The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-09-10
Mr.. WILDER OBJECTS.
Thinks Kansas Insurance Re-
port Should Be Annual.

now editor OF the Insurance Magazine
of Kansas City. makes a complaint
about the present method OF publish
ing the reports Of the state department
of Insurance. and there seems to be
good grounds for his objections
Formerly the report of the superin-
tendent OF insurance was published an
nually, but the last legislature passed
a special bill to make the report BIZ
ennial The report consists chiefly OF
the annual statements of the companies
which do business in Kansas. and q
certain amount of matter has to be
printed. and the expense Is the same
whether it is issued annually or only
once in two years. and in the latter
case half of the matter Is out OF date
and has lost its value. Mr.. Wnder
SAYS:
fully prepared, well printed. contains
1,o64 pages, and is the biggest ever is
sued in its state. 1t covers two years,
and half of 1t ought to have been
printed more than a year ago. Its sta
tistics of chief Importance were pub
lished in this magazine a long time
ago, and the bulky volume. with its
oceans Of figures, is almost an offense
absurdity and uselessness Superintend-
emit Church is in nowise at fault, but
the insurance companies that pay for
the preparation and the printing of the
soluiilS, duQ the IlOuSduQS OF agents III
Kansas whose business and life work is
insurance. are entitled to know the re-
suits of their labors, in arabic numbers,
at the end of every year.
AS useless as a last years almanac
has long been a proverb expressive OF
disgust, but here We have. in August.
1902, hundreds of pages of statements
made by companies in 1900. and requir-
ance department Why? For the in
formation of the public. the companies
and the agency force? No; but to be
laid aside until no one wants them: to
be printed and circulated so many years
afterwards as to have lost their interest
and usefulness.
During the present month of Sep
TENDER, 1902. the departments will send
out blanks of annual statements for the
companies to FILL 1t will take all the
rest of this year, the whole of 1903 and
the greater part of 1904 to get the print
ed result back into the hands of the
companies that now write the copy.
Many of the companies will then be re-
tired from the state, and all will resent
the injustice. 1t costs no more to print
fresh than stale facts.
THE companies paid to the depart
ment in 1900, $3.50, 602. 90; the expenses of
the department. We're $s.1s4-e7; in 1901
the receipts were S139 90S. Sc; expenses,
$9.oS7-70 A big profit 60 the state A
gift of s254. IL to the state for doing
a business which the people Of the state
required and desired to have done, to
remunerate them for loss by fire. burg
larry, breach of trust, accident and
death-a mode of indemnity demanded
by all civilized peoples. The CORPORA
lions pay this bonus, they were required
to do it advance. on time, by a certain
day, or lose their franchises and all of
the benefits their work in past years
had given them. in repute for integrity
and solvency.
THE state pockets the money, returns
no thanks and refuses to print any
statement of the transaction a mat
ter of businesS-refuSes until the work
has become ancient history; stale, fat
and Improbable
How did all this come about in Kan
! sas and in a few other states? Is it pure
| cussedness or only wrong that can be
righted? In 1876 the sessions of the
| state legislature were changed from an
nual to biennial by amending the con-
| stitution. Since that time most Of the
reports made by state officers are pub
| HShed once in two years Agricultural
reports are published several times each
year. as they are needed; the reports of
| the three great institutions Of learning
| are published every year, and would be
| rubbish if longer delayed Various 9TH
| er matters of public import. like SUI
| preme court reports. are published fire.
| quently, as soon as the copy reaches
| the printer, although it makes three
| large volumes in a single year. To delay
| the work would be a public outrage.
| insurance reports nave also been pub
1ished annually until now, the last re-
| port being dated June, 1900. 1t contain
| ed 472 pages and was sufficiently large.
| The present report, 1854 pages, is 30
pages more than twice the size of the
1900 volume without half it's value The
tendency of all delays is to increase ex-
| penSe; not economy but extravaganza
is caused by this imposition upon the
| public.
Kansas has an executive council
that regulates matters of this kind II
is composed of the governor. secretary
| of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney
general and superintendent of public
instruction. We are making our speech
to the new board that will be elected in
November. and especially to Charles H
| Luling, who will be elected superinten-
dent of insurance on the same ticket -
| majority of many thousands. He car
begin to right this wrong during the
campaign, and before tie votes are
counted The new executive council
headed by our neighbor and friend
Governor Bailey. will vote unanimously
to follow the precedent of thirty years
and save time and money by giving
public facts to the people when they are
| needed and while they are useful