The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 14, 1927, Page 2

Page Two WALL STREET BEHIND “BIG FOUR” INSURANCE SWINDLING OF WORKERS THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1927 WHERE NON-UNION MINERS BEGIN TO STRIKE e | American Economic Life | | | | (Continued from Page One) Why do they combat every at- million dolls in 1925 they were} tempt to inquire about its disposal? By WALLPROL. Three Bill Six Hundred Million., Because it is through the mant-| ae oe a During these two decad the “Re-| pulation of this enormous fund that | Yr re ntent to work as directors | mided 14 times. i erve” the ‘Cheap Advice on How / Economic Chart for Statistical Proof * a nominal few paltry dollars a| To Get Rich Q ick 1927 F These are significant figures. Here | year. | ‘o Get Ric’ uic 7 Prepared Here is where the gigantic swindle of in-/ This excess TWO BILLION DOL-| reps dustrial life insurance is fully ex- LARS. belongs to the workers who| The world’s ignorance in the face| Redmond & Co., 81 Pine St., New posed. It is on the question of the| have fallen for the smooth words of of a score of “services” giving the | York City, have just published a con- sets that every life in-|the “mutual” dir iner e of tors who control | absolute and final lowdown on affairs|cise and very informative World this surance 0 ial hems and haws. is powerful pile. | economic, political and financial is| Economic Chart for 1926. Condensed “Ordinary life ae : ; he repra igaseseal | poston astounding, It’s getting aha a sheet rs heavy paper Haye feet pany assets have reased | dous economic powe E | | now that for a mere $100 a year, the|long are the statistics of finance, in ratio with the increase of their}a small group constitutes a decided | | groping seeker Deige ert Truth | government and national economy of business. If another hundred mill-|menace to the economic life of the| jcan have the lady for his very own.|88 important countries, including the ion of insurance went on the books| nation. ae" tae She will come to him in the guise|Soviet Union, The tabulated infor- of an “ordinary” company, the in-| Unless effective legislative meas- of “confidential information” from|mation for 1926 is not available in crease of assets was proportionate. a Hed peat sig A smh will Washington,. “inside tips” straight|any other form yet, so far as Wall- Not so with the “Big Four’—as the | doubtle continue, because, the in- |from Wall Street and “economic ad-| prol knows, | vice” than which there is no more re-| Accompanying the chart is a bro- |liable, right straight from the pen|chure outlining the Redmond firm’s of Professor Soandso, the renowned | purpose in publishing the chart. “The j economist of Yalard University. | United States,” it is remarked, “has Bureau Gives Dope |become the world’s largest exporter The latest to favor Wallprol is the | of capital and as such has contributed so-called Bureau of Business Con- | ™aterially to the economic rehabilita- | ditions. For a mere $48 a year | tion which has succeeded the chaos | (special three months trial subscrip- of the early post-war years. Export tion, $10) the Bureau will give me: of additional capital as well as Fe- | 1. Business Conditions Weekly | funding of existing foreign debt will Bulletin and Cycle Chart—12 issues, | Continue and become of increasing above tell-tale figures show. surance uration point is still a Expert Gives Lie to Big Four long way off. According to William Alexander,| The average worker's life is in- secretary to the Equitable 2 In-|sured with the “Big Four” for the | surance Company, a prolific writer| handsome sum of $400. | on insurance matte “the reserve Scandal of Decade. | Spee only the present insur-! ‘The enormous “reserve” is aceu-| ance lia of the company How| mulated through three general re-| then, do the “Big Four” offi als a-| sources: excessive premium charged | count for the fact that the figures | oy this petty hold-up insurance, for-| of income over and above total “|feitures (money made on lapsed| Renditures were as follows during) policies) and the interest earned: on pice 1925: the “reserve.” ° . 3 importanee to us year by year.” Metropolitan ...