Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Crime of Not Insuring BY, REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE, D. D. Extract from a Sermon Preached at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and Published in "The Advance," March 22nd, 1877. 8 Let him appoint officers over the land, and take ip the fifth part of the land of Kgypt .u tho soven ploutoous years.?Gen. 41:8 b THESF. wero the words of Jcseph, tho president of the first life insurance company that the world ever saw. Pharaoh had a dream that distracted him. Ho thought he stood on the banks of tho river Nile, and saw com ing up out of the river seven fac, sleek, glossy cows, and thoy began to browso in tho thick grass. Nothing frightful about that. But after thorn, coming up out of tho same river, he saw seven cows that wore guunt and starved, and the worst-looking cows that had ever been seen in the land,and in the ferocity of hunger thoy devoured their soven fat predecessors. Pharaoh, tho king, sont for Joseph to decipher these midnight hieroglyphics. Joseph made short work of it, and lutlma'ed that the seven fat cows that came out of the river were seven years with plenty to eat; the seven emaciated cows that fol lowed them were seven yoars with noth ing to eat. '"Now," said Joseph, "let us tako one-fifth of tho corn crop of the seven prosperous years, and keep it as a provision for tho seven years in which there shall bo no corn crop." The king took tho counsel ard ap pointed Joseph, becauso of his integ rity and publlc-spiritedness, as tho president of the undertaking. Tho farmers paid ono-fifth of their income as a premium. In all the towns and cities of tho land thoro were branch housos. This groat Egyptian life In surance company bad millions of dol lars as assets, Aft r a while tho dark days came, and the whole nation would have starved if it had not been for tho provision they had made for the fu ture. But now these suffering families have nothing to do but go up and col lect the amount of their life policies. The Bible puts it in one short phrase: "In the land of Egypt there was broad." I Bay this was tho first life insurance company. It was divinely organized. It had In It all tho advantages of the "whole lifo plan," of the "tontlno plan," of tho ''ecdowmont plan," and all tho other good plans. Wo aro told that Rov. Dr. Anhate, .of Lincolnshire, England, originated the first life insuranco com pany in 1(598. No; It is as old as tho corn cribs of Egypt, and God himself was the author and originator. If that were not so I would not take your time and mine in a Sabbath discussion of this subject; 1 feel It is a theme vital, religious and of infinite import?the morals of life and fire insurance. It seems to me that it is time for the pul pit to spoak out. But what doos tho Bl blo say In regard to this subject? If the Bible favors the Institution I will favor it: if tho Bible denounces it I will denounce it. In addition to tho forecast of Joseph in the text, I call to your attention Paul's comparison. Here is one man who, through neglect, fails to support his family while ho lives, or aftor he dies. Here is another man who abhors tho Scripture and re jects Go l. Which of those men is tho worse? Well, you say the latter. Paul says tho former. Paul says that a man who neglects to care for his household is more obnoxious than a man who re jects the Scriptures. "Ho that pro vldoth not for his own, and cspoclally thoso of his own household, is worso than an infidel." Lifo insurance com panies help most of us to provide for bur families after wo aro gone. But if wo have tho money to pay tho premiums and do not pay the premiums wo have no right to expect mercy at tho hand of God in tho judgment. We are worso than Tom I'aine, worso than Voltaire, and worse than Shaft esbury. The Hiblo declares it; we aro worso than an Infidel Aftor the certi ficate of death has been mado out, and the officer of a lifo Insurance company comes Into tho beroft household and pays down tho bard cash on an insur anco policy, that officer of the com pany is performing a positively relig ious rite, according to the Apostlo James, who says: "True religion and uudeilled bofore God and tho Fathor is this: to visit tho fathorlos9 and the widow in their aflllotion," and so on. When men think of tholr death they aro apt to think of it only in connec tion with thoir spiritual welfare and not of the devastation in the household which will como becauso of their emi gration from it. It is meanly selfish for you to bo so absorbed in the heaven to which you are going that you forget what is to become of your wife and