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Show HOW CHURCH DOES BUSINESS Home Fire Insurance an Example. Apostles and Teachers Tell j Followers Where to Insure. Older Companies Crowded to the Wall I by Concern Which. Beinsurea It Most of Its Risks, II In his "reply" at Provo to, tho speech jM of Senator ICcarns in tho United States l Senate, B, II. Roberts denied that the ill church was in commercialism. Prominent f business men now contend that it is up II to Mr. Roberts to explain the anomaloua II condition that affects the lire insuranco II bu.tlney of Utah, and, to a great cxtonW I of Idaho. II There arc very few people in Utah who I know that the Home Fire Insurance com- : pany of Utah, of which Apostle Hcbcr II J. Grant Is president, controls the Are II Insuranco of tho'State, and a considerable !m proportion of that of Idaho, especially 'I tho southeastern parr, Thoso who do ! know it may or may not be aware of tho fact that, with assets of only $3S9,- I CCO.SSf, this church company Is carrying JI rldlcs to a total of $7,032,650.20. That is: II Having guaranteed Indemnity against loss 1 by flro to the total amount of nearly eight millions of dollara In Utah alone, this l company Is possessed of aggregate rc- ! sources, Including stocks, bonds, real cs- tato and cash oa hand and In bank, of m something less than ?10,0X). These fig- 1 ures are official, or prcsumauly so, for tho reason that they arc the exact rc- turns for the business of tho year 10(M. i filed with tho Sccrotary of State on Feb- JI ruary 21 of tho present year. II . Some Astounding Pigures. 11 1 According to tho samo source of in- I jj formation, tlio report of the officers of the company, the Homo Fire Insurance I company of Utah, during thc year 1C-0I, II collected In gross premiums $73,351.11 and paid out In lire losses 515,305.43. That is: The people of Utah paid to a company with what would look to be Insufficient assets B a sum equal to 20 per cent of tho valuo M of those assets, and which was to In- H ' suro tho payment. In the event of loss. I of about eight millions of dollars to be I paid out of a total posslblo asset of some- I thing less than four hundred thousand I dollars. I There aro people who would contend I that It would be an utter impossibility 1 1 to opcrnto on such a basis, and thoro II ! aro others who argue that, as thc Mor- 1 1 mons for many years bought no Insurance 1 1 at all, it would be impossible for such a , I business to have been built up among I tle Mormon people exclusively. Otners j I there are who will say that It would bo 1 1 out of ro.'ison to find suckers enough In j one Slate to render such a sum In pre- I mlums when the assets available total I only about 5 per cent of thc total 11a- II bllltles. Yet this company, one of tho j I buslnc.is Institutions of the Mormon 1 1 church, fathered by Hober J, Grant, who Kn is In hiding in England, a fugitive from l American laws, has found tho necessary i I ; All Agents Are Mormons. 1 1 1 Let it be understood that in Utah alone j II ' tho company has established thlrty-ilva II local agencies, the occupants of each and ill every ono of which aro Mormons or Mor- mon concerns. Many of them aro blsh- II ops, bishops' councilors and ward clerks. J Every Mormon store In the outlying dls- m trlcts is perforce a subscriber to the iM Home Fire of Utah. Further than that, II as ono prominent local insurance man iw put it yesterday, Hober J. Grant, when JI ho was out on church business and hiti ill expenses paid by tho church, just as H thoso of any other commercial traveler jW would be paid bv his house, put in the. ill bulk of his time soliciting flro insuranco II for his company, and on many occasions 11 publicly exhorted the people to insuro In , hlo company because It was an organl- JI zatlon not composed of nor controlled by - Hi tho wicked Gentiles. JI Tho Home Fire of Utah was organized ill In 16, and prior to that time thero. wcro l but few ot the Mormon people, if any. II who ever protected their property by in- II surance. Thero was a number of the old- l lino companies here with active ngents, ill and. through the requirements of our 111 modern commercial system, there was a lit J good Held In the matter of protecting 111 mortgages and credits alone. All of these- JU old aKcncles had a good business before II tho Mormon company entered the field. Old Companies Lose Business. 