Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-01-18
take care 81 yourselves for these, lean

II LEY 10 ne Detter merchants, that Is
the way to beat the catalogue houses.
Try to be better statesmen. Be ac-
cornmod ating. OF course, 4 can tell
you all these things but you know
them better than I do. I think that
is the real and the only way to beat
the catalogue houses. u
Mr.. Full: Our. old friend Mr.. Nc
Kinney IS going to give us a little ]
talk. 3$
rs Mr.. Mckinney Gentlemen am
on the program for an address but
what I shall have to say is really not
entitled to the dignity Of being called
an address. / have just a few words
to say on mutual fire insurance, and
by speaking of mutual fire insurance
I don't want You to infer that am
antagonistic to the old line of insur-
ance; that is not the case.
think the merchants should all be
acquainted with the system of mutual
fire insurance and that it is good
thing for them to make use Of it. 1t
is a saving of money to them and l
think it is healthy to have competition
in fire insurance as we'll as to have
competition in the sale of goods; 1t is
healthy for the merchants and saves
them some money.
Insurance written by the old line
companies in the state is approximate
ly $65, 100000. Insurance written by
the state mutual companies, which are
companies doing general business
through the state is $6,s00,000, about
10 per cent of what the stock COM.
panies are doing. The mutual COM
panies are paying back to the policy
holders, from fifteen to forty per cent
of the premium, some of them as high
as forty, some down to fifteen, until
they accumulate reserve that puts
them in frst-class shape to pay their
losses. / am not speaking in the
interest of any particular company
now, am speaking in the interest of
the merchant. I supposed I was
called upon for the talk because am
identified with our mutual company at
| Valley City of which I am som ewhat
proud. I think it is having good
management due to our efficient sec
rotary.
/ In my insurance am carrying near
/ ly third of mutual insurance and
| two-thirds of stock company insur-
ance. I do not advocate what per-
1 centage of mutual insurance any mer-
chant should carry but I believe it
would be profitable to carry some, and
it is boost for home industry. As
for the security Of mutual insurance
4 I am told that the stock companies do
not have as much capital per hundred
dollars at risk as number Of mutual
companies. / do not know how that
is but am told that by an ex-
perienced insurance man. .:a@ !
I want to say something in the way
of influencing some legislation that
will save money to the merchants; as
think mutual insurance is more par
ticularly the insurance for merchants.
]. think am safe in saying that more
than nine-tenths of the insurance
written by mutual companies is writ
4 ten for merchants. You ought to in
| f1uence legislation to the aim of say
/ ing insurance companies some money,
the expenditure which brings no cor
responding benefit. The insurance
laws of the state provides: that the
insurance companies shall publish
4 their annual report in each judicial
| district in the state. There are eight
i judicial districts in the state and each
1 publication is at cost of from $50 to
4 $33, so that the expense of publishing
the annual report is from $3.50 to $3.50
j for each company. I am speaking
more particularly Of the expense to
the mutual companies.
. I think a law should be enacted pro-
I viding that each mutual company
i should publish its report in leading
paper or town in the district where its
home Office is. In case of foreign
companies they should publish their
report in the town in which the state
agent is located or If they have no
state agent, at the capital city. That
will mean saving Of seyen-eights of
the expense Of publishing those re
ports. ~ N s.s5 .
Mr.. Mckinney then spoke of the
need Of appointing fire marshals, say
ing they would be money savers. He
urged that the merchants talk to their
representatives in the legislature to
prevent the passage OF the valued
policy clause in the insurance policies,
/. saying that that clause would be Of
no benefit to the honest insurer but
would be used by dishonest Insurers
4 to the financial disadvantage Of the