The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-05-11
AN INSURANCE DEPARTMENT.

An Act TO Establish a Department for the
Execution Of Laws In Relation to In-
surance.
On the Sd inst. Hon. Mr.. Mann, from the
Committee of Ways and Means, offered to the
House of Representatives at Harrisburg the
following bill
Section 1. Bel enacted By tile Senate and
House of Represent tdti0es ofHe Commonwealth
Of Pen1oSyloantG Gn General Assembly met,
and 1t is hereby enacted By the authority of
the same. That there is hereby established q
separate and distinct department, which shall
be charged with the execution of the laws
heretofore passed or that may be hereafter
passed in relation to insurance.
Section 2. The chief officer of said depart
ment shall be denominated the superinten-
dent of the Insurance Department. He shall
be appointed by the Governor by and with
the consent and advice of the Senate, and
shall hold his Office for three years. He shall
receive salary of two thousand five hundred
dollars, to be paid quarterly He shall en-
ploy from time to time the necessary clerks, not
exceeding five, to discharge such duties as he
shall assign them, when compensation shall
be paid to them monthly on his certificate.
He shall appoint one of the said clerks to be
his deputy, who shall possess the power and
perform the duties attached by law to the
Office of principal during q vacancy in such
Office, and during the absence or inability of
the principal. Within fifteen days from the
time of the confirmation by the Senate
of the Superintendent he shall take and
subscribe the oath of Office prescribed by the
Constitution of this Common wealth, and file
the same in the Office Of the Secretary of the
Commonwealth; and the said superintendent
of the Insurance Department shall give to the
commonwealth bond in the penalty of
$4,000, with two sureties to be approved by
the Attorney General, conditioned for the
faithful performance of the duties of his
Office, and the said superintendent shall not
directly or indirectly be interested in any in
surance company.
Section 3. The said superintendent of the
Insurance Department shall possess all the
powers, perform all the duties, and be subject
to all the obligations and penalties now con-
ferred by law upon the Auditor-General of
the State, or to which the Auditor General
is subject in relation to insurance companies
and the formation thereof under the laws
relating thereto, so that every power and
duty thereby conferred on the Auditor
General shall from and after the confirmation
by the Senate of such superintendent be
transferred to and conferred upon the said
superintendent. 1t shall be the duty of the
superintendent of the Insurance Departme to
arrange the information contained in section
eight in tabular form, or in abstracts, and
to prepare the same for printing in his annual
report to the Legislature.
Section 4. The said superintendent, with
the approval of the Governor, shall devise
seal with suitable inscription for his Office, a
description of which, with a certificate of ap-
proval by the Governor, shall be fled in the
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
with an impression thereof, which seal shall
thereupon be and become the seal of Office of
the Insurance Department, and the same may
be renewed whenever necessary Every GER
tificate, assignment, or conveyance executed
by the said superintendent in pursuance of
any authority conferred on him by law, and
sealed with his said seal of Office, shall be re-
ceived as evidence, and may be recorded in
the proper recording offices in the same man
ner and with the like effect as deed regu-
larly acknowledged, or proved before an Off =
Ger authorized by law to take the proof or
acknowledgment of deeds; and all
copies of papers in the Office of the said
superintendent, certified by him and authen-
ticated by the said seal shall in all cases be
evidence equally and in like manner as the
original.
Section 3. All books, papers, and docu-
ments securities stocks, bonds, and mort
cages, and all other papers whatever in the
Office of the Secretary of the Common wealth
and Auditor General relating to the business
of insurance, shall on demand be delivered
and transferred to the Superintendent of the
Insurance Department, and be and remain
in his charge and custody.
Section 6. There shall be provided suitable
rooms for conducting the business of
the said department, and the
said superintendent shall from time
to time furnish the necessary furniture, sta
tionery, fuel lights, and other proper conve-
niences for the transaction of said business,
the expenses of which shall be paid by the
State Treasurer on the certificate of the su-
perintendent.
Section 7. There shall be paid by every
company, association, person or persons, or
agent to whom this act shall apply the follow
ing fees towards paying the expenses of exc
cutting this act:-For filing certified copy of
charter, the sum OF thirty dollars; for filing
the general statement required,
twenty dollars; for every certificate
of agency and copy of statement, three
dollars; for every copy of paper filed in his
office the sum of ten cents per folio, and for
fixing the seal of said Office to such copy and
certifying the same, one dollar. In case the
expenses of said department shall exceed the
amount of fees collected under this act and
paid into the State Treasury exclusive of the
tax on marine premiums), the excess of such
expense shall be annually assessed by the
superintendent pro rata upon all the stock
insurance companies of the State, and the
said superintendent is hereby empowered tC
collect such assessments and pay the same
into the State Treasury
Section 8. The charter of all companies
hereafter incorporated under the general laws
Of this or any other State, or by the courts
thereof, for the purpose OF making insurance'
Oh vessels, freight, cargoes, and all matters
connected with marine risks, and all insur