The insurance of children. : The argument of John D. Long before the Committee on insurance of the Massachusetts Legislature, April 4, 1895, on the bill to prohibit insurance of children under 10 years of age. Amended copy of stenographic report.

  • Long, John D.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The insurance of children. : The argument of John D. Long before the Committee on insurance of the Massachusetts Legislature, April 4, 1895, on the bill to prohibit insurance of children under 10 years of age. Amended copy of stenographic report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    believe the petitioners,had a good case. I do not appear be- fore you here simply as counsel; I appear before you under a strong and clear conviction. I believe that this legislation asked for is wrong, is illogical, and is such as no legislative body ought to pass. If I were a member of the House or of the Senate, I would vote against it, If I voted alone. My, heart is warm for the children. I am a vice-president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; I have spoken on their platform; I have pleaded for their cause ; I have represented them at their gatherings ; I am one with them in the general purposes which they have in view. In this particular instance, I, in common with a good many others of their members and officers, differ from their secretary. CHARACTER OF THE INSURANCE COMPANIES. What are the corporations which are attacked here ? One of them is a Massachusetts corporation, the John Hancock Company. And who are its officers ? Among them are Mr. Samuel Wells, a man of tne highest character ; Mr. John Carr, President of the First National Bank, and Vice- President of the Home for Little Wanderers; Thomas F. Temple, well known and respected in this community, Register of Deeds, and for a long time Chairman of the Overseers of the Poor; Daniel Needham, just dead ; Franklin Haven, President of the Merchants' National Bank; Edwin B. Holmes, present Grand Master of the Masons, one of the largest charitable organizations in the State; Medical Director Dr. Wells, who has largely devoted his life to charity among the poor; and other well-known gentlemen. If such men have been delib- erately engaged in a matter which is inhuman and an outrage upon the lives of little children, then it will be a surprise to this community. I do not believe this committee is prepared to put such a stigma upon them. Of the other two companies, one is the Metropolitan of New York, known everywhere for its promptness and stability, its credit and great resources; and the other is the Prudential of New Jersey, so strong in the confidence of the people of that State that in one city, we are told, its policies exceed the population. Ask your own Mas-