The Relation of the Foregoing Advantages to Society at Large

The Relation of the Foregoing Advantages to Society at
Large. The many advantages discussed in the preceding
pages, it is apparent, will greatly benefit the community as a
whole if life insurance is widely used. Mr. Holcombe writes :

It is clear that any agency which improves the mental or
moral attributes, or the material circumstances of any one of
its citizens, raises the condition of the community of which he
is a member, and thus benefits the state. Savings banks en-
courage thrift and produce accumulations which would in many
cases be otherwise wasted, and thus they constitute a distinct
and tangible benefit to the state. Life insurance promotes a
sense of responsibility, strengthens family ties, and thus ele-
vates the general character of the nation. It lessens those fam-
ily discords which end in divorce, it checks intemperance, and
often by its requirements brings a realization of the benefits
of right living. . . . There can be no doubt, furthermore, that
life insurance curtails tbe expense to the public treasury, of
almshouses and police, of criminal courts and prisons, and of
tbe various other necessary branches of the public service which
have to do with the prevention and punishment of crime, and
the relief of tbe suffering and unfortunate. ... It is certain
that in many cases tbe proceeds of a life-insurance policy are
practically all that remain at the death of tbe one responsible
for the support of helpless dependents, and in a vast number
of these cases, were it not for this aid, many persons would be
forced to accept public charity. 1

The value of life insurance as an agency for increasing the
individual's sense of responsibility, and for relieving the com-
munity of much needless expense in supporting members of
destitute families, has been recognized for years by the govermnents
of all civilized countries. As early as 1840 the state
of New York enacted legislation to the general effect that any
life-insurance policy taken out for the benefit of a married
woman, or assigned to or held in trust for her, or which in
case of her death before payment is to inure to the use of her
or her husband's children, was to be free from all claims of
creditors. A large number of our states have since enacted
legislation substantially similar in character, the laws, how-
ever, usually providing that if the annual premium on said
insurance should exceed a stipulated amount (usually $300)
the excess together with interest should be available for
satisfying the claims of creditors of the person paying the
premium. Many foreign governments have also done every-
thing possible to encourage the taking out of life insurance
by adopting a very lenient policy of taxation, although this
very commendable method of encouraging the spread of
life-insurance protection has been neglected or refused by the
several American commonwealths.

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