Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1857-09-25

and General Pillow wishing to be elected L.
), Senator, he thinks " neither the purposes
OF justice nor secrets Of State require these
FACTS to be held longer from the public
and therefore he makes them known. Had
President Polk lived, he is sure there would
have been no need Of his taking this method
OF makinghis merits known to his coun.
trymcn, for the President would have seen
to it tina. he had his reward.
General llitchcock's letter we will give
at length next week.
VERMONT Mutual FIRE Insurance Com
pany. Thirtieth Annual report, for the
annual meeting, Oct II. 1857.
We always look through the annual
report of this valuable institution of the
State, We have long been in the way of
considering The Vermont Mutual as a
model insurance company on the mutual
plan, and we have yet to hear Of the one
whose management for a long term Of
years can show the public so satisfactory
an account We attribute this to three
things. First, the general principle of the
company, given in its charter. is a good
one. That is, to make all the property
insured, pay, ann ually, to the company
enough to meet all losses which the Com
pany must pay for the year and the proper
expenses Of the management, and no more
and to have the payment of premiums
made absolutely sure. For convenience a
moderate surplus is kept on hand,
but no more than a moderate one. Second
to have such a thorough system pervade
the operations of the Company in regard to
rates at which different kinds OF property
are insured-a system based on long and
careful comparison from the experience of
the Company itself-that none shall be able
to complain to any great extent OF being
made to pay at an unreasonable rate, and
none able to boast that they &c: insured
cheaper than can be afforded Third, to
the fact that for almost the whole period OF
the Company's existence-30 years-therc
has been a remarkable regularity and good
Judgement shown in the election OF a
Board of Management, who by long contin.
uance in Office have lost none Of the watch
tulness, careiulness and economy with
which the concern set out at first, and have
therefore been able to gain wisdom by pnnu-
al experience and familiarity in its u1lirs.
How closely their judgments have been
reliable may be seen from one fact. Thcy
divide all kinds Of property into six classes
aiming to make each class Jay premiums
enough to meet its own losses The first.
including dwelling houses, burns sheds and
contents-a class equal to all the others or
nearly so--is the least hazardous and the
property is insured at the lowest rate
Taking the receipts for the last - years on
all classes OF property seyeral'y, and com
pairing them with the losses on the same, it
appears that the losses on the first class for
that entire period amounted toS20G, 1872 500
Il sum exceeding all receipts from that
class for the same time So. ii "a or about
II Der cent. Of course the more hazardous
property has not only insured itself but paid
that deficiency also In time they may be
able to correct so small a deviation from pre-
cieion as that If anybody is to complain,
surely it cannot be those who insure the
least haz .rdous property.
The Annual report gives as usual de-
tailed account of the business, and will be
found interestin. to all concerned The
average annual ass ssmcnt for thirty years
has been 81 per cen; on the premium notes.
The assessments for the year ending, Au-
gust lst, lSj7 is 81 per cent.
No board Of directors Of any insurance
company can 50 conduct the business rs to
avoid all Iautfnding. neither can it be ex-
pected that they will not make some
mistakes, however careful and well disposed
they may be. We apprehend no company
can be named which has done business so
long, and to such an immense amount, with
more general satisfaction to the community
than the Vermont Mutual
We think we must take exception to one
remark IN the report. Speaking OF OCCASION /.
al Hardness in members to pay their assess
ments at the appointed time, the directors
say. 'and if any member neslects to do it .
he ought not to call on the company for
any loss he may sustain during the time
his assessment remains unpaid, and the
directors would be justified in passing by
law making VOID all policies when the hold,
ers neglect to pay their assessments when
due
The directors of course have not made
any such bylaw; and we are sure will not
make one, because it would be uniu,titiable.
OF course members should pay their assess
ments promptly, and abundant power is in
the hands of the directors to make them if
they do not 10 so. Let them use the power
according to the charter and laws Of the
company, if there is any need to do so.
But the conditions Of insurance in the Vt.
Mutual are entirely different from those in
ordinary stock companies, In those a pre-
mum is paid before hand for an insurance
lp to certain moment. After that mo-
nent, in those companies there is no pay
OF loss ana no way to get any II loss
occurs The Obligation to make good a loss
II course expires when the tim, for which
he premium is paid expires, In the YER
mont Mutual, the case is altogether diff
erent The Company is S'cued by the
insurer fully against loss for the whole :
cTiod OF the policy six years commonly
iouSh the annual amount of, assessment is
OF called for except annually and whether d
be paid punctuAllynot he is just as much t
old.d to ply,and the company is just as Sc !
are of the pay as the m }ney were paid at i
lie day. 1t is well as we said before, to b
sist on the prompt pay but one strong Ia
ason for insuring in the Vt. Mutual for {
rm of years is that one is no' Obliged to :,
member to pay his annual due hv "A cor .