The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-02-20
VOL. XLVI.

Could any system Of deposits with the
State have arcrted these losses! and If so,
why have they not been resorted TOP If,
indeed, s,rch system were TO be made Of gen.
cIy,l application, you would have no such in
stitutieEs aud commerce would reach stag.
nation. Few could pay for the charges Of
captat that would seek &c meet public wants
through these inQuisitorial channels
1t has been said that the present tariffs Of
insurance premium is entitled to public con-
tidence. Grant that the object was 10 ad.
inst them to fair calculation of hazards, and
vet they may be in error; and suppose ex-
ressiye. does not limited competition lessen
the chances of any proper remedy? If II
tariff NAV be established in the interest OF
= few c5ppunieS. may not those companies
and agents appear rs the advocates OF de
nos;t system. or any system that Will slave
on competition? May they not subject
themselves to the criticism Of patronizins
such exped;entS 70 paralyZe opposition
in business? And have not some ct
me agents taken exactly this ground! Rave
they not expressed appreciation oil the de-
po>it laws now. when t"o years ago they
were declsimius ag glinst them? Ii we refer
their present views to considerations of safety
OF their customers they must sec that the
amount of deposit is inadequate for the risks
assumed; and they are consenting to take
charge of companies Of which they have nei-
their knowledge or confidence, trusting to
save themselves in case OF trouble from tue
dj>rcputablc connection by being able to col
lect from the deposit fund enough to return
their customers the premiums they have paid
them. But is this cfeditable to them Us ou-
sne>s men? Is it wise: And this is not the
worst view; of the matter. If they are will
inc to rely on the fund deposited, which
they know is inadequate in the all-im-
portant emergencies OF heavy losses, they
are aiding companies to reach position OF
responsibility and to acquire large business
ofthosc citizens who are contiding in the ejudg-
mrnt of the agents. and not in the solvency
of the companies except rs recommended by
them. while they Qhe agents. plant their Sc
curity for return of premiums on the $4,000
or more Of deposit money; and they will as
sign this medium Of recovery or safety TO
themselves us valid reason for the deposit,
and not that other consideration so much,
that the risks taken are to be rendered safe
TO the assured by the said deposit, which
would only be as q drop in the bucket when
considered in this connection. Let us see
how this protective system would work, and
We appeal to tue agents to bear testimony TO
the fairness Of our statement.
A company, the veriest "wildcat,' (and
we have in mind one recently and for seye-
raj wears operating in this State from New
OrleanS.) may make the deposit and come
iuto the State, and the fact that such compa-
nies have thus entered the State is evidence
that the law is not 4 protection against them.
But let us proceed: The agent gels in the
&c 3oSit Iii coveted protection, and the COM
pany drives for season, or several years, 4
lucrative business, taking twenty or thirty
thousand dollars of premiums year. Ii
misfortune come, 1t can contest the loss, and
have great advantage in the fight, in long
! llac Of legal delays, meantime continuing
the harvest Of premiums. At length the
rea! character of the company is disclosed
| by inves,i sation or an advent of losses, and
| the agent calls Justify on the Treasurer of the
| State to hold on to that deposit, while the
assured that se!pt in such delightful security
| for months turn up the whites of their eyes
| to each other in deep disappointment that
| Sir So and So should have put them in such
| 4 company. Perhaps the company surren-
| tiers the $4,000 after the tigh. could not be
| prolonged, and retirrs 10 work in some other
| State under some new name, leaving the as
| surcd 10 recover through their energetic
agent some small return premiums out OF
| the deposit money that may not have been
entirely absorbed by losses. At the same
time, what q bundle Of discomflturcS the
unhappy assured have to brood over IN the
thirty or forty thousand dollars Of prcmi-
umS Il year that they have paid to an inSol'
Vent company without consideration, save
| that deposit which the agent had all along
| kept his eyes upon in vic" OF saIutary
! di>trust of The company, that the sequel
| proves, was altogether thoughtful, and with
no other knowledge or reliance Us TO its SOL
rency. Aud now does not this deposit Sys-
| tenn tend TO produce just such results!
Without some such machinery as the de-
post system to conceal the blunders OF the
| agents they would not be likely to catch up
any company that presented HSelfaD Indus
| triolisly offer them for public patronage.
| And now, after all the to do about deposits,
every Intelligent agent knows that in refer
encc to really good companies it is idle to talk
| about deposit at all; and they know, too,
| that when every motive for prudence and
caution is left open for the exercise OF the
| citizen he will be quite as likely to make q
judicious provision for his safety as can be
secured to him by any system of deposits.
But in order to test this matter Of the value
| Of agents views on the question lei, thelde-
post be enlarged tothree or four times what
| is now required, and then hear from them.
What changed party Of experts We would
| have then. What soft answers and graceful
| salieBts OF diStrust Of the whole thing. 1t
| would then be said that only four States
Virginia, Florida, Mississippi, and South
| Caroiina-are all the States in this great
commercial country that would consent to
pass such laws or retain them on their statute
hooks FAIR Play.