$220 Million If every policy matured for its Bulletin nthe bene ante eae America as the main prop of tot- Prudential - 172 Million face value, either as a claim or as 8. Bi-Weekly Investment Bulle. | “ting capitalism in the past few John Hancock > Million an endowment, and if the excess | ; aH ¥ 5 jo acd teen years and the mainstay of the “re- Colonial 1 Million earnings on the company’s invest-| Above: Typical mining community (in West Virginia) with houses strung out along railroad. Below, left, . habilitated” It has been shown that these com- panies hold in “escrow” more than three and a half BILLIONS of dol- Jars for their alleged “mutual” policyholders. This tremendous sum of money invested at 5% per cent. will yield, and it does yield, more than sufficient income, to pay all claims, whether they be death claims, matured endowments or cash surrender values as they come due each year. Big Four Steal Two Billion. From the above statement it i apparent that the “Big Four” utilize | the entire premium income travagant expenditure nd to swell already too large “reserve.” Figures for the past twenty years show us that assets double every five years. Continuing at this rate, 35 (unforseen events being dis- counted for the moment) they will be over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. And that is a lot of money even in the hands of a Wail Street clique. % r. Alexande yuired o meet the nee liz ty” (claims ar logical that the crease in ratio with insurance in force, not the case. quarter of a billion dollars great enough in 1905 to guar- ntee 3 billions of insurance, then, the same token, assets in 1925 should be One Billion, Six Hundred for ex Million. But they were not, they were THREE BILLION Six Hun- dred Million. More than TWO BIL- LION. above that which was re- quired. What are the shell-game officials doing with this colossal sum of money? Why do they guard it jealously— viciously ? | | BOOKS For the Trade Unionist FOR EVERY WORKER How to wage strikes success- fully TODAY is the content of this book. This little work in simple language is of such importance it should be read by every worker. THE WATSON-PARKER LAW by Wm. Z. Foster —15 cents THE THREAT TO THE LABOR MOVEMENT by Wm. F. Dunne —15 cents c= CLOTH BOUND THE WOMAN WORKER AND THE TRADE UNIONS by Theresa Wolfson —$1.75 LEFT WING UNIONISM by David J. Saposs —$1.60 THE WORKER LOOKS AT GOVERNMENT by Arthur W. Calhoun —$1.60 THE DAILY WORKER PUB. CO. 83 FIRST STREET NEW YORK . / \ contends, the | , _. | “mutual” coal cut! |ment were returned pro rata to its| machine in a mine; right, entrance tr a slope mine, with “electric donkey” bringing out a 4, Monthly Trade Bulletin—3 is-| sues, |“mutual” policyholders (as it is} | popularly supposed to do) this terri-| |fie pyramiding of assets would, ~ Suspend Sentence it seems, be impossible. | | But all policies are not kept un- til maturity or death. A surprising | . {small number do so, Only 1 per| ll Orn, aesmal Of the Means Case }eent of all terminated policies are The famous “Glass. Casket Com- paid as endowments and but 9 per| cent are paid as death claims. 75 per cent of all terminations are} |lapsed. An an industrial lapse is a total loss to the insurer. If e figures in themselves, re-| gardless of the exposures which will follow, do not constitute the smell- iest financial scandal that ever as- sailed the nostrils of our citizenry then Charley Schwab is in business} for his health and Judge Gary is a member of the Communist Party. Naturally, the “Big Four” are very loud in voicing the good they do in “spreading the mantle of pro- tection the poor who cannot ‘ord y’ insurance — ren- where service is most Possibly it was nonsense {Similiar to this which impelled Abe Martin to remark, “What we want) nowadays is le rvice an’ |whose operations led to the convic- |tion of the late Co!. Thomas B.} |Felder and Gaston B. Means on charges of conspiracy to obstruct jus- tice, came back into notice yesterday, when Federal Judge A. N. Hand yes- terday afternoon suspended sentence on Joseph Dorn, convicted as one of the “high-powered salesmen” in the historie mail fraud which was alleged to have resulted in a $500,000 loss to investors. The al- leged fraud scheme was worked from Altoona, Pa. Pardoned By Coolidge. | ‘With the suspension of sentence, it ‘ 4 : Be more/was revealed that Samuel Safir,| of what we're payin’ for. |Samuel Rosenblatt and Harry K. Legislature Aids “Big Four.” | Seidelman, all of Chicago, who were Hiding behind technical and mean-| tried and convicted as the chief fig- ingless jargon such as ‘net prem-jyres in the alleged fraudulent enter- iums.” “terminal reserves” and “se-| prise, have been pardoned by Presi- lect and ultimate methods” to which | dent Coolidge, Taking notice of the there are no clear and well defined |pardon, Judge Hand declared it would meanings, the “Big Four” have writ-|be “grotesque” to inflict a jail sen- ; ten the insurance law for the crea-| tence on Dorn, when the convicted ture legislatures who have le yalized | ringleaders had been spared a prison | this outrageous robbery. |term by Presidential order. } Employing double back action | To Keep Out Of Jail. | bookkeeping which makes possible} Thirty men were indicted after an| | numerous cross entries in the draw-|investigation into the glass casket} ing up of annual reports to their|case, and, according