The NALU officers held their midyear Meeting in Chicago that year, rather than in New York, meeting at the Drake Hotel on February 5. Considerable attention was given to the Association's progress in bringing educational plans to fruition and efforts to make the national organization "as serviceable as possible to the local associations." Jones explained that the NALU's educational program was proceeding along four major lines:

1. The formation of machinery for maintaining proper standards of education;
2. The encouragement of life insurance as a social study in colleges;
3. The awarding of scholarships by the National Association;
4. The proposed certification of approved underwriters as professional men on the basis of rules being formulated by the Committee on Educational Standards.

Edward A, Woods, reporting on the work of the Committee on Educational Standards, said he deplored the tendency to shorten the salesmanship courses which had been given throughout the country beyond the jurisdiction of universities. He also told them of a conference recently held in New York with the deans of several universities "for the purpose of establishing minimum standards for two kinds of courses, one to be a standard whole time course under the supervision of a teaching staff of a university, and the other course to cover courses similar to that given by the Y.M.C.A." Woods felt there was a necessity of having the first course in the hands of college authorities and under the supervision of the university teaching staff, Life Association News reported. "He further stated that the committee was looking forward to establishing a two-year course and a four-year course which would include all allied subjects necessary for an adequate background such as various branches of economics, sociology, banking, etc."

Henry McNamer of Chicago emphasized the necessity of well-informed instructors, the reporter noted, "and lent point to his remarks by reciting several pertinent instances where dangerous misinformation had been given by certain instructors."

Guy MacLaughlin of Houston, chairman of the Subcommittee on Underwriters' Status or the Awarding of Certificates, also contributed to the discussion:

The speaker referred to the fact that the idea had its incipiency at the 1923 Convention in Chicago, and that the matter of conferring a distinctive designation on underwriters who particularly deserved it had been growing in the meantime to such an extent that he believed it would now be possible to designate one hundred men as Counselors of Life Insurance. This class he thought would constitute a nucleus susceptible to further discreet enlargement.

He further suggested that a class of underwriters be established, the members of which should be known as Accredited Underwriters, and from the ranks of this group it would be possible to add to the Counsellorships. Mr. MacLauglin moved that proper action should be taken along these lines. The motion was seconded, but was amended to the following effect: that Mr. MacLaughlin's Committee work out a plan and present it to the Board of Trustees.[xvii]

These discussions (thought by no means the first such utterances on the subject) demonstrate how rapidly the leaders of the NALU—along with others, such as Huebner, who were interested in seeing life insurance marketing a recognized profession-—ere progressing in formulating the concept of a college for life underwriters. In effect, Woods and MacLaughlin were proposing the Chartered Life Underwriter program. Ultimately, the "nucleus" concept was not adopted in quite the way that MacLaughlin proposed, owing primarily to Huebner's strenuous opposition to anything other than strict examination of candidates and regular academic protocol. Apparently, at this stage the NALU's leaders were influenced by the Chartered Life Underwriter program already established in Canada, where it had been initiated with a nucleus of agents of unquestioned credentials, along with a minimal qualifications test.[*]

The committee also heard a report of Third Vice President J.J. McSweeney who pledged the cooperation of the Canadian agents in assuring the success of the upcoming convention. Other items dealt with included the admission of nine new associations and plans to award fifteen scholarships at the Atlantic City convention.

By September, everything was in readiness for the NALU's 37th annual convention. According to the official count, the total number of delegates and guests from all associations came to 1922. They elected George D. Alder of Salt Lake City as president of the national body. Chiefly due to the charms and persuasive powers of Mrs. E.J. McCoramck, wife of the president of the Memphis Association, Memphis, Tennessee, was selected as the site of the next convention. Although the Philadelphia Association planed and hosted the convention, NALU president Jones also presented to the convention Sarah L. Miller, president of the newly-formed Atlantic City Association, saying:

The number of local associations of Life Underwriters in the United States was increased the past administration year from 160 to 191. One of this number that we count in the increase is a new association at Atlantic City. They did a very wise thing here. They elected a woman as the first president and I think I might advise them to continue to elect women because they have come into underwriting as a very distinct phase of our work and very much to its benefit.

"This is an international convention," Jones reminded the delegates. "Periodically we meet with Canada, and so far that is the extent of our life Insurance internationalism. In the Executive committee meeting yesterday, we considered the advisability of extending our association work to the Provinces of Great Britain over the other side of the Atlantic and even into South Africa. We have no doubt that in due course this association movement will reach Life Underwriters in al countries, particularly where life underwriting is being considered as we are considering it—a great profession of the future." [xviii]

Despite all the work and careful planning of the Philadelphia agents, the convention was somewhat of a disappointment to many. The National Underwriter's review of the convention consisted of a catalogue of negative comment:

There must be a very decided lack of interest in the annual convention of the National Association when Atlantic city as the Convention headquarters and a program that seemed, on paper at least, to be unusually practical and engaging, fail to draw a crowd equaling only that secured by, say the Buffalo Sales Congress; for if 1,500 were registered at Atlantic city, and probably there were not, at least 200 must be lopped off as wives of delegates and guests….

One of the things that operated to reduce the attendance at all sessions, was the establishing of hotel headquarters at the Traymore Hotel. The Traymore is more than a mile up the boardwalk from the Steel Pier, where nearly all of the sessions were held….

