Birmingham age-herald., 1895-01-06
INSURANCE LEGISLATION.
Proposition Submitted -at Conference Win Bring Greater Amount of Revenue to the State end
 Throw Down the Bars
to All.
To inc Age.Hernld:

To the Age Herald:
 lThes amendment to section 3763 of crim-
 inal code,
 Your Montgomery correspondent was in error as to the amount fixed as stamp tax to raise reven ue'for the state from the fire insurance. business in lieu of the tax and license collected under the present system. .s a4.ia.5 l5544
 The bill to be drafted by Judge Chiffon contemplates,s r
 1. Repealing all existing fire insurance laws.
 2. Repeating all state taxes on fire insur- ance companies and inviting all to come in.
 8. To do away with the 'co-insurance clause. .-- ss a4b#1 s.
 4. To require, company to pay the face value of policy on real property in the event of a total loss, provided the applica- 'tion for the policy is accompanied by the certificate of a competent builder that the property is worth the amount desired to be written, and that the estimate made shall be sworn to by reputable architect or builder, said estimate. to stand for five years, the cost to be borne by the as- sured. z,n, ,,.,,@..,.zs,....#4 sb 5
 5. That before policy shall go into ef- feet there must be affixed to it a state stamp, showing that the assured has paid into the treasury 1-20 of | per cent of the amount insured; the penalty for failure on the part of assured to comply with the law will be the forfeiture of the amount iu- sured in case of loss and the imposition of fine on the company, and to. be thereafter prohibited from doing business in the state should they deliver policy without first requiring the assured to affix the stamp for proper amount required by law.
 It appears from the auditors report for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1894, that there was written on fire, marine and inland risks, by the fifty-six foreign fire insurance companies operating in the state. business to the amount of about S65, ,000,- GOO. On this amount those fifty-s com- panies paid the state but S15, 900 for taxes on premiums and licenses; 1-20 of per cent on the total business reported to the audi tor as taken from the report, viz: S6j, ,000,- GOO, would yield S32, 500, or s17 ,500 more than the state is now receiving, and 1t Is estimated by competent insurance men in Montgomery that there is fully SIC, 1000, 900 Insurance written direct that the state auditor has no record of. Adding 1-20 Of per cent to the latter amount would swell the revenue to S37, 300, or S22 300 in excess of present receipts from fire insurance business -.-s4A 2--~s
 It was suggested by some of the mem- bers present at the meeting that 25 cents per 5000 would be- a. sufficient charge, from which about s7OOO more than present receipts would be collected, but the sum of 1-20 prevailed. '+
 The matter of j334 loss and the A value, clause seem to be very much misunderstood Dy U1dOy lubuToT6.. MY 10 that the s4 loss clause was enforced but once in this state, and then but for a short time. Several years ago during an epidemic of fire in Mobile thefA loss clause was in force for about lhree. weekls.,s or until the gang engaged in cendiarism was ari rested and broken up. In fact, my infor: nation is that England, Germany aud possibly two or three mora foreign coun- tries are the only sections where the % loss clause is in force. The unanimous express oix fkof ho o@rn-f fnctf r6 r fpr ra- gently indnlged in by order of the Souths eastern Tariff association ,a was an iniqui- tous method of writing insurance, and should be prohibited by law.
 It is believed by all that if the bars Ire let down and all insurance companies per- nitted to come in and compete for busi- ness that it will decrease the rates at pres- ent charged, and if they are only permitted to write on the basis of careful estimate of what it would cost to put up such a building as the one offered at the time the risk is written (which estimate will hold good for five years), and that in case of loss they are required to- pay the full amount of the policy, taking credit for the salvage, and where the policy is written on the three fourth value basis, the assured to be entitled to credit for salvage in an amount equal to the proportion the one fourth of the risk he carries will bear to will be no cause for complaint on the part of either the insurer or insured.
 see by the proceedings of the Commer- cial club that resolution was adopted that au amendment be offered to house bill No. Fl, introduced by O'Brien and not Colonel John, which seeks to prohibit biacklistng of discharged employees by firms, persons | and corporations, This bill is an amend- ment to section No. 3763 of the criminal l code, and think if the gentlemen com | posing the legislative committee will ex- | amin the section referred to they will dis cover that there is no necessity for any | further amendment. AeNeY7% f FRANK P. O'BRIEN. 1OO piooov hoSf ooIioo Eo fo.