The question with which I have headed this paper is one that may seem startling enough. It has been so widely taken for granted that a large new business must be an unmixed good to all concerned in a life company, that to debate whether it be so or no, will seem in the eyes of many to be a very idle thing. And yet, though I have been considering the subject for a long time, I cannot answer the question unhesitatingly in the affirmative. In saying this, it ought to be pointed out, that the matter is regarded from a purely practical point of view. The problem is not ought a large new business to benefit policyholders? but, as a matter of fact, does it? Even if the question were answered in the negative, it would not follow that no new business, or an insufficient quantity of it, would better suit the interests of the policyholders. Waste must be supplied, and a certain degree of magnitude maintained in life companies.