An annual convention of the National Association of Life Underwriters should be held primarily for the purpose of demonstrating to those present how and where to sell more Life Insurance. Anything else should be a side issue. Leading luminaries of the business should not be put on the program merely because they have established reputations. No time should be taken up in discussing how to organize local associations or how to conduct local association meetings. That is routine and can be handled by National and local association officers during the year….

The National Association meetings have become somewhat like three-ring circuses. There are, on some days, sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening. This is too much. No one can attend all three sessions and absorb and retain everything of benefit heard. In fact, the real criticism, the one that touches the root of the whole matter is that for several years too much has been put on these National Association programs. For two years the meeting was extended over four days. This year it was cut down to three, but there were night sessions. The annual banquet should be eliminated. It is productive of no good, lasts four hours, and wears out the patience of those who are in attendance.[xix]

Though not as harsh in tone, the editor of The Eastern Underwriter seemed to share these sentiments. "The Atlantic City Convention of the National Association of Life Underwriters was purely academic," He commented. "It was a convention of some great personalities on the platform, but not on the floor. The same old figures who have been active in other conventions were present, but they might as well have been a thousand miles away. They did not let out a peep in the way of impromptu comment from the floor in the two and a half days of the convention…. It was a convention which was a distinct disappointment in attendance, which was light the first day, padded the second day, and which melted away to a few hundred the third day."[xx]

It should be remembered that anyone attending these meetings was expected to pay the entire expense for the trip. It is highly unlikely that any funds were forthcoming from the treasuries of local associations to send delegates to the NALU conventions, as is common practice today. Probably the real problem stemmed from the recent innovation: the growth of regional sales congresses which provided a convenient "substitute" for the national Meetings. This was the opinion of Willis Hatfield Hazard, editor of The New England Pilot:

In the first place, the small attendance, probably not over 1500, raises the question of the present value of these National gatherings. The aggregate expense of all those in attendance, plus the inescapable cost of the convention itself, must have been enormous.

It is undoubtedly true that the great success of the local one-day sales congresses has eaten into the popularity of the national gathering. Why shouldn't they supplant it to a very real extent? Isn't it easier to bring Mahomet to the mountain, than take the mountain to Mahomet—especially when he himself usually does not live in the convention city any more than he does in the congress city? Life insurance men are by no means "fed up" on such gatherings. Thy hunger for the food given by such speakers as made the Atlantic City sessions interesting.

On the other hand, the National Body must meet, and it must therefore select a place in which to meet. The insurance men of the city chosen receive a very real benefit form the immense amount of free advertising that their business receives locally, while the city is benefited in numerous ways from serving at the theatre of such a gathering. The stimulus to both is positive, and the profits to both are considerable.[xxi]

During the final moments of the convention, the delegates passed an anti-brokerage resolution proposed by C. Burgess Taylor, a general agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life in Philadelphia. Again and again, agents who effected a sale found all their efforts undermined when the client, once convinced of his need, turned to a broker and gave him the contract, the credit and the commission. It was simply a case of letting someone profit form another's work. The practice was common, as Taylor's impassioned speech on the subject amply illustrated. The resolution stated:

WHEREAS, Life Insurance salesmanship has been lifted from the field of a casual occupation to the dignity of a profession, and

WHEREAS, the requirements of professional service necessitate the expenditure of effort, time and money to equip an agent to give service which the insuring public is being educated to expect, and

WHEREAS, the practice of accepting insurance from brokers contributes to the volume of business written by the company, but robs the professional Life Insurance man of the fruits of his labor in a harsh and unjustifiable manner;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that it is the sense of the members of the National Underwriters Association in convention at its Philadelphia-Atlantic city Meeting, 1926, that the companies indulging in such practices should discontinue same at once and accept business only form its own agents, except in cases of legitimate surplus business.[xxii]

The new year marked the end of another noble experiment in setting standards for qualifying agents---for the moment, at least, in Pennsylvania, Early in 1927, Einar Barford, retiring insurance commissioner of Pennsylvania, abolished the Advisory Board system for licensing agents. This was the model licensing system endorsed and recommended for other states by the NALU Executive Committee at the Chicago convention in 1923. (It will be recalled however, that Woodworth, president of the Philadelphia Association that year, had opposed the idea on the grounds that the licensing advisory boards were not sufficiently dominated by agents committed to the Association movement.)

In defending this decision, Barford stated:

The worst feature of the Advisory Board system was that in several counties the boards represented the Insurance Department and exercised all its license authority, and were composed of agents for notoriously unsound and undesirable insurance organizations, companies and associations against which the present insurance administration has brought ouster and liquidations proceedings. It matters not that some of the boards in the larger counties were composed of high minded, public spirited citizens. They were laboring under a delusion in believing that their efforts were effective. They could not be effective as long as they were impotent to guarantee the integrity of all the boards in this state. An agent refused a license for good cause y an honest board could, and frequently did, go to an adjoining county and secure a license, which was good in any county in the state.[xxiii]

The Midyear meeting of the NALU Executive Committee, held at Chicago's Palmer House on Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26, 1927, was an historic event in the annals of life insurance marketing. "The great thrill of the meeting," Life Association News reported, "being the announcement of the incorporation of The American College of Life Underwriters."

There were some regrettable absences. Since A.L, Petty didn't attend, Canada had no representative at this meeting. Edward A. Woods was not there, either. Consequently, the report on the American Committee of the International Council, which Woods chaired, was delivered by former NALU president Voshell, also a member of the council.

