The Duty to Insure

Since life insurance furnishes the surest method of hedging the family against the uncertainty of life, it is essential that all who have assumed family obligations should use it as a means of protecting dependents against the want that may be occasioned by an untimely death. The capitalization of the value of a human life for the benefit of the household depending upon it is a fundamental duty that should be given the widest publicity through the pulpit, the school and the press. In the great majority of instances, life insurance is the only recourse open to the man of moderate income who finds it difficult or impossible by force of circumstances to accumulate a savings fund for those dependents who may outlive him.

The growth of life insurance implies an increasing development of the sense of responsibility. The idea of providing only for the present must give way to a recognition of the fact that a person's responsibility to his family is not limited to the years of survival. Emphasis should be laid on the "crime of not insuring and the ringer of scorn should be pointed at any man who, although he has provided well while alive, has not seen fit to discount the uncertain future for the benefit of a dependent household. As already explained, life insurance is the only sure means of changing uncertainty into certainty and is the opposite of gambling. He who does not insure gambles with the greatest of all chances and, if he loses, makes those dearest to him pay the forfeit". That the gamble is a risky one is easily demonstrated by any mortality table, and even if life is granted until age 50, let it not be overlooked that less than one in ten of our population succeeds in accumulating a reasonable competence, and that through reverses a great majority of this limited number lose the same by the time that age is reached. Woman's rights as well as her duty in the matter of life insurance should also be emphasized. She should be taught that it is not only her husband's duty adequately to protect the family, if that is at all possible, but that it is also her duty, if necessary, to use her persuasive powers to get him to act, and if that does not avail, to insist on action as her right. Not only has she a right to personal protection, but her rights as regards life insurance are further increased by her interest in the children which are as much hers as they are her husband's.

In addition to the advantage of life insurance as a direct protection to the family, it also benefits the policyholder personally in a number of important ways. Six advantages deserve special mention in this respect and all, it should be noted, redound to the benefit of the policy holder's family by qualifying him better to meet its obligations and to protect its comfort and happiness.