Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-08-20
MORNING LEADER,
s1TTERAY mORFING, AUGUST 20
Fire insurance systems.
- lcoNTrNFyTAL'' AND oTHERs.

rur aCoNTINENTAL" AND OTHERS.
No matter how excellent anything may
be. if it can be easily obtained, it is likely
to be undervalued.
Fire Insurance has come to be such
commonplace matter-of-course- thing that
we seldom realize It's immense Importance
The,acquisition of property is more heeaed
than its preservation; yet we are all aetu,
allv dependent, hour Dy hour day ana
night. in an important degree, for what
ever VIC are worth in the way Of personal
goods and ehattles, upon the security oi
Fire Insurance companies. Those institu-
tiops stand between US and poverty As
is,,redlv the subject of Fire Insuranee-its
systems. plans and principles, deserve some
occasional attention from everycitizen who
is worth his salt in any shape, either by his
capital or his labor.
For many years we had not in the city
of New York. for the business Of fire in
surance, any other than purely stock capi-
tai companies, whose officers fixed the rate
of insurance, according 10 their experience
and Judgment, at such prices as would in
sure a good return for the capital staNed
in the business.
1t was not until 1852 or 1853, about ten
wears AGO, that the mixed system, now 50
well known as the participation Plan,
was introduced in Fire Insurance in New
York.
The Continental company, having q
stock cash capital of HALF MILLIoN
DOLLARS, after working successfully fol
four wears upon the ordinary stock plan, IL
1856 went into the participation plan Wig.
orouslv, and improved the system so as t.
remove some technical difficulties to its eff
fcient working. Ten other of the stocl
capital Fire Companies have embraced th'
participation plan. Their combined capi
tai amounts to $4,OOO,OOO, and we find iron
oficial documents that, up to the close 0
| 1863. those companies have made dividend
on that plan amounting in the aggregat
to over ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
The profit dividends have ranged fror
| 80 up to 90 per cent, and 40 per cent, ma
he taken for the average rate. This divi
| dend simply means that this form of insr
rance costs, on the average, about Ore-ha
less than the purely stock plan. For tn
purpose of popular illustration, we ma
compare the stock plan to the DiscouI
Bank, and the participation plan to II
Savings Bank.
The largest exponent of the participate
plan is certainly the Continental and v
4 have reason to believe that the examp
and vigorous practice of this company Il
many other offices to adopt the system.
} This company can only rely upon OIL
e srGument, at least, which is generally /
e ldisputable-+suceess-yes, successes the me
complete and unquestionable.' When t
Continental started on this line, it fixed t
limit Of gtheserip accumulation, to be reac
ed before any of the scrip should be ]
deemed, at half a million ofdollars. No
e that amount has been reached, and t
q eompanv commences to redeem its scr
issues in cash at par. This is tangible.
Although the Continental has paid the re
: ular 6 per cent. per annum interest on
scrip, making it a good and desirable
vestment all along; besides liberal stO
dividends have been made without sing
interrnission. The progression of the pre-
dividends was as follows: