THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1909. A DOUBTFUL ANALOGY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3185, 10 May 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1909. A DOUBTFUL ANALOGY.

A Dr. Irvine Fisher, of Yale University, in a recent address before the Association, of Life Insurance Presidents asked whether life insurance companies had a neglected duty to perform in the direction of attempting to lengthen human life. In this connection he urged the visabMity of insurance companies taking an active part in the crusade against tuberculosis and other preventable diseases. He contended that any money expended in educating the public along the lines of modern hygiene would be returned many times over to the policyholders, to say nothing of the enormous economic gains to the country at large. Among other things, he said} —"Should life insurance companies seriously take up the work of lengthening human life, they would make, I believe, the greatest stop forward ever taken in the prolongation of life. The nearest analogy is, perhaps, to be found in the work of fire companies in reducing the number of fires. But it is, I believe, a general truth that the best success of any movement is found only when, in a sense, it reaches the commercial stage, in other words, when it is made to pay in some tangible way." The professor then proceeded to details, and showed that if we take the life tables of different periods for England, France, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, aid Massachusetts, we find that human life lengthened during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries at the rate of about four years per century; that during the first three quarters of the nineteenth century it lengthened at the rate of-nine years per century; that at the present it is lengthened in Europe generally at the rate of seventeen years per century, and in Prussia (which is, pcr-

haps, the home of preventive medicine) at the rate of 27 years per century. A report which the doctor compiled for the Conservation Commi'sbion, based on data contributed from acknowledged American authorities, shows that human life in America could, by the adoption of hygienic reforms already known and entirely practicable, be lengthened by over one-third —that is, over fifteen j)ears. The professor contended that fire insurance companies endeavoured to prevent fires, and life insurance companies should, on a similar principle, endeavour to lengthen human life. The lecture was, no doubt, very interesting, and the subject, we feel sure, was handled with extreme cleverness throughout, but the argument, it seems to us, was based on a false hypothesis, viz., that fire insurance companies endeavour to prevent fires. To what extent do fire insurance companies endeavour to prevent fires and why should they do so? Moveover, assuming that they do make every effort to prevent fires —to what extent do they wish to go in such a direction? Certain it is that if there were no fires there would be no insurance companies, and if the risk of fire were reduced

to a minimum there would be a great reduction in the rate of premiums, and a large falling off in the number of policies effected. It is difficult to see where the analogy between a fire insurance and a life insurance policy comes in. The occurrence of fire is, of course,

probable, but death is inevitable, and excessive longevity on the part 1 of policy holders in a life insurance comoany would, we would think, lead to reduced premiums. As a matter of fact, fire, marine, accident and life insurance policies are all wagers—they are wagering contracts, and the premiums are based upon the "chances" by skilled actuaries. As insurance companies naturally exist to make profits, it stands to reason that the "chances" are in their favour. The companies, however, offer certain benefits under their contracts, and policy-holders being unable to foretell the events of the future take advantage of them. The frequency of fires and the length of IFe do not seem to enter into the real position to any extent.