Mr. Olney to Mr.
Runyon
.
Department of State,
Washington
,
December 19,
1895
.
No. 499.]
Sir: Referring to previous correspondence
relative to certain action of the German authorities inimical to the
interests of American insurance companies doing business in Germany, I
inclose for your information a copy of a letter, dated the 16th instant,
from Mr. James F. Pierce, superintendent of insurance of the State of
New York, inclosing an original communication from the insurance
commissioner of the State of Massachusetts to Mr. von Koller, minister
of the interior of the Kingdom of Prussia, in relation to the very
burdensome restrictions which the German authorities have imposed upon
American life insurance companies.
You are instructed to make such use, in your discretion, of the
accompanying papers as will, in your judgment, best promote the very
important American interests concerned.
I am, etc.,
[Page 450]
[Inclosure 1 in No.
499.]
The Superintendent of Insurance
of the State of New York to Mr. Olney.
State of New York, Insurance Department,
Albany
,
December 16, 1895
. (Received December
17.)
Sir: I beg respectfully to ask your
attention to the fact that a letter, a copy of which is inclosed,
has been sent to the minister of the interior of the Kingdom of
Prussia by the commissioner of insurance of the State of
Massachusetts. Inasmuch as the views therein expressed are in
substantial accord with those given at somewhat greater length in
the letter of this Department, dated November 27, 1895, which I had
the honor to transmit through the good offices of the ambassador of
the United States in Berlin, favored by your kind instructions, I
beg respectfully to suggest that if it be consistent with your views
the inclosed letter be communicated through the same agency for the
information of the foreign office of the German Empire.
It is but one of many indications of the impression made upon public
opinion in the United States by the recent action of the Prussian
Government toward the life insurance institutions in this country,
referred to by the President of the United States in his recent
message to Congress.
I have, etc.,
James F. Pierce,
Superintendent of Insurance of the State of
New York
.
[Inclosure 2 in No.
499.]
The insurance commissioner of
the State of Massachusetts to Mr. Von Koller.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Insurance
Department,
Boston
,
November 25,
1895
.
Dear Sir: As the official of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts charged with the supervision of
insurance both domestic and foreign, my attention has been called to
the action of your Government in relation to the three largest life
insurance companies of the United States of America heretofore
transacting business in Prussia; and after consultation with my
brother officials of other Commonwealths, I am impelled to write to
you that there is a very widespread feeling of indignation among
such insurance officials in this country at the manner in which your
Government has seen fit to treat the American companies, and a very
vigorous demand is being made in this country for the enforcement
against the fire and marine insurance companies of Prussia of the
retaliatory sections of the laws of the several States of this
Union.
In my own judgment it is not altogether so much the very burdensome
restrictions which you have seen fit to impose upon the American
life-insurance companies as the manner in which those companies and
their representatives have apparently been treated by your
Government, and it becomes a serious question for the State
officials of the United States to consider when by your Government
the broad seal of the States of this Union, accompanied by a
certificate under seal of the United States of America, is
apparently contemptuously cast aside and given no weight or
consideration whatever, and the representatives of the American
companies denied a fair hearing which they asked before the
representatives of your Government, whether the time has not come
when the supervisors of insurance in the several States of this
Union must not take some action in regard to your own companies, of
whatever character, now transacting business in the United
States.
I have this morning a letter upon this matter from the Prussian
National Insurance Company, now transacting business in
Massachusetts, and in reply have written very much in the tenor of
this letter, and I feel bound to communicate to you an expression of
the feeling which is becoming very widespread in all the States of
this Union.
Respectfully, yours,
[
seal.]
Geo. S. Merrill,
Insurance
Commissioner
.
[Subinclosure to inclosure 2 in
499.]
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Secretary’s
Office,
Boston
,
December 13,
1895
.
I hereby certify that at the date of the attestation hereunto annexed
George S. Merrill was the insurance commissioner for the said
Commonwealth duly appointed [Page 451] and qualified, and that to his acts and attestations as such full
faith and credit are and ought to be given, in and out of court.
In testimony of which I have hereunto affixed the seal of the
Commonwealth the date first above written.
[
seal.]
Wm. M. Olin,
Secretary of the
Commonwealth
.