Concerning efforts to organize life underwriters associations overseas, Voshell said, "We believe that the effect upon American life insurance in agitating American methods in the British Dominions (and by 'American,' we mean anything pertaining to Canada as well as the United States) would be helpful in all English-speaking countries." He then listed those features of the America system that had contributed so much to its success:

• payment of commissions and renewals;
  
• discarding the older methods of selling life insurance over the counter;
  
• enforcement of anti-rebate laws;
  
• the practice of selling life insurance exclusively instead of multiple lines, such as fire, marine and casualty, in addition to life, as did the English companies.
  

The remainder of the morning was taken up with financial matters and Ernest Clark's report form the Publications Committee. It was early in the afternoon session when the important milestone in agent education came up before the group:

At this point, Mr. Jones introduced the dramatic feature of the meeting by announcing the incorporation of The America College of Life Underwriters. The speaker traced the development of the movement, telling how the idea was first suggested by Guy MacLaughlin at the Chicago Convention and referred to the many disappointments which Mr. MacLaughlin had experienced. In the course of the presentation of the subject, Franklin W. Ganse, Chairman of the Special Committee, paid a warm tribute to Ernest J. Clark for his activities in assisting in the technicalities of incorporation.

During the previous year, Mr. MacLaughlin had as an associate Gorge W. Alder, now President of the National Association. At the Atlantic City Convention this matter was referred by the Executive Committee to the Board of trustees with power to act. A Special Committee was appointed by the Board with Mr. Ganse as Chairman and the development of the idea had moved with such satisfactory rapidity that the incorporators were to meet immediately following the adjournment of the session to sign the articles of incorporation.

Ernest J. Clark contributed to the symposium on the subject by announcing that the College would not only confer the degree of "Chartered Life Underwriter," but had as its ultimate objective the establishment of a real College of Life Underwriting. He said that it had received much aid from Dr. S.S. Huebner of the University of Pennsylvania and that the College was in no sense to be regarded as a "diploma mill"; that the degree would not be simply an honorary title but would be fully and definitely earned, the eligibility of an applicant being determined very largely by an exhaustive questionnaire…

Franklin W. Ganse then took up the matter of the Qualifications Blank, which had been rewritten several times. He said it was not for the purpose of inquiring too closely into the affairs of those applying for the degree, but was devised in order to get a fairly complete picture of all candidates from various angles.

The by-laws of the College provide that no applicant shall receive the degree unless he has been a member of a local Life Underwriters Association three years in all, two years of which membership at leas has been continuous up to the time of his receiving the degree.

Later on it became apparent that it is the hope of the sponsors of the College to have an Examining Board in each city, before whom candidates will be requested to appear for a personal conference and examination… There was a discussion of what figure to set the matriculation fee. Various ideas were suggested, ranging from a fee of $25 to $100, and the consensus of opinion was to the effect that the fee should be set at $100.

Obviously, Clark's Washington contacts and his experiences six years before in gaining the NALU's charter of incorporation determined that the College's charter would be granted by the District of Columbia. No doubt, it was Clark who also did the legal legwork. Officers of the embryonic college were: Edward A. Woods, president; Guy M. MacLaughlin, vice president; Solomon S. Huebner, Dean; Earnest J. Clark, secretary; Franklin W. Ganse, treasurer; and Everett M. Ensign, registrar. The original directors were: Frank L. Jones, chairman of the National Association's Executive Committee, George D. Alder; J. Stanley Edwards; Hugh D. Hart; Paul F. Clark; John Newton Russell; Charles L. Scott and Edward S. Brashears, attorney for the NALU.

The principal officers met on May 3 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington to discuss the goals and operation of the institution. "It was a fiery session, lasting all day and far into the night," according to Mildred Stone. Controversy centered on granting honorary degrees, educational prerequisites of candidates, and the scope of the examination. Insisting on high standards, Huebner, Clark and Woods stood firm on not granting honorary C.L.U.s requiring all candidates to have a high school diploma or the equivalent and on making the examinations thorough and rigorous. Course material especially occasioned heated disagreement, as Stone reports:

Dr. Huebner recommended a curriculum covering life insurance fundamentals and salesmanship, economics, taxation, commercial credit, banking, investments, English, and public speaking. He listed 23 books with 8,000 pages of text to implement the student's preparation. Such a program was vigorously opposed by some members of the committee. They urged an alternate, simplified plan which Dr. Huebner's supporters scornfully referred to as "a two-dollar package." In the Heat of the argument some walked out and slammed the door, but they came back and compromised. Eventually, most of Dr. Huebner's topics were covered, though the recommended reading list was cut in half.[xxv]

They hoped to implement the program primarily through established colleges and universities, many of which were already offering sources in life insurance. "It was decided", Life Association News reported, "that while the College reserves the right to give educational courses of its won, should it choose to do so, that for the present at least, its first object will be to institute a series of examinations of life underwriters of ability and experience who wish to apply for the degree of Chartered Life Underwriter." They agreed that it the number of applications warranted it, examinations would be held twice a year at centrally located educational institutions in the various reigns of the country. Monitors would have to be secured to administer the examinations. The reporter added that the registrar's office was already "deluged" with applications from agents anxious to take the examinations.[xvi]

On August 1, 1927, Roger B. Hull became Managing Director and General Counsel of the NALU. Hulls appointment resulted from deliberations of the Special Committee on Allocation and Reorganization appointed at the Atlantic City convention, composed of Hugh D. Hart, Paul F. Clark, Charles A. Foehl, J. Stanley Edwards and Frank L. Jones. Hart, and active member of the New York life Underwriters Association, was also a member of the NALU's board of trustees that year. As he explained later, Hull came to his attention on the recommendation of John W. Davis, former ambassador to Great Britain. Hull had been associated with Davis in the Solicitor General's Office.

