Magnitude of the Business

The success which the industrial companies have achieved is clearly indicated by the remarkable growth of the business, especially since 189O. Beginning in the United States as late as 1875, the business has grown by leaps and bounds until it has reached enormous proportions. On December 31, 1913, twenty-nine industrial companies were operating in the United States, and their industrial insurance at that time represented 29,243,950 policies with a face value of $3,962,385,087, or an amount nearly equal to 24 percent, of the total ordinary life insurance in force in all American companies. The admitted assets of these companies at the close of 1913, as regards their industrial business, amounted to over $910,000,000, the premium income received during the year to nearly $219,000,000, and the claims paid to $60,000,000.

It is also worthy of note that by far the largest share of the business is controlled by three companies, and these it may be stated were the first to undertake this form of insurance in the United States. The combined industrial business of these three companies on December 1, 1913, represented 25,-296,622 policies or over 86 percent of the total policies, with a face value of $3,632,031,830 or nearly 92 percent, of the total insurance written. One of the companies carried nearly 13,000,000 industrial policies and another over 11,000,000, and their insurance in force amounted to $1,778,000,000 and $1,-462,000,000, respectively. In 1909 the three companies referred to had about 750 superintendents, about 3,800 assistants, and about 21,000 agents.

The growth of industrial insurance is indicated by the following table, compiled from the Insurance Year Book: