My principal object in presenting this paper is to assist the student in his endeavour to obtain a knowledge of Life Insurance as it is practised in the United States of America, and to correct certain misconceptions regarding it among many of the older members of the profession.

The casual reader is apt to receive wrong impressions of Insurance in America through a want of knowledge of the conditions surrounding it. He is probably under the impression that nearly all American companies do business on the tontine plan, that new assurance is obtained at enormous cost, and that “Assessment Insurance” of the original type is the only system practised. Before proceeding to discuss these matters, it will be well to give a brief review of the history of Insurance in the United States. Without historical knowledge it is difficult to understand the legislative enactments regarding “Old Line” Insurance, or to realise the astonishingly large proportions to which Assessment Insurance has grown.