The committee was obviously pleased with its choice. Leaders of the National Association had felt the need for someone of Hull's stature for a long time. Describing him as "the exact individual" Hart and his committee had been seeking, Life Association New Listed Hull's credentials and experiences:

Mr. Hull graduated from Yale College in 1907. Shortly after this he spent considerable time as a traveling student secretary in the New England district for the Young Men's Christian Association.

In 1911 he graduated from Harvard law school and then practiced for one year in Boston. During 191 and 1913 he was Assistant Attorney General of Puerto Rico and Special Counsel to the Insular Public Service Commission.

The following year and until 1915, Mr. Hull was engaged as Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States under Attorneys General MacReynolds and Gregory.

During 1916 and 1917 he practiced law in Chicago, but at the outbreak of the Wold War he entered the service first as a Captain in the Ordnance Reserve corps, following which he was stationed in New York City under special designation, in uniform, to the Department of Justice. Later on he became a Major in the Judge Advocate General's Department, subsequently service as Camp Judge Advocated ag Camp Green, Charlotte, N.C. He was then transferred to France, service as Trial Judge Advocate with the A.E.F.

From 1919 to 1924 Mr. Hull practiced law in New York City and was associated with a Wall Street firm. In 1925 he accepted the position of General Attorney for the New York Railways Company, Since January, 1927 he has been engaged in private practice in New York City.

Mr. Hull lives in Pelham Manor with his wife and two daughters.[xxvii]

Hull would serve the NALU long and well, both as manager and legal advisor. Association officers generally found him competent and congenial. "He had a voice that was as much like Orson Welles' as you can imagine—and great presence," says Donald F. Barnes, who joined the headquarters staff some years later. Charles Zimmerman, later a president of the NALU, recalls that he was quite a trencherman. Once when they were motoring together on Association business, Hull had Zimmerman drive thirty miles out of their way so that they could dine at an inn Hull remembered as "a good place to eat."[xxviii]

Among the articles appearing in the national organization's magazine to stimulate interest in the upcoming convention was one announcing the formation of the Million Dollar Round Table. Concerning this "innovation of far reaching importance," the reporter explained:

Only those life underwriters who are willing to go on record as having paid for at least $1,000,000 of business during the calendar year of 1926 of up to October 1, 1927, will be admitted to this special group meeting. Group insurance is not to be included in individual records.

The sessions will be absolutely informal, with no pre-arranged program. The conference will last two or three hours and be devoted to ways and means recently used by those in attendance in closing big cases.

If this idea proves as successful as its sponsors hope it will be, it is expected that the "Million Dollar Round Table" will become a permanent informal group within the ranks of the National Association, where important sales ideas will annually or more frequently be brought forward and passed on to the newer producers. Invitations to all million dollar producers are now being sent out from National headquarters of the National Association, this particular group embracing, as it does, approximately 200 men.

Paul F. Clark, vice president of the NALU and chairman of the Convention Program Committee, was in charge of this project.

The 38th annual convention of the NALU was held at the luxurious Peabody Hotel in Memphis on October 12, 13 and 14, 1927. The setting was ideal. The hotel was large enough to accommodate all sessions as well as the social life of the meeting. The weather was perfect, (all three days were sunny with temperatures in the 60's), and the Tennessee life insurance community, under the leadership of Mr. and Mrs. E.J. McCormack, proved to be splendid hosts. "Present at all times," The National Underwriter commented, "was an air of southern hospitality and cordiality that did as much as anything else to make the affair as much a success as it was."

During the opening session Edward A. Woods unveiled details about The American College of Life Underwriters. Reviewing the long road leading to the founding of the institution, he outlined the scope of the college and proposals for granting the Chartered Life Underwriter designation.

The delegates elected 47 year-old Julian S. Myrick as their new president. Applauding the delegates' choice, The Insurance Advocate observed, "Fear had been expressed that certain other individuals might be given this honor, but it seems that what might have been hard feeling has been avoided by his election."

Myrick was a familiar figure both in and out of life insurance circles. The biographical sketch published by Life Association News in November, not only summarized his very successful career, but also revealed something of the range of his varied interests:

Mr. Julian S. Myrick…was born March 1, 1880, in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He graduated from Trinity School in New York City in 1897. He is married and is the father of four children.

Mr. Myrick began his insurance career in 1898 with Charles H. Raymond & Co., General Agents of the Mutual Life in New York City. Following this Mr. Myrick and Charles E. Ives were associated as general Agents of the Washington Life of New York from 1907 to 1909. They then became managers of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York in January 1909. The production of this agency approximates thirty-five millions annually.

The new executive head of the National Association is now President of the New York State Association of Life Underwriters and was formerly President of the New York City Association. He is also Chairman of the Legislative Committee of the New York City Association.

Mr. Myrick was formerly President of the United States Lawn Tennis Association and is now a member of its Executive Committee, he has been the Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Davis Cup since 1920.

Mr. Myrick's social and business connections are numerous, among them being the New York Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, The Bankers Club, The National Republican Club, the Racquet and Tennis Club, Rockaway Hunting Club, Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club, Orange Lawn Tennis Club and for several years he was President of the West Side Tennis Club.