children after you go. You can go out of this world not leaving them a dollar, and yet dio happy if you could not pro vide for them You can trust them in the hands of the God who owns all the harvests and tho herds and llocks; but if you could pay the premium on a pol icy and neglected them, it is a mean thing for you to go up to heaven whilo thoy go to the poor-house. You at death, move Into a mansion, river front.and they move into rooms on fourth story of a tenement houso in a back street. When they ure out at tho elbows and tho kuee.j, tho thought of your splendid robo in heaven will not keep them warm. Tho minister may preach a splendid sermon over your re mains and tho quartette may sing like four angels in tho organ loft, but your death will be a swindle. You had the means to provide for tin comfort of your household when you left it and you wickedly neglected it. "Oh,"8ays someone,"Ihave more faith than you: I believe that when I go out of this world the Lord will take care of my family." Yes, He will provide for them. Go to Biackwell's Island, go through all the p?or-houses of the coun try and I will show you how often God providos for the noglected children of neglectful parents. That Is, He pro vides for them through public charity. As for myself I would rather have the Lord provido for my family in a pri vate home, and through my own indus try and paternal and conjugal faithful ness. "But," says some man, "I moan In the next ten or twenty years to make a great fortune, and so I shall leave my family, when I go out of this world, very comfortable." How do you know you are going to live ten or 20 years? If wo could look up the walk of the future we would see it crossed by pneumonias, and pleurises, and con sumptions, and colliding rail trains, and runaway horses, and breaking bridges, and funeral processions. Are you so certain you aro going to live ten or twenty yoars that you can warrant your bousohold any comfort after you go away from them. Besides that, tho vast majority of men die poor. Two only out of a hundred succeed In business. Aro you very certain that you are going to bo one of tho two? * * * Thoro are men who die solvent who aro insolvent boforo they get under the ground, or bofore their estate is settled. How soon the auc tioneer's mallei can knock tho life out of an estate! A man thinks the prop erty worth $lf>,000; under a forced sale it brings $7,000. Tho businoss man takes advanlago of tho crisis, and he compels tho widow of his deceased partner to sell out to him at a ruinous price, or lose all. * * Or the admin istrator is ordered by tho surrogato to wind up Ihe whole affair. Tho estato wes supposed at tho man's death to bo worth $20,000; but after the indebted ness had been met and lhe bill : of the doctor and tho undertaker ai-J the tombstone cutter have been paid there is nothing left. That means the chil dren are to come homo from school and go to work. That moans the complete hardship of tho wife, turned out with nothing but a needle to fight the great battle of the world. Tear down the lambrequins, closo the piano, rip up the Axininstor, soli out tho wardrobe, and lot the mother tako a child in each hand ano trudge out Into tho desort of the world. A life Insuranco policy would have hindered all that. * * * The utter indifference of many peo ple on this important subject ac counts for much of tho crime and pau perism of this day. Who are theso children sweeping the crossings with broom and begging of you a penny as you go by? Whoso are thoso lost souls gliding under tho gas-light in thin shawls? Ah 1 they aro the victims of want; and, in many of the casos, the forecast of parents and grandparents might have prevented It. God only knows how thoy struggle to do right. They ptayed until tho tears fro/.o on tholr cheeks, thoy sewed on tho sack until the breaking of the day, but they could not get enough monoy to pay tho rent, they could not got enough money to decently clothe themselves, and ono day, in that wretched home, the angel of purity and the angel of crime fought a great fight betwocn tho empty bread-tray and the flroless hearth, and the blackwinged angel shrieked; "Aha! I have won the day." Says some man: "I believe what you say; It Is right and Christian, and 1 mean sometime to attend to this mat ter." My friend, you are going to lose the comfort of your household in the same way tho sinner loses heaven, by procrastination. I see aU around me the destitute and sulToring families of parents who meant somo day to attond to this Christian duty. During the process of adjournment tho man gets his foot wet, then comes a chill and a delirium