dear mother—and for that reason he has been debarred from any participation in the ceremonies of this celebration. I hope that on Thursday we shall all have the pleasure of seeing him at the office for a few minutes, and I will try to arrange a time when he will be able to meet us and the gentlemen with whom he is so soon to be associated—our General Agents. It is a very important matter, and-1 hope that he will be willing to forego his feelings in this matter and be with us at least an hour or two on next Thursday. I will try to make some arrangements with him so that we will all be able to meet him. Mr. RHAWN. Mr. Chairman, I move that an expression of sympathy with our Vice-President-elect, Mr. Johnson, be extended to him from this assemblage, by our Chairman. (The motion was duly seconded by several members.) The CHAIRMAN. You have heard the motion, gentlemen. All in favor please say "aye;" contrary, "no." The motion is unanimously carried. Mr. ELLWOOD JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, before we adjourn, 40 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION I desire to call attention to the program for the second day's enter- tainment. It gives several interesting features of the morning session. For the afternoon session, which will commence at 12 o'clock, there will be provided here, on Tenth street, conveyances to take the gentlemen to Arch street wharf to meet the steamboat chartered to take them on their trip on the river. I mention these circumstances so that you can come here prepared to take the coaches at the termination of the morning session. You will have no time to go to your hotels, as we leave the hall at 12 o'clock sharp. The CHAIRMAN. If there is no further business, a motion to adjourn will be in order. (Upon motion duly seconded and carried the Convention ad- journed until Wednesday morning at 9.30 o'clock.)