It is interesting to note that in 1927 Charles Ives' reputation rested solely on his achievements in the business world. Ives was probably the only life underwriter ever to receive a Pulitzer prize. He and Myrick made one of the most successful teams in the history of life insurance marketing. Widely respected in the business, they had both joined the New York City Life Underwriters Association in 1906. But only Ives' family, a few musician and such close associates as Myrick were aware of his innovative work as a composer for which he is chiefly remembered today. One of his best known works, "The Fourth of July," Ives dedicated to Myrick.

Myrick's election surprised him as much as anyone. "I was sitting at my desk in 57 William Street," he recalled, "when a phone call came through form Hugh Hart at the NALU convention in Memphis. He told me the nominating committee wanted me to become president. Well, I had about as much idea of becoming president of NALU as I had of jump in off the dock. I laughed and said, "Hugh, I don'' want to be president and I won't take it, and even if I wanted to, my agency vice president wouldn't let me.'" But Hart wasn't to be put off. He mad a few well-placed phone calls, and that night found Myrick on the train speeding toward Memphis—with the blessing of his agency vice president.[xxix]

Clarence Axman, editor of The Eastern Underwriter, was probably not alone in regarding the delegates' choice as a return of the Old Guard:

The big electorial surprise of the convention was that of Julian S. Myrick to the presidency and of C.C. Day to the first vice presidency. When the Convention opened most of those present had not the faintest idea that Myrick would be the man while Myrick was in New York and did not know anything about the movement for him when it got under way.

The Convention managers knew they could do nothing without the consent of President Houston and Vice president Sargent of the Mutual Life and so both were gotten on the long distance phone.

After considerable telephonic conversation the consent of the Mutual Life was obtained, whereupon all other candidates became lost to sight.

Some Westerners and Southerners wanted to know if the Ives & Myrick office did not take brokerage business, and when they found it did some rumblings of discontent were heard, but not enough to make any difference in the nomination….

Mr. Day came into the new officers' picture when E.J. McCormack told friends that he withdrew his name because of pressure from high quarters. As to just how that pressure was exercised is not known except it was the occasion of a talk by Thomas W. Blackburn, former secretary and counsel of the American Life Convention, before one of the committee meetings in which he denied having anything to do with it.

This was one of the chief "inside" political events of the Convention and caused quite a stir as McCormack is popular not only with Memphis life men, but also with the Convention. A part of this is due to the charm, wit and eloquence of his wife who was responsible in the first place for the Convention coming to Memphis, the result other speech before a committee in Atlantic City during which she routed Lawrence Priddy and then made good in Memphis by her "welcome to the city" remarks. She presented such a beautiful picture on the platform and talked with such good humor that the Convention felt that she should be adopted as a mascot.[xxx]

Many, however, did not share Axman's belief that the elections represented a conspiracy of the "old guard" to gain control of the NALU. The Insurance Field, for instance, and this to say about the convention:

Those who see in Mr. Myrick's election a triumph of the "old guard" over the "younger generation" in the National Association are likely to have opinions to alter, for Mr. Myrick, although a New York general agent and an Easterner, has always held himself aloof from the politics of the organization.

His selection for the honor actually surprised him: he was persuaded to accept in a series of long distance telephone conversations, participated in by leaders of both so-called factions of the Association, with followed conferences—preceding the Convention itself—whose purpose was to pick the finest material available in the National Association for leadership during the coming year.

Those who know Mr. Myrick will agree that a better selection would have been impossible to find. No higher type, either as an executive and organizer or as a polished gentleman, has ever been president of the Life Underwriters.

He faces a task which will not be small even for his ability. The development of the American College of Life Underwriters and the expansion and co-ordination program of the Association are in a stage where they can be made or marred during the coming year, while the close cooperation and guidance of Mr. Myrick will be invaluable to Managing Director Hull during the first months of his new post.[xxxi]

Myrick remained active in Association affairs long after his year in office, serving on the board of trustees for thirteen years. His guidance would prove invaluable on more than one occasion. He was involved in the work of the Chamber of Commerce and for a number of years headed an NALU committee to promote cooperation between the underwriters associations and the Chamber. In 1929, he became a direct of The American College of Life Underwriters and succeeded Ernest Clark as chairman of its Board of Trustees in 1938, a post he held until 1960. Myrick's wide-ranging prestige and his close friendship with Herbert Hoover led to his becoming a key member of the Hoover commission in 1955. Formed to investigate the efficiency of the federal government, its recommendations were endorsed by the NALU. Older Association leaders remember him as outgoing, generous and very kind. An article appearing in Time magazine in 1962, when he celebrated his eightieth birthday, provides an interesting picture of this NALU president of such varied interests:

Myrick, who became president of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association in early '20's also headed the Davis Cup Committee whose teams won the cup six years in a row. Once when touring with the 1924 Olympic team, Myrick flattered the Queen of Spain into a doubles match (Queen Victoria, with Vincent Richards, beat Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman and Myrick)…

To keep in selling trim, Myrick begins each day with a 45-minute workout with dumbbells and Indian clubs, and plays tennis three times a week. He gave up smoking cigars in 1924, quit chewing them in 1959, and hardly ever takes a drink until sundown. Then he drinks up to five martinis, often takes wine with the main course and brandy afterward.[xxxii]

The Million Dollar Round Table luncheon, which attracted thirty-six top producers, epitomized the tone of the Memphis meeting. This was clearly a convention that catered to the upper echelons of the field force. "It was quite plain to anyone with half an eye who was at Memphis," observed The National Underwriter, "that the Convention was being conducted by and for general gents and managers ad that there was little if anything of value on the program for the average soliciting agent." To the editor of this journal, at least, catering to the "big hitters" seemed both sensible and prophetic, though his dismissal of the first meeting of the Million Dollar Round Table shows less foresight:

There were virtually no agents present from distant points although general agents, managers and company officials from every part of the country were on hand. The answer to this is that agents get all they want form the local sales congresses, they are not interested in the politics of the National Association, and so, unless an annual convention happens to be close to them they do not attend. The result is that unless company officials, general agents and managers interested themselves in these annual meetings there would be none, for certainly the agents, for themselves, would not attempt to keep them going.

