, 1874-08-01
INSURANCE. NEWS.

Of pualnoaa, hnu tlo AaHoclatoA au1ouIAeu.
INSURANCE NEWS.
with tho Mayors |
kpoech Thursday.
Considerable excitement prevailed snaong tho
insurance agents yesterday. 1t was stated that
a prominent undorwritor had received dispatch
from Now York that no less than
FIFTEEN COMPANIES HAD DECIDED 70 WITHDRAW
from this city aud It is believed by aomo that in
q short tfme evory prominent company doing |
business hero viii 10 likewise. THIS budden |
panic among tho insurance companies Ia mainly |
duo to tho fact that Thursday, uhen tho wind |
waa blowing ftorco southwest gallo, no less than
fourtoon fireB occurred, while yesterday, when
tho wind was oalm, but two alarms wore sound
cd. They bclioyo TINT there exists in our midst
regular
ORGANIZED BAND or r1nE-Buas,
who only ohooso days for applying tho torch
When there is q good uhanco for largo con1a-
grafton. How was it posaible, thoy aay, that tho
fire in the NJ. D. Wells building could layo OBJ
taiued such dimensions whom thoro Is regular
onginohoaso within hnlt n block aud tho Nor
chants' police and q ..privnte watchman watching
tho place, unless iuoetilarieB lad get tho build
lug on fire, aud Boen to 1t TINT it was not dis
covered until 1t was doomal2
Then thoro broke out the fire on the 14th, Just
noxt door to au oil-1actory, aud OIL 4 day when
certainty. The fire i1 tito Giles Holllster
building came next, mud although .aitu-
ated On tho busiest thoroughfaro, and
whero the South Side cars pass during tha entire
night, and A1ofuhants' aud private policemen
wero all around, atill tue fire was not discovered
untii three floors Sero completely in flames.
Tho fire In the grocery -houBo Of IngraAnm, Cor
blu d. May, which occurred Thursday morning,
aso ha and9r this aos tbs IT, os s1
chants police Oh duty there uor tho private
w.tohman Of the building dlscoverod it. Had it
uat hean for the now IbsurAnce-Iatrot just Or
gauized there would undoubtedly haye becn nn-
other large aud expensive contlagratlon.
Why ~ it ID left 10 them to discover
| such fires, md why they arc not
| discovered by Tho regular and Merchants police
| OF private watclnen. Tlero ~ no usa. they
| slaina, Of doing buainesa il . city where they
ha9e to do tho protecting themselves instead Of
| tho city authorities. Aud whilo they wero thug
reasoning and consulting with eaoh other, what
| was beat to be done uutler tho circumstances
! there, thoy read IN yesterday mornings papors
| that -
THE MAYOR Rad GONE BACK ON THEM,
| mud denounced them at the picnic Of the 81.
| Georges Society. or oourse the Mayors speech
panic, because thoy had hitherto believed bun
to bo In sympathy with them. Although the
speech wounded tieir feelings yory much. Still,
| that vas not tho cause that made them fool 30
exceedingly sorc. "Wo could have stood tho
speech" haid prominent insurance-agont to u
| TRIBUNE reporter, "but the idoA TINT crowd
Of Eugtishmen should Sing right afterwards
And he's q Jolly good follow was quito 1in-
bearab]o, and disgrace to this great city which
| that good fellow roproseutB." Some Of the in-
suranco-men eyon talk Of Withdrawing their
patronage from the United States E1preaR Com
| panT on account Of this affair.".
Tho Insurance companies belonging to the
| Board Of Underwriters claim that
oYEnrSaunANoE
must not be laid at thoir doors. # any occurs
| It ia usually the fault Of small companies out
side the Board. These companies, who arc on
the rergc Of bankruptcy. will take any kind Of
.ass as{ sp s sbss essans es ns5 @
on their logs. II, for esatnple, large and rclia-
bio company writos on valuable Btono building
next to which Htands regular tlre-trap which at
the tmo il not insured. and afterwards ono of
these small and unrolieblo companies places an
insurance on that building about shrco times its
value, aud it is Afterwards set Oh fro and burns
tho tho building with it, thon tho good conl-
pany., suffers ION times more than tho
unreliable Que, ThoAo companies are tho
shyatera in tho insurance business, and give riso
to all kinds OF frauds, and even crimes, rs has
latoly been shown In
TUE pR1xoLE CASE
Of tho Peoples INSURANCE. Company Of rhila-
panies have tho city swarming with brokers and
agents, to whom they pay i1nulonao commissions,
for which tho insured necessarily have to pay.
Tho good and roltahlo companies, In order to do
any business, muat therefore reBort to broker
age. Those brokers and agents, as general
rule, aro not very trustworthy, as they wholly
rely upon their commissioning, and, to got aa
much commission as possible, they III
duco paopla to ovoriuai,se their property.
No responsibility IL attached to thoso
men bayo,ld tho delivering. Of policies
aud tho collection Of tho money therefor, which,
III some instances, they not only collect, hut keep
for Themselves. Wols-orgauizod and responsible
companies employ surveyors, whose duty 1t is to
examine the risks before tho policy IL delivered
but these brokois know how to inspire ooul,
dence, and tho auryoyor Ia therefore worry opt tc
to talo their representations OF the risks aud the
character Of the mon to DO Insured.
It wi!l therefore DO HGon TINT tho greatos
drawback to successful insurance business II
this city in tho employment Of brokers md tht
existence Of unreliable and fraudu1ontlY--o
ized ,companlos. It il, therefore, tho duty O.
tue Slate authorities to examine rigldly into Tux
affairs Of doubtful companies, whllo the conf
paneH should forthwith do away With tho bro
korage system, and countonanoo It no longor.
| ---
| 4 EaSr Nh