Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1972, by

REID & PURVIS,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

CONTENTS OF No. IV.

LIFE INSURANCE DECISIONS,

BANK CHECKS,

ROMAN LAW,

ACCEPTANCE OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE,

PRESENTATION FOR ACCEPTANCE,

DIGEST OF ENGLISH LAW REPORTS, FOR MAY AND

JUNE, 1872,

SELECTED DIGEST OF STATE REPORTS,

DIGEST OF TENNESSEE DECISIONS. Jackson, April Term, '72, 744

BOOK NOTICES,

A Treatise on the Law of Estoppel, and its Application in Practice: By Melville M. Bigelow. Williams on Real Property. Principles of the Law of Personal Property: By Joshua Williams, Esq. Abbott's National Digest, July, 1868, to May, 1872: By Benjamin Vaughan Abbott. Law and Practice in Bankruptcy: By Orlando F. Bump. An Essay on the Principles of Circumstantial Evidence: By the late Wm. Wills. Bench and Bar: Chicago. Western Insurance Review: St. Louis. American Law Record: Cincinnati. Solicitor's Journal and Reporter: London, Pittsburg Legal Journal. Maryland Law Reporter: Baltimore. Lancaster Bar. Pacific Law Reporter: San Francisco. Legal Gazette: Philadelphia Superior Court Reporter: Cincinnati. Opinions of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire in the cases of State vs. Hodge, Northern Railroad vs. Concord Railroad and A., and Fisher & A. vs. Concord Railroad & A., Hill vs. Spear, and State vs. Jones. Index to 40 California and 7 Nevada, State Reports. Olney's Code of Civil Procedure of the State of California. Sharpstein's Digest of Fire Insurance Decisions.

CHART OF SOUTHERN LAW AND COLLECTION UNION,

763

772

I

VI

Life insurance has already become a subject of great interest to the entire public, and is destined to be of more extended interest; and will soon become a question for the courts and legislatures. It presents questions of intricacy to the judicial mind, and of morals to the philosophical.

These insurances were not found in the commercial nations of Europe, except England; and if allowed in any other, at this time, certainly very few, for what reasons, however, does not appear, unless the reason given in France is the prevailing one, viz: "that it is indecorous to set a price upon the life of a man, and especially a freeman, which is above all price." Questions of decorum or morals. have not, at any time, retarded these institutions either in England or the United States, except to a very limited degree, and go then more to their extension than existence. We propose herein to notice some of the features of these institutions, not in a moral, but a legal view, their modus operandi-together with the decisions upon many points involved; and in order to do this in such manner as to be entirely apprehended as well by the unprofessional as professional reader, we propose to commence with the "application" for a policy. An application is a written document, (usually printed and furnished by the company,) to be signed by the applicant for insurance, and which enters into and becomes a part of the contract, and for that reason assumes unusual importance. In this application the appliVOL. 1-NO. IV-1.

cant is to state his name in full, his occupation, residence, place of business, and age; besides these this document contains many minute and personal questions, all of which must be answered in writing. These questions as may be imagined, pertain to the health, present and past, of the applicant, and are intended to give the company such information as will enable them to determine whether the risk is such as they will take. The following specimens, taken from an application of a popular company, will indicate the character of the whole:

1. Has the party now any insurance upon his life?

2. Place and date of birth of party.

3. Present age at nearest birth-day.

4. Is the party married or single?

5. Has the party been vaccinated, or had the Small-pox, or Yellow Fever, Dropsy, Paralysis, Consumption, Spitting of Blood, Scrofula, Gout, Rheumatism, Fits, Liver Complaint, been subject to Cough, Dyspepsia, Dysentery, Bilious Colic, Diarrhea?

6. In what States, nations, etc., the party has resided, and what was the effect of such residence upon the party's health?

7. Name and residence of family physician.

8. What has been recent health of party?

9. Are the habits of life correct and temperate, and have they always been so ?

10. Are parents living, and what are their ages and health; if dead, at what ages and of what diseases did they die?

These questions are varied in the applications of different companies, and generally extend along the line of ancestry (both paternal and maternal) for several generations, and sometimes extend to collaterals, as brothers and sisters; also to serious personal injuries and accidents.

If the insurance is made for the benefit of another than the life insured, the fact is to be stated, and the relationship of such persons. Accompanying these questions and answers, are not unfrequently another test for the family physician.

All these questions and answers are concluded with a general declaration, to the effect that the questions and answers "shall form the basis of the contract," and also, that "any untrue or fraudulent answers, any suppression of facts in regard to the health (or in regard to any pecuniary interest which the insurer may have in the life) of the party insured; any neglect to pay the premium on or before the day it becomes due,-will render the policy null and void, and forfeit all payments thereon; that the policy applied for shall not be binding upon the company until the amount of all premiums due,