To realize how far we are from anything like a scientific, not to say
common sense basis for insurance expenses, we have but to examine the
following list, which gives the ratios between the expenditures for
general expenses in 1889, and those for the extension of the business.
For every $100 used in a general way, the different companies spend
for commissions and agency expenses: $37, $66, $67, $78, $91, $106,
$110, $113, $120, $140, $157, $161, $173, $175, $186, $189, $200,
$202, $222, $264, $311, $346.
It will doubtless be said that I am taking a very advanced position
when I say that in the ideal life insurance scheme there is no place
for the commission system. Solicitors will be a necessity only so long
as they are in the field, but fifty years of life insurance has taught
our community its true value and, thanks to the modern press, the
institution it is no more likely to fall into desuetude than is
Christianity or the moral law.
For the convenience of bringing the company to the individual, the
latter should be willing to pay a fee. The man who renders another a
service or puts his superior knowledge at another's disposal should
look to the party benefited for his remuneration.
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