to the govern- policyholders, the “Big| ment, the defendants engaged Felder | Four” merrily keep on piling up the|to defend them. Felder, it was al- “reserve.” |leged, promised that they would Nationalization Only Cure never be brought to trial, and ac- “Mutual” industrial life insurance | cepted a $65,000 fee for this favor, | companies, if they were mutual in| then enlisting the aid of Means, who | spirit as well as in name, should give| Was formerly a department of jus- | their policyholders insurance at cost, | tice agent. Gigantic assets, quite unnecessary, When the defendants were brought |should be cut to a practical mini-|t0 trial and convicted, they informed |mum and the balance returned to|the government of the alleged bar- ‘their mulcted members. gain between Felder and Means and Dont worry, nothing of the sort|themselves, and the conspiracy in- will ever happen. These boys are|“ictment resulted. _Means at present not in business for their health. pele, Abadia Ps Shaernaiuer esol Only one solution presents itself|Penitentiary. Felder was also con- in the face of this unmitigated fraud |Victed, but died before starting sen- —and that is State Ownership of the | fence. |“Big Four.” Lets go! | BB RO 65. pes ie ' . | Chicago Workers Now |Participating in Three ‘Strikes, Get Support Big Business Plans Booster Confalb! CHICAGO, April 13—sympathetic strikes to revoke the discharge of WASHINGTON, April 13 (FP), —| Workers for union affiliation have | Expansion of American trade and | Spread from the millinery workers, | manufactures to meet the new imper- | Who are still out, to the new federal | ial scope of American inflitence is the | union of Dental Laboratory Mechan- | Purpose of the 15th annual meeting|i¢s, Loeal 17,927. When employes jof the Chamber of Commerce of the|Were dismissed by the American | United States, which is being elabor-| Dental Laboratory and the Central | ately advertised to hold its sessions in| Dental Laboratory because they had | Washington on May 8 to 5, | joined the local, 75 fellow workers | “American business,” reads the of-| Walked out in sympathy, They are |ficial announcement, “sweeping for-| receiving the support of the Chicago | ward under the play of new economic | Federation of Labor. | forces, finds it more necessary than) A strike of Amusement Park & ever to look into the future. What do| Dance Hall Employes Local 17,921, changes that are taking place eomsg hayteny! federal union, may follow de- | token? How sharp is the break from | mands for wage boosts. Ushers, gate- | conditions before the war? In what | men, ticket sellers and allied workers | direction are we headed? Are we ap- j are asking the increases. |proaching even more striking read-| (a — [just ments than we have seen in the re- | Read The Daily Worker Every Day. ‘cent past? The only mention of industrial re- | lations in the program is that on| |“Wages in Relation to Costs,” and “A|_ FORT SMITH, Ark. April 13, — Forward Look in Industrial 'Rela- | Four men in eastern Oklahoma and tions,” promised by the manufacturers | tWo Fort Smith women were dead to- section, of which S. J. Brosseau of | day, while approximately 40 persons New York, president of Mack Trucks, | Were in hospitals suffering from in- is chairman, | juries as a result of a spring tornado In the transportation and commun- | last night. ications section, over which A. L,| Three widely separated _resident- Humphrey, president of the Westing-|ial districts of Forth Smith were al- house Air Brake Co., will preside, one | most wiped out by the terrific wind- paper will be devoted to “The Fallacy| storm. Property damage will run of Government Ownership of Mer-|into thousands of dollars in Fort chant Shipping.” Smith alone. ock scheme, | over Read The Daily Worker Every Day. ‘Tornado Kills. py ja few others. CURRENT EVENTS (Continued from Page One) some particular saint and wiping the slate clean, * . HE truth about China cannot be told in a few words, There are over 400,000,000 people in China, Ninety nine per cent of the four million are being ground into the dust in order that a few imperialists pany” case, the investigation of| may live in luxury. Those imperial-|Henry Ford caused a stir at the $1-| himself by following the half dozen| ists are Englishmen, Americans, Germans, Japanese or French. And The point is that the Chinese workers are forced to slave for the foreign capitalists in return for a bare existence. They have now reached the limit of endurance and they have revolted. Naturally the |imperialists must find a scape goat,|Raymond “after Wm. H, Gallagher, So they have picked on Russia. * * * is true that the workers and farm- ‘8 of the Soviet Union support the ruggle of the Chinese masses to free themselves from the yoke of the money lords of Wall Street and Threadneedle Street. Why not? There is nothing immoral in assist- ing people to emancipate themselves from slavery, . Disarmament Under General Control Fought by America GENEVA, April 13.