Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1904-03-05
Our Jackson Letters.
JACKSON, March 2, '04

JACKSON. March 2. '04
Editor of the Beacon
wrote in my last that we had sue
ceeded in passing the bill repeating the
valued policy law as to personal proper
ty and retaining it on realty. We re-
ported at the same time a bill repeating
the antitrust bill in so far as it relates
to insurance companies. Both these
measures were recommended by the
Business Mems Association Of the State,
which met here last fall. We deemed
this measure necessary to enable The
South Eastern Tariff Association to re-
enter the state. hoping thereby to de
crease the rate of insurance. For in
stance, under the present law, should a
man haye a building. say like our com
press or oil mill. and one company would
not take all OF the risk; he would apply
to an agent and that company would
send a man to rate the risk. Say that
he rated it at 1876. The next company.
taking the additional insurance also
sends a man to rate 1t and he puts it at
1,45. Wanting still more, he applies to
a third company. They have a mar
sent and he rates it at 1 90, then all OF
the companies would rate the building
at the highest rating. Now. if the
Southeastern Tariff Association was al
lowed to enter the State-the 6S com.
panies represented by that association
would have only one man to rate the
risk. He visits a town say like Macon,
and iates the town and all companies
are bound by this rating. Then an in
dependent company will place their
agency with the agent representing com
panies in this Southeastern Tariff asso.
citation and when they find the rating
through this agent they generally take
it a little lower than the rating. You'can
not create a corner on insurance-the
supply is illimitable-so it is best to agree
to the recommendations OF the Business
Mems League and recommended that the
''bill do pass Speaker Thomas. for
the first time this session called a mem
Der to the chair and took the floor IN ad..
vocacy of this bill and made a strong
speech for its passage. Ispoke also a d
told them that, willis we had lobbyists
of every kind on the floor OF the House
opposing or advocating SOM Of the va
rious bills introduced, there had not been
a solitary man interested in insurance
before mi committee or lobbying in the
House. We had invited members of the
S. E. T. A. to come before us but had
been unable to get a single member to
present his view, or ask for reduction in
insurance rates. Mr.. Smith Of Holmes
desired to ask a question. OF course his
wish was granted, and he asked if Mr..
Cole, the Insurance Commissioner, had
been with us. l told him Mr.. Cole was
with us and had urged the passage of
this bill, and that | wanted to state that
Mr.. Cole was just as honest in his de-
sire to get cheap rates of insurance for
the people of Mississippi as Mr.. Smith
or any other gentleman in the House,
that he was a Mississippian lately elect.
ed to his position and like any other hon
est mar elected to such a position would
certainly desire to get as cheap rates for
his people as any state in the Union had.
He had made this question a etudy and
knew that the fewer restrictions thrown
on insurance companies lessen the rate.
Not one insurance company and not an
agent has asked our committee or the
Commissioner ito change the insurance
law. They are perfectly satisfied with
it as it is. They say you dx the condi.
tions and we will fix the rate. If the
condition makes the risk greater the rate
Is higher. II the law lessons the risk
the rate is decreased, The only people
who had asked for a revision of the in
surance law was the Business Mems
League. The opponents of the bill ap
pealed to the prejudice Of the House a.
gainst trusts in general, whereby they
defeated this very meritorious measure.
They claimed that to repeal the trust
laws as to insurance companies would
invalidate the law as 1t is now by max
ing it unconstitutional, We had the o.
pinion of Justice Whitfield and others
that this was not the case.
The insurance companies say that if
we pass the bill as it is they will issue
the blanket policy and we can have the
reinsurance clause. l hope we will try
this for two years at least and then If we
are not benefited we can repeal it. We
are absolutely at the mercy of the insu