And so at Memphis the voice of the agent was scarcely heard, but what of the heavy hitters, the high butter and egg men of Life Insurance production, the boys who wrote not less that $1,000,000 of paid for ordinary business last year? They had a round table luncheon all to themselves. When it was over one plain talker arose and said that he had never expected so much and gotten so little form any meeting and that he regarded the two hours' time spent as time absolutely wasted, etc. He found, as everyone else did who was there, that the Babe Ruths of Life Insurance are just about inarticulate. They either do not know how or cannot for any other reason to tell how they do it. Many of them talk a great deal, but reveal nothing of practical value to those that hear them. As expositors of ideas they rate for the most part, way down.

He concluded that all future meetings of the NALU would be attended and their programs managed and filled by general agents, managers and company officials. "There will, as time goes on, be less and less for the agent and more and more for the agency manager," he predicted. "And why not? Should not the annual convention of the National Association of Life Underwriters, or any other organization, be held primarily for the benefit of those in control and decidedly in the majority at the meetings? If the answer is yes, then no change is needed or wanted in the National Association's programs."[xxxiii]

Edward A. Woods, one of the most influential figures in the life insurance business, died suddenly on November 30, 1927. The unexpected loss of this remarkable pioneer in agent education, within months of the founding of the America College, saddened everyone associated with the cause of professionalism in life underwriting. In January, the NALU's official publication devoted nine pages of tributes to Woods' accomplishments and influence, commenting, " For many years he was the acknowledged leader of practically every movement for the advancement of ethical and professional underwriting standards."[xxxiv]

Ernest J. Clark was selected to replace Edward A. Woods as president of the American College of Life Underwriters when the board of directors met at the Astor Hotel in New York City on April 2. John Marshall Holcombe Jr. then replaced Clark as secretary, and Prof. Arthur M. Spalding replaced Ensign as registrar. Spalding, a graduate of the Harvard School of Business Administration, was educational advisor and director of the Edward A. woods School of Life Underwriting in Pittsburgh. The members agreed to hold examinations for the Chartered Life Underwriter designation on June 21, 22, and 23. Huebner gave a full report of their proceedings the next day when the NALU Executive Committee met for its midyear meeting at the Astor.

In May 1928, the National Association moved its headquarters to 11 West 42nd Street. The Life Extension Institute, (a company-sponsored organization to promote longevity through better health standards and hygienic practices) occupied the old quarters at 25 West 43rd Street. This remained the permanent address of the NALU until April 1956, when the organization transferred its offices to Washington, D.C.

Membership in local associations fell from 15,140 in June 1927 to 14,648 by June 1928. As secretary of the national body, the task of reporting these depressing figures fell to James Elton Bragg when the NALU Executive committee met in Detroit on the eve of the convention, September 10. 1928. "The loss," Bragg told the members, "while discouraging to those responsible for the growth of the Association, is not felt to be indicative of any widespread loss of interest in its work, when it is remembered that the entire loss can really be accounted for in five associations, each one of which faced a particular problem last year which caused the unfortunate result."

The convention met at the Book-Cadillac Hotel. Besides the usual Association business, including Myrick's summary of his administration, there were special tributes to the memory of Edward A. woods and Orville Thorp, who had also recently died. Subjects presented included institutional advertising, cooperation with the trust companies and aviation on "The Theme of the Convention." Concerning the value of institutional advertising, he told the delegates:

The National Association believes that it is our duty and our opportunity both as a group and as individuals to lead the public to a greater appreciation of the nature and uses of life insurance. We believe that this end will be attained through the inter-action of two major forces, the personal contact with the public of competent, professionally-minded ambassadors of a great institution, rendering efficient service, and through that the service extending good will—aided in the performance of that service by educational advertising which through constant contact with the public will create in the public mind a concept f life insurance which will make it possible for those ambassadors to render a full measure of service….

When the public understand that the institution of life insurance is—as Mr. Darwin P. Kingsley has put it—a perfect scientific democracy which is literally owned by its citizens –the incompetent legislator will not be able to "put over" legislation which is inimical to the interests of the policyholders nor tax their premiums beyond the relatively small amounts required for the maintenance of competent state supervision.[xxxv]

The choice of topics showed keen sensitivity to the delegates' concerns. Obviously, Bragg and his committee had gone to considerable trouble to secure the best speakers to address the various issues. Immediately after Bragg's comments, Dr. Huebner delivered a paper on "The Value of Life Insurance to the Policyholder Himself." This was followed by W.B. Stout's speech on "The Airplane of Today and its Influence upon our Economic Progress." Speakers at other sessions included Roger B. Hull who spoke on "The New Industrial Citizenship," Judge Thomas C. Hennings whose topic was "The Trust Company's Place in the Plans of the Life Underwriter," and Dr. Charles J. Rockwell who discussed "Life Insurance for the Protection of business Interests."