91 Let uo sou where thoy are now. Dur- il Ing tho last vuur the Homo Flro of Utah jjl received over seventy-three thousand dol- nil lars In premiums, with total assets of leas ira than four hundred thousand dollars. II An American company, in tills Held for HII insurance long before tho Mormon com- 111 pnnv, with assjts of over fifteen millions III of dollars; whoso business Integrity Is HI unquestioned and has been demonstrated; j whose resident agents are not only of 11- Wll clcnt but nopular. received but a little mm over $32,000 "in premiums in the same year, gUI and no other company camo anywhere fljjl near the sanlo rigurcs. mm Ward Teachers Give Instructions. Ijn One Insurance mnn who has been in tho Ijll business here slnco before tho organlza- Bj , lion of thc clurch's company, said yes- IHI terday that at Ilrst ho could occasionally l II got a policy from some Mormon or other. l "1 have porno of them yet." he said, "but II I have noted that each year I lose Jti3t nil about 00 per cent of them. Before the MM period of renewal the ward teachers havo Hf txen around and have Instructed the poo- mm plo to patronize their Homo Insurance Elf company. I have my business yet. but 111 It docs "not come from Mormon sources. nl In fact. I knoTv" of Instances where men Mil very high In ecclesiastical office in the HI Mormon church, others than Apostle II Ilcber J. Grant, have solicited and prat- Ijft tlcally forced Mormons to take insuranco MM in tho church, company." Another insurance mnn states that S." Bj II i por cent of the Mormon dwellings In Utah Bj 1 are Insured by the Mormon compnny. I II This is usually regarded by Insurance f p-.c-n as a choice class of risk, and tho III brethren have been "counseled" to in- Kill sure at home. A favorite advertisement I1 1 , j of Iho company 13, "Keep 'your monoy at ' i jj.onj(y hisurinr: in the Homo Flro of Hj ! jj How Money Is Kept at Home. I "Let us aco," said this gentleman, "how d t they keep the money at homo. As a mat- u:r of fact, tho Homo Firo of Utah sends H '- tho big end of all tho money it receives 1 In premiums to nomo of the large l.ast- Hl crn companies. It doesn't keep any of ' tho moncv at homo except its own rako- H cff. It has practically no assets and must HI ' i reinsure, and lhat Is exactly what It does. H ,1 The porcontngo that It roinsures 13 some- I whero about OS or 09 per cent, and the HI.' ' j onlv lnsuranco that It carries itself is tho J r J choicest of the dwelling-house risks, whero i. , tho minimum hazard provulls. HJ , V i "It is hard competition to go up H against. Even In Salt Lako wo feel It, but I , i i we havo learned not to spend monoy try- H. H 2 Ing to get a foothold in tho outsldo scttlc- J .1 ' ments. Tlio church owns that flold and 'ib ' havo It bv right pf conquest. They have I ,1 i preached for it and havo taught it as a ' Hj i part of the religion and my companies H' , are not going to buck tho church HI -I Another Insurance man whoso business I , i Is tho life line, stated that tho new llfo 1 ', , Insurance company which tho church Is H . about to organize will be operated on tho H r same lines as the flro company. It will H - not havo the necessary assets to pay poll- H - K I cics and will- reinsure n Home of tho H p larger Eastern companies, taking only lt3 H it excess commission. H, JJ - Price Is No Object. HI ' Tho mere fact that man can bo Induced ' to buy lnsuranco by religious exhortations H . !! and becauso of connection with a re- I Jl llglous body suggested that the buyer Hp!) might be so operated upon that he would M.'g pay whatever price thir church might dlc- Ht tato he should pay. Tho Homo Flro of Hj I'tah has the-reputation among lnsuranco H men of cutting rates where the same Is H necessary ir. going after a risk owned by f a Gentile, hut In tho settlements and tho H outlying towns they are known as keep-M keep-M ing tho rates pretty well up; somotlmcs Hi! exceedingly high. k Ono of the nmpslng incidents attending if tho filing of the annual report of tho com- l pany In tho Secretary of State's offico III was a document advising all whom it may Iff I rencern that Hcber J Grant is tho proper I officer of tho company on whom pro-HM? pro-HM? cess'es' of law should be served. It waa UM suggested that Apostlo Grant, a fugitive h I from, justice In Great Britain, would bo easily reached to serve a garnishment Hr.v process on. j |