and the doleful shake of the doctor's head, and the obsequlos. If there be an) thing more pitiable than a woman, delicately brought up, and on her marriage day, by an indulgent fa ther, given to a man of whom she Is tho chief joy and prido of life until the moment of his death, aud then that same woman going out with helpless children at her back to strugg'e for oread in a world whore brawny mus cles and rugged souls aro necessary?I Bay, if thoro be anything more pitiable than that, I don't know what it is; and yet there are good women who aro in different in regard to their husbands' duty in this respect, and there aro thopc positively hostile, as though a life insurance subjected a man to somo fata'ity. There is in this city today a vory poor woman keeping a small candy shop, who vehemently opposed the insurance of hor husband's life,and when app 1 mat ion had been made for a po'icy of $10,000 she frustrated It. She would never havo a document In the houso that implied It was posslblo for her husband ever to die. One day, in the quick revolution of machinery, his life was instantly dashed out. What is tho sequel? Sho Is, with annoying tug, making the half of a miserable living.Her two children have been taken away from her in order that they may be clothed and schooled, and her lifo is to bo a prolonged hardship. O man, before forly-oight hours havo passed away appear at the desk of somo of our groat life Insuranco companies, have the stethoscope of the physician put to your hoart and lungs, and by the seal of somo honest company docreo that your children shall not be subjected to the humiliation of (iuanclal struggle in tho dark day of your demise. If others are dependent upon you for support, you are morally bound to protect them against loss. This is best accomplished through life insurance in THE PRUDENTIAL. The Prudential writes both Industrial and Ordinary Life Insurance. Industrial Life Insurance policies are issued in amouts from $15.00 up, with pre miums payable weekly in sums of 5 cents and upwards. Ordinary Life Insurance policies are issued in amounts from 500 to $100,000, with premims payable yearly, half yearly or quarterly. Full particulars will be given on application to the Company's Agents. J. F. Tolbert and B. A. Sullivan, Agents. _LAURENS. B. O._ Greatest and Best Year's Record i OFFICERS john F. dryden, President. Lbsut- d, ward, Edgar b. ward, Vice President. ?J Vice President. for rh st F. dryden, )4 Vlco President. Howard Kanouse, T. c. B. blanch ard, Treasurer. Supt. of Real Estate. Jacob H. Ward, Wilbur s. Johnson, Counsel. Comptroller. f. C. blanchard, Supervisor Loan Dept. Edward Gray, Edward h. Hamill, Secretary. MeJlc.il Director. VALENTINS RlKF.r, Assistant Secretary. Lesue p. Ward, Assistant Secretary. WDLLARD !. hamilton, Assistant Secretary. Robert L, burrage, Medical Dlrectoi. John k. Gore, Actuary Frederic a. boyle, Cashier. ' Frederick h. Johnston, Associate Actuary. henry overgne, george w. munsick, Supervisor. Supervisor. WM. perry watson, Assistant Medical Director. Frederick l. Hofeman, statistician. george H. kirk patrick, Assistant Actuary. LIFE INSURANCE ISSUED AND PAID FOR, during 1903, ) including Ordinary Insurance ($102,822,648), over ? \ ASSETS, end of 1903, over ... -. INCOME, during 1903, over. PAID POLICYHOLDERS, during 1903, over - - - - SURPLUS, end of 19113, over. NUMBER OF POLICIES IN FORCE (5?447>3?7). over - INCREASE IN PAID-FOR INSURANCE IN FORCE, over j MAKING THK GRAND TOTAL OV Paid-for Insurance in Force over 931 MILLIONS 293 - 72 ? 39 - 11 - 10 5 - 129 MILLIONS MILLIONS MILLIONS MILLIONS MILLIONS MILLIONS MILLIONS Twenty-eighth Annual Statement January I, 1904 IPotal Payments to Policy holders in Twenty-eight Years, over 79 Millions HOME OFFICE BUILDINGS AT NEWARK, N. J. ASSETS Ronds and Mortgages,.#13,138,391 49 Real Estate,.12,063,757 29 R.R.BondsandStocks(MarketValue), 20,862,307 50 Municipal Bonds (Market Value), . . 8,408,728 00 U. S. Gov. Bonds (Market Value), . 109,500 00 Cash in Banks and Office,. 7,610,148 22 Interest and Rents, due and accrued, 488,593 45 Loans on Collateral Securities, . . . 5,761,775 00 Loans on Policies,. 1,614,325 08 Premiums Deferred and in course of collection (not),. 2,635,009 4r i 3 8 Total,.#72,712,4-35 44 LIABILITIES Reserve on Policies.#61,410,965 00 All other Liabilities,. 1,167,445 81 Surpltio to Policyholders,.10,134,024 t.) Total.#72,712,435 44 I \ t THE LIFE INSURANCE SUCCESS OF THE AGE the best in life insurance at low oost policies for both sexes amounts to suit your needs up to $100,000 The Prudential J Write for V f Information INSURANCE CO. OF AMERICA Agents Wanted ?