Historically, the 1928 convention was important because it provided the setting for the first commencement ceremonies of the American College of Life Underwriters and was the occasion for the resolution giving permanent organization to the Million Dollar Round Table. Unfortunately, only six members of the first graduating class were on hand to receive their Chartered Life Underwriter diplomas personally from Ernest Clark: William M. duff, C. Vivian Anderson, L.T. Boyd, H.L. Harvey, Maurice S. Tabor and Leon A. Triggs. After the diplomas had been conferred Paul F. Clark, the newly-elected president of the NALU, said, "I just want to say in behalf of all of you that we hereby and at this time go on record as saying that we will claim The American College of Life Underwriters for all time as our child, and we hope and feel sure that some day she will be our favorite."[xxxvi]

Clark's remarks were prophetic. Though its birth had been slow and laborious, The American College of Life Underwriters endured to become the premier institution for raising the level of competence and the prestige of America's life insurance agents. A short decade later, Donald F. Barnes was able to write:

Today the American College stands as an independent body and one of the most important factors in American life underwriting. In twelve years, 1,534 candidates have passed all of the examinations, and in 1939 1,750 took one or more examinations. Ninety colleges and universities in the United States acted as examination centers at the most recent series, and 80 colleges are cooperating in giving courses of instruction leading to the designation.

The full significance of the American College is difficult to calculate as such short range, but it will undoubtedly stand as one of the great monument of life insurance, for it had done much to professionalize and dignify the marketing activities of the industry. While today it stands as a great and independent body, the National Association points to it with pride, knowing that it was conceived in the minds of the association leaders and through their support, both financially and in carefully considered counsel.[xxxvii]

Thirty-six members participated in the meeting of the Million Dollar Round table. Dix Teachenor of Kansas City who was there recalled years later, "It was a morning meeting with no prearranged program, and not committee meetings. Paul Clark merely asked eight members, whom he knew personally, to make a few remarks concerning some interesting sales they had made….At that meeting and for two or three later meetings we actually gathered around a round table."[xxxviii]

The report of that meeting consisted of nineteen typewritten pages. They formed a committee composed of William M. Duff of the Equitable at Pittsburgh, George E. Lackey and Earl G. Manning to assure the continuance of the group and plan the next meeting. Encouraging them to forma permanent organization, Myrick said:

Now this idea of the Million Dollar Round table is a thing that you men, yourselves, should enjoy and foster, because the longer we stay in the life in insurance business, the more we come to the conclusion that each one of us does the same thing in a different way, dependent upon our individual character and conceptions. So that you, each and everyone, have something to get from the other and something to give to the other that your service may be improved, and I hope that in the years to come the Round Table will be in a bigger and more important place, and that you men yourselves will take hold of it and see that it is kept up for the value that you yourselves will get out of it.[xxxix]

Although he was only 36 years old, Paul Clark was a natural choice for the NALU presidency. More than a nephew, Paul was really Ernest Clark's protégé. After graduating from Staunton Military Academy in 1910 and then Denison University, he majored in life insurance and economics at the Wharton School where he came under the influence of Huebner. In September 1914, almost immediately after completion of his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, he began his insurance career with his uncle, spending seven years in Baltimore, first as an agent and finally as associate state agent, were he became the largest personal producer of his company. In April 1921, he was called to Boston by the John Hancock to open a new agency which shortly became the largest in the company. In 1927 it paid for $32 million of ordinary and group business.

The younger Clark had served as vice president of the NALU for three years, chairman of the program Committee for the Memphis convention, where he originate the million Dollar Round Table, and had been mad a trustee of The American College of Life Underwriters. At a time when a number of local associations were in disarray; when the national organization was beset with financial difficulties and dwindling membership, giving Clark the helm was a sensible move. He was unanimously elected by acclamation, no other candidate's name having been put forward.

The election also put Clark in a very good position to nurture his pet project, the Million Dollar Round Table.

In December Clark announced his appointment to the various standing committees of the national organization. The names make it clear that he was eager to assure strong continuity in the NALU network. There is a decide preference for people of proven ability, long prominent in association affairs. Bragg was renamed chairman of the Convention Program Committee, Myrick was put in charge of the Committee on Institutional Advertising. Clegg was kept on the international Council, chaired by John Newton Russell. Having marshaled his organizational forces Clark, as the beginning of 1929, mounted a huge campaign to recruit new members.

At the same time, several changes occurred on the staff at NALU headquarters. In March the name of Everett M. Ensign (Assistant Managing Director of the NALU and Editor and Manager of Life Association News) appeared on the masthead of the magazine for the last time. By April he had been replaced by Max Hoffman, formerly managing director of the Cleveland Life Underwriters Association. Ensign deserves credit for having set up the original office for the NALU, nurtured Life Association News through its first two decades, and managed the day-to-day business of the Association for nearly twenty years---all at a comparatively modest salary. He was probably always overworked and understaffed. It is unfortunate that he left the NALU under somewhat of a cloud. For one thing, he lacked the polish of someone of Hull's background, and it was said that he was not entirely honest in the use of Association funds.[il]

Meanwhile, 30-year-old Wilfrid E. Jones was named Associate Editor and Advertising Manager of Life Association News. Jones had an interesting background. He was born in London and educated at the University of London at La Sorbonne, Paris. His studies were interrupted in 1917 when he enlisted for service in France with the RAF, but were continued after the lose of the war. After finishing school he received an appointment on the staff of the British delegation to the Peace Conference, at the conclusion of with he served as the attaché at the British Embassy in Paris doing staff secretarial work and, later political and economic research. He came to the United States in 1926 and was associated with the Industrial Research Department of the National Industrial Conference Board where he did editorial work on the Board's research publications until he resigned to join the NALU staff. H would prove an excellent addition to the staff. With his wonderful facility for entertaining and public relations, Jones endeared himself to many of the Association's officers.

