Life, 1897-01-21 · page 22 of 22
Life — January 21, 1897 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satirical content** — it's a straightforward financial document: the New York Life Insurance Company's fifty-second annual balance sheet, published in *Life* magazine on January 24, 1897. The page presents: - **Assets** totaling $187,176,406 (including bonds, mortgages, real estate, policy loans) - **Liabilities** and surplus calculations - **1896 Cash Income** of $39,139,558 from premiums and interest - **Expenditures** including payouts for losses, commissions, and overhead - **Key metrics**: $121.5 million in new business written; $34.8 million gain in the U.S.; $826.8 million total insurance in force President John A. McCall's company was reporting robust financial health during the prosperous 1890s. *Life* magazine published such statements to serve as both corporate announcements and proof of institutional solvency — important for reassuring policyholders during an era before modern insurance regulation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LIFE: January 24 te, FIFTY-SECOND ANNUAL STATEMENT. NEW YORK LIFE Insurance Company. No. 346 AND 348 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. JOHN A. McCALL, President. Balance Sheet, January Ist, 1897. ASSETS. United States Bonds ($10,515, and State, City, County, and other Bonds (8' all 103,865,862; market valu Bonds and Mortg: (908 first liens Real Estate ings)... Policy-Holders’ loans and liens on tl as security (legal reserve the: F Deposits in Trust Companies and Banks, at interest . Stocks of Banks, Trust Companies, et! cost value), market value, I mber Premiums in transit, rese! Quarterly and sem-annual serve charged in liabilities. Interest and Rents due and aceru Premium Note: in liabilities, Be Loans on stocks and bonds (market value, § 403) Total Assets ............. spereeeewe $187 CASH INCOME, 1896. Premiums on new insur- ances($121,564,987) $4,752,934 Premiums on new an- nuities .. aay 1,263,324 Total new preminms........ $6,016,258 Renewal Premiums. . TOTAL Ph Interest, et Rents............ 16,852,400 5,972,778 5,401,000 1,023,613 984,200 176,406 138,076 98,862 | 702,620 Total Cash Income $39,139,558 New Business paid for in 1896, $121,564,987. LIABILITIES. Policy Reserve, per certificate of New York Insur- ance Department $158,115,938 All other Liabilities: Policy claims in process of payment, extra reserve voluntarily held. annui- ties and endowments awaiting settlement Surplus (per certificate Insurance Superintendent) December 31, 1896...26,68! ,996 EXPENDITURES, 1896. Paid for losses, endowments and annuities sees $13,310,766 | Paid for di ends and surrender values. eet 5,172,855 Commissions on new business of §1 medical examiner's fees,and inspect fr . 3,099,036 Home and branch office expenses, taxes, advertising, equipment account, telegraph, postage com. missions on 8705,251,661 of old business, and miscellaneous expenditur Balance— Excess of Income over Expenditures for the year $39,139,558 Total Paid for Insurance in force, $826,816,648. Gain in the United States in 1896, $34,800,000. RICHARD K. FOX PRESS, NEW YORK.