—The trouble- some question of international control of disarmament came up again to- 1 day before the League of Nations preparatory disarmament conference, with the United States delegates an- nouncing their opposition to such con- trol. No Control. “The United States is willing to co-operate in seeking a solution of this problem,” said Hugh Gibson, American delegate, “but I must state again that the United States can sign no convention which does not limit it- self to pure and simple questions of disarmament, leaving the execution of the convention to the good will of the signers and their respect for treaties.” Don't Trust U. S, In view of the fact that the United States is much the richest and poten- tially powerful nation, in a military sense, of all those represented at the conference, causes black looks of sus- picion on the other delegates’ faces, If the United States is to break promises to disarm, internatiom# control would be badly needed. And this is just what the U./S, repre- sentative specifically objects to. A. & P. Must Employ Union Bakers CHICAGO, April 18.—No union but- chers will work for the proposed At- lantic & Pacific chain meat markets so long as the corporation refuses to unionize its existing bakeries. This is the ultimatum given the A. & P. when it sounded out Local 546 of the meat cutters on the passibility of union cards in its butcher shops. Chicago people are pretty well educated to the point of associating unidn cards with sanitary shops and wholesome meat. They fear that the absence of the card means disease germs and questionable meat. Open Bostof Book Shop. BOSTON, April 18.—On April 16th there will be an official opening of the Workers Book Shop at new and larger headquarters, 32 Leverett St., Boston, Mass. This is the new home of, modern literature and of radical jmagazines and periodicals, e 5, Personal Service of the Bureau of Business Conditions. (And a serviceable Binder in which | to file the Bulletins). | This redoubtable Bureau is operated |as a branch of the Alexander Hamil- ton Institute, but other bureaus are connected with Harvard Graduate) School of Business, New York Uni-| versity, Babson and a dozen other institutions, In general, these ser- vices will tell their readers what any well-informed person can find out for | Reed Demands Al Books of Sapiro In Detroit Suit DETROIT, April 13.—Attorneys for | |600,000 Ford-Sapiro libel suit today | most important economic and finan- |by filing a petition asking complete | cial journals, | possession of the account books kept} Gambling Stuff | jby Aaron Sapiro, while he earned | In addition some of them add “hun-| | $400,000 net profit from American | ches” for playing the stock market. |co-operatives in the last eleven Years.| Cavefully prepared lists of stocks | The petition was held under ad-| vnich are bound to rise, of others visement by Federal Judge Fred M. i which are bound to go down, are sent | ate aigis |to subscribers. Just what sort of | Sapiro’s counsel, declared the books | jogerdemain is‘ used in developing | bad been —— to Ford representa-| these “hunches,” Wallprol knows not |tives for examination. but certainly if any very wide num-| Gallagher said his client would Per-| her of speculators followed their ad- | |mit further examination of the books | vice, the main purpose of the hunch | jat any time. ... |Sheets would be defeated, | | The Ford attorneys, headed by Sen-| The Bureau's findings ‘are simply | | ator James A, Reed, declared, in their | aimazing.. They puncture once ant |for all the claim of certain pious old| codgers rolling in gold, that they! hold their wealth only as “custodians for the people.” The pitiful five and a hal? millions doled out for sacchar- petition, that the examination was |necessary to prove that Sapiro |charged the farmers “exorbitant and junreasonable fees.” They also filed lan affidavit by Ansel F. Hosmer, an jaceountant, who charged Milton| * aig we Sapiro, brother of the plaintiff, Wie ey ae coe blocked an “adequate examination”) \of Sapiro’s books over the last week | Ponchalantly in one day in the| | anak Florida frenzy of the same year. It} gee 3 i i ? |is no more than a dozen millionaires) svn caus ae ae Mew not | would spend for the construction of | | In their petition, the Ford attor- | Private yachts or ee. estates. In} |neys explained why they desired pos-| the same year 207 millionaires | pobtebo of the Sapiro books. | grabbed $400,000,000 of the national “The plaintiff has given in evi-| income for themselves. At least seven | dence figures purporting to be his | of them coe a hati bua iE |net earnings from the years 1916 to| * oa tet ay ere. S ns 2 926, inclusive,” the petition declared, 1925 out of their income for the year. ‘and the only practical manner by And that settles the myth about | jwhich the truth of the plaintiff's tes-| the generosity of America’s million-| |timony can be decided is by an ex-| #ires. amination of all of his said books.” brates: Aaron Sapiro also denied the fee 2000 Consumers’ Co-ops charges. The petition was signed by | | |Senator James A. Reed, Stewart! In U. Be Says League |Hanley, Clifford B, Longley and) | | Ward N. Choate, Ford attorneys. | Cooperative enterprises are spread- | Gallagher opposed the move. He!ing into more and more fields form- said the law permitted an examina-|eriy entirely dominated by private en- the Cooperative \« | tion only in the courtroom but that|terprises, Sapiro was willing to permit an in-| states. jspection elsewhere. He also filed af-| “Today there are approximately | fidavits from both Aaron Sapiro and| 2000 consumers’ enterprises stretch- |his brother, Milton, denying the! ing from coast to coast,” says the |charges, |league, “and these include meat mar- |markets, milk coal distributors, res- | AORDSIED: SREB O$ | iti | taurant, bakeries, laundries, housing |British Co-op. Members societies, credit unions, life and fire ‘Rap China Policy Tho and pension insurance societies, book ‘Officialdom Lau d: s It stores, libraries, garages, pool rooms, LONDON, April 13—Among the recreation centers, schools, ete.” | labor organizations which support the The cooperative league of New York is the central educational union | proletarian anti-war campaign of the | left wing of the British labor move- |for the many cooperatives. The lea- | gue offers correspondence course to ment there are also many local con-| Workers in all parts of the country | Sumers’ cooperatives and local organ- jizations of the cooperative women’s |to prepare them for more intelligent | participation in cooperative undertak- | guilds, according to notices appearing | regularly in the “Daily Herald.” ings. In addition the eastern league has Yet this gives but an incomplete | picture of the sentiment of the masses raised funds for a cooperative trai ling school to be held in New York} |of the cooperative membership, since | fom April 18 to May 28. This is its |the central units do not support the | first full time school for intensive |movement, and do not permit favor- Preparation of managers for cooper- | jable sentiment to express itself in |their publications, On the contrary, | #V@ilable, the league announces. Simi- | | the cifietal organ st apbenativs New! | lar schools will be held in Minneapolis |continually prints tendencious articles | #4 Superior. | which consciously and systematically | falisfy the imperialist war policy of | |the Baldwin government into a peace | May Day Conference policy, justifying the sending of war- Arranged In Boston | | ships and troops to China, and laying | | the blame, in advance, for any armed | BOSTON, April 13—The Uphol- |clash, upon the national-revolutionary | sters’ Union, Local 87 and the Hat |Canton government, and Capmakers’ Union, Local 7 have called a May Day conference for ORMOND BEACH, Fila,, April 18.—| Wednesday, April 20, eight p. m, at (INS)—Enjoying the “best of health’ |92 A Leverett St. and in excellent spirits after spend-| Every labor organization is invited ing the winter at his palatial home| to “on? two delegates, If no meeting here, John D, Rockefeller, Sr., multi- is held before conference, the officers millionaire oil magnate, probably oa saouid attend, leave Ormond Beach for New York Waa as Ber i Wall Wek e very atives. Several scholarships are still | sometime this month, ) League | ~ capitalist economy of western Europe is the reality seen |by the optimistic Redmond people. Never has the need been so urgent for American workers, under the leadership of the Workers (Commun- ist) Party, to hold back the ruth- less arm of American capitalism, Read The Daily Worker Every Day. BISHOP BROWN’S NEW ROOK Pe Heresy” |- The autobiograhy of an idea. $2.00 Clothbound Bishop Brown’s First Book COMMUNISM vs. CHRISTIANISM Now 10 Cents DAILY WORKER PUB. CO. 33 First Street NEW YORK Now in the Mail Two New Issues of me SC. AMUNIST Ola! Ong she ent Camimsnee of tae Commer nmaman . , FEB. 28 (Vol. 4—No. 3) THE COMMON EAEMY ; Why the enerfies of the Soviet Unipn and of the Chinese Revo- lution are also enemies U.S A. by Robert.Minor, and other articles, MAR. 15 (Vol. 4—No, 4) LENIN'S PREFACD to Bukharin’s “World Weonomics and Impe- rialism.” CLASSES IN CHINA by A. Martinoy LABOUR IN PALUSTINE and other articles, 10 CENTS EACH SUBSCRIBE Get the Communist Interna- tional every issue, $2.00 « Year—$1.00 Six Mos,