For the leaders of the Association, being received at the White House by President Hoover was undoubtedly a highlight of the 1929 convention. The President made an appearance when more than fifteen hundred delegates were admitted to the White House lawn at noon on Thursday, September 26th. The next day Hoover gave an informal luncheon in the White House for eleven Association and company officers. "The President conversed freely with President Clark and other guests regarding the great work of life insurance," Hoffman noted.

Huebner, reporting on the progress of The American College of Life Underwriters, noted that company cooperation with the college was developing satisfactorily. "In many cases this support is beginning to take concrete form," he said. "During the past year, ten leading companies gave the College hearty support in their home office publications and urged their field representatives to prepare for the examinations. With respect to three companies…, study groups were formed among the company's salesmen in certain cities."

Company presidents dominated the list of speakers at the general sessions. Complimenting Gragg for his masterful planning, the reporter noted, "The convention program, full to overflowing as it was, out-ran even its own prescribed limitation, and for twenty minutes after the formal close of the convention, the highlights of the entire three days' proceedings were broadcast over WRC, through the courtesy of the National Broadcasting Company."

Sixty members attended the Million Dollar Round Table Breakfast. George D. Lackey of Oklahoma City, chairman of the Round Table during the past year, presided. Diplomas for the Chartered Life Underwriter designation were awarded to 61 graduates, although not all were present to receive them.

Toronto was selected as the site of the 1930 convention. One great selling point for this location was the gigantic and luxurious Royal York Hotel, just opened by the Canadian Pacific railway. With 1,156 rooms and baths it was rated "the finest convention hotel on the North American continent." It should be remembered that Canada, like the British ocean liners, enjoyed great popularity among American businessmen during the years of prohibition.

The delegates chose Seaborn T. Whatley as president of the national body for the 1929-1930 Association year. A graduate of the University of Alabama, with 22 years' experience in the business, Whatley was a general agent for the Aetna Life at Chicago. His agency, composed of 59 agents, claimed an annual production of $18 million. He had served as president of the Pittsburgh Association of Life Underwriters in 1922. At the time of his election he was completing a term as a vice president of the NALU, as well as president of the Chicago Association. Whatley was also a member of the Advisory Committee for the American College of Life Underwriters. The slate of new officers also included vice presidents E.J. McCormack of Memphis and Thomas M. Scott of Philadelphia.[**]

It was at this convention that the NALU selected a new slogan and emblem—the Liberty Bell with the legend, "Life Insurance: A Declaration of Financial Independence." Fifty dollars in prize money, offered by Julian Myric for the on submitting the selected slogan, went to young agent, Frederick J. Sendalbach Baltimore.

Occurrences on Wall Street that autumn produced varying reactions among leaders in the life insurance business, but few seemed alarmed. The National Underwriter reported the encouraging views of one spokesman:

In spite of the possible warning given by large drops in stock prices on the New York Exchange last week, Clarence L. Ayres, president of the American Life Convention, predicts that the remainder of 1929 will be the best of the year for general business.

Insurance came through the third quarter of the year in splendid shape, he says, recording substantial gains over the corresponding months of 1928. Complete figures for September are not yet available, but in August the gain was 19 percent, and September continued the production pace.

Mr. Ayres, who is also president of the American Life of Detroit, bases his views on reports form field forces of his own and other companies that are members of the A.L.C. Collectively, their vast organizations reach into every nook and cranny of the country, and thus furnish an accurate cross-section.

"I believe we are in the midst of a period of substantial general prosperity," Mr. Ayres says. "A few weeks back there were some clouds upon the horizon, but these have since disappeared and, save fore purely seasonal occupations and industries, all business lines should record substantial gains in the closing weeks of this year. Men in very close touch with our basic activities, such as steel, oil, minerals, automobile, dry goods, electrical lines, etc., are unanimously of the opinion that business should be good for some time to come."[ili]

The Life Insurance Sales Research Bureau also offered the view that "the unusual increase in sales of ordinary life insurance in the United States evidences a prosperity which is generally shared throughout the county." In September the report noted, "the volume of insurance sold in the country as a whole was 19 percent larger than in September 1928. Every section of the country showed a gain during the month and only six states failed to equal their production during September, 1928."

Forty-some members attended the midyear meeting of the NALU Executive Committee on March 14 in New York City. Reporting for the vice presidents of the national body, Scott stated that they had received letters from President Whatley placing each one in charge of a district and that they were getting in touch with the president of each local association, preparatory to the membership campaign. Clegg, chairman of the Senior Council, reported that he had heard form practically all past presidents and they assured the committee of their hearty appreciation and support of the present administration and the way things were being carried on by the Association.

At last, the finances of the national organization seemed on a sound footing. The treasurer's report revealed that for the eight months period ending February 28, 1930, there was a surplus of $27,283.32 as compared with $21,900.64 for the same period the year before--a gain of $5,382.68. The estimated budget for the year was $100,000. "I am very happy to report to you that so far as we at headquarters can tell, the Association is running along as smoothly as could be hoped for," Whatley told the group. "Financially we are in better shape than ever before, numerically we are stronger than ever before, and domestically