The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-08-16
TRUST IN
INSURANCE
MacfarIane Scores
Board of I'm.
derWriterS.
,rrom Thursdays daily)


of the Merchants Association
afternoon. The attack caHhe
from E. c. Macfarlane, who spoke upon
the high rates of insurance ana the
necessity for more favorable ratings
and drew from r. +. Lange warm ue-
fense of the Board and its business
methods, and at the same time some
light upon the methods Of rating.
The meeting of the Association was
the quarterly gathering and was heio
in the board room of the Hawahah
Trust & Investment Co. In attendance
upon the meeting were Vice president
Dimond, Secretary Harris, Messrs.
Iange. MacFarlane, Gonsalves, Roe
dick. wichman. Forester, Mclnerney'
Auerbach, Phillips, Pinkham, Rothweii'
Barnes and Angus. The Association
took no definite action except in the
matter of freight for Island steamers,
which subject was ordered investigated
by the board of directors.
The most interesting matter was
that introduced when +. G. Macfarlane
suggested that the Association should
consider the matter OF Insurance rates.
The Board of Underwriters, he SAID
controlled the rates, and In his opinion
this Board was an association in the
restraint Of legitimate competition, and
as such was an illegal combination. he
said that ne was of opinion that shouid
the conditions existing be brought 10
the attention of the United states DIS
trict Attorney, action would be taken
as was done in the matter Of the plump
ers trust Mr. Macfarlane called at
tention to the fact that several bust
ness houses signed an agreement to
not buy from commercial travellers, ana
when this was known the District At
torney notified them that they had bel
ter withdraw from the combination,
which was done. He said he did not
know why this trust should be allowed
to do business on the lines adopted. He
said the same kind Of combinations had
received attention in the States ana
something should b. done here. Rates
of insurance We're out Of all reason, ana
II there was no such combination there
would be competition. outside compa-
nies, ne asserted had made rates here,
but had been compelled to withdraw
them, as they We're afraid of r"prisais
in other places.
Mr.. Lange took exception to what
had been said, as he was member or
the BOARD tnutT"lll' EN'Hi' i"'N'
perhaps were too high, he admitted, but
where there was an objection there was
always an adjustment of the difficulty,
He went on to say that the Board had
done things which no single agent could
do, such as the mapping of the city, the
investigation of every risk rs to its To-
c,tior and its surroundings The
Board, he said. had sent to San Fran
o., a do this work ana
-..-.-. ~------'-~s vugnIy wsn done. He
went on to say that there wara oo.'.--i--
risks on which the rates had been made
too low, and cited the T. o. Hall a Son
risk saying that II the exact nature of
the goods had been known there would
have been no company which would
have taken the risk at the rates fixed.
1t would not be- fair, he said for the
Association to take action upon the
matter by denouncing a Board which
had done nothing but good for the
city.
L. f.. Pnkham took up the discussion
saying that he had encountered the
method of the nOn-board companies,
and was in favor Of the plan which was
followed here, as Offering greater Sc
curity to the insured While the rates
, might be high, he said, he was con
vinced that the rating system was the
proper one, as tn. rating was ntelli-
gently done. He did not think whole
sale competition was wise in any bust
ness, and said the plumbing trust still
exists. He said it was not good policy
which breaks down business. as the
after-effect was not good and thought
that the action should be rather by per
suasion than by force.
70 =, ln
make a motion but that he thought the
discussion would have a good effect.
The insurance companies had a soft
thing here. and il there could be a
statement of the losses and premiums
during the past five years the showing
would astonish the people. As to re-
ratings, he said ne did not think that
there was any chance that more than
enc in one hundred would be sustained,
The rating he said was done by a man
who came from a city where the same
system was in force, and in all cases the
ratings We're made In the interest of
the companies. and the people were
never thought OF in the making up of
the rates. The difficulty was in the
basic rate. which he said was a false
enc. There was a little running debate
between Macfarlane and Lange but
nothing was done.
The question of the methods of the
steamship companies came In for dis
cussion led by Mr. Lange. He said
there should be action taken by the
Association in this matter. Often drays
loaded with goods had been kept stand
ing at the docks from to o'clock. He
said that in his opinion the Inter-Island
Company was the chief offender. The
change in the method came, he said,
when the change of management at the
docks took place and Captain Godfrey
left there. Before that time. he said,
the freight was received, but now the
dray must wait with it's load and back
right up to the steamer and put the
freight from II on board. The change,
he said. was directly due to the orders
of the manager of the company, who
had issued the directions.
Ar. Forester said he could corrobor-