Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-03-01
From the Albany New York Argus.
sguE AuVGF nF TEETRANCEl

One Of the most active causes of crime
and Of the destruction Of property in this
country is the mode in which insurance
against fire is conducted. Il is one Of the
plaques that desolate the land. Immense
capitals are concentrated, multiplied agen-
cies created, and a corps of ten thousand
men at least engaged in this employment.
DO they do anything 10 prevent fires? No
on the contrary they invite them. They
bride incendiaries and reward them They
connive at known crimes and cOndone with
the authors.
Fire" says one Of our exchanges con
time TO range in all parts Of the country,
aud insurance companies are trembling and
rates are going up" and this is the Lam
guage Of the press from Chicago 10 New
York.
A correspondent, 4 gentleman Of high
authority, in a recent communication TO the
argus, asserted that one-third Of the fires
we're caused by the willful acts Of the in
sured The companies know this; but
they refuse to prosecute. They even re
insure men, when informed Of circum.
stances proving them guilty participators
ia former losses. They act in the spirit Of
gamblers; and do more evil than the worst
Of black-legs.
Recently, many Of the New York com
panies were shown TO be bankrupt They
had been declaring dividends out of empty
Golfers; and their policies were worth little
more than the paper they were printed on.
There was a panic in Wall street. and the
public began to fear that it was the insnr-
ers that wanted insuring. 1t would be
public benefit if a few Of these evanescent
companies should be blown up. The pub
lac, on learning their emptiness and the
wOrthlessness of their guaranty, wOuld
have recognized that integrity and wise
administration, and solid capital are essen
tial TO a valid insurance A good policy
must be paid for at compromising rates.
The companies that underbid are often m-
sound, and their policies are Of no perma-
nent value. 1t would be a public benefit
il half Of them were swept out of exist
ence; and unless the remaining half are
administered on different principles from
those that now prevail, they too, had better
follow.
When a company insures a trader $l5,-
600 upon a stock of goods worth $4,000,
il offers him a constant temptation to set
ire 10 his establishment If the same was
confined to the swindling merchant and
the bogus company, it might be an even
one, but it's not; and whole blocks Of neigh
boris property, and sections of cities are
sacrificed by fires originating in one of
these internal speculations.
The French system, we understand, for
bids recovery, where !he fire originates
On the premises Of the insured. His loss
is made good only when il occurs from ex-
ternal causes This Of course incites to
vigilance; and its effect is most wholesome.
The losses by FIRE in France are not one
twentieth compared with ours; and the fire
police is small and inexpensive. Our cor
respondent "a, " adyisesthat a law be passed
limiting recovery, in all cases, TO two
thirds 80 as TO make the owners Of proper
~ their own insurers to the amount of at
least one-third. The suggestion is a wise
one; and initiating the French system, we
might reduce the recovery 10 one-half where
the fire originates on the premises Of the
insured.
Our present system is tie worst possible
Ii is a perversion Of the uses Of capital, in
a country where capital is most wanted. IL
occupies the time and energies of a large
non-prodncing class. 1t invites reckless
competition. Ii encourages fraud on the
part of the insurers, and directly invites,
by the strongest temptation, incendiarism
on the part Of the insured.
II is time that it were reformed