The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-10-03
Whole Dissatisfaction, Jour-
nal Declares, Is Caused by
UnscrupuIous Members of
The Club.
A TAX ON GREAT RISKS.
THOSE MAKING THE LOUDEST
CRY AGAINST HIGH RATES ARE
THOSE WHO WILL NOT RECTIFY
EVIL CONDITIONS.

The allegation is MADE by the west |
ern Underwater, the official organ of
the fire insurance companies of this |
section of the United States, that the !
Richmond Commercial Club has been |
made use of as cats paw by un-
Scrupulous members. 1t is claimed the
owners of buildings upon which rates
have been advanced have induced the
Commercial Club to take up the mat
ter, which is a fancied grievance, and
make it appear to the country at large
that the city has been Disseminated
against The Underwater AYERS the
trouble lies with the building owners
and not the insurance companies. 1t
is intimated that some property own
ers of the city have not been paying
as much as they should, and when the
raise was made protected SO that the
Commercial Club took up their COM
plant The Underwater insinuates
that these owners of bad risks have
endeavored to make other owners as
sumo share of the burden.
The article in the Underwater fol-
lows:
THE situation in Richmond is in
teresting as illustrating in somewhat
extreme degree what may happen in
many towns where re-rating is done
under the analytical schedule. 1t is
well to have issues clearly defined be-
fore they are discussed, because this
has not apparently been done at Rich
ir nhoh nf h0
why the Commercial Club and possi-
bly, the citizens, are somewhat stirred
up over the advance in rates on GER
tain risks. The Western Underwater
is not an organ of any class or asso-
citation of insurance companies, but is
interested in this matter purely as an
insurance proposition.
'In the first place the city of Rich
mond has not been penalized on ac-
count OF deficient fire protection. AS
the cities of that size go, it's water
partment. are said to be quite salts
factory. AS much was stated by Man
ager Sellers of the Indiana Inspection
Bureau. Perhaps, unintentionally, the
committee in its statement befogs the
situation by setting this assertion in
apparent opposition to the statement
published in the Western Underwater
that a number of plants are in bad
condition. and that pretended improve
ments have been made in a shoddy
manner. There, two statements bear
Eo relation to each other and the at
tempt to make them appear inconsist-
ant, whether intentional or otherwise,
Is very misleading.
Richmond has been thoroughly in
spected and by reason of satisfactory
fire protection was given a fair basis
s3ate. Good risks or even fair ones,
are rated no higher than in many other
cities of similar class. Unfortun-
ately there are a number of risks in
Richmond which are not good. These
plants should be rated high no matter
where they are located. The reason
the rates are no higher than they are
is that the city has done as much as
1t has in q way of furnishing pro-
lection.
In other cities which have been
rated by modern schedules, bad risks
have been taken and they have been
penalized by high rates In many
cases the owners have promptly secur-
ed a reduction by eliminating such
hazardous features as made high rates
necessary. In Richmond however. an.
other course was pursued. The bad
risks being more numerous than in
many other places, in other words, a
considerable part of the business OF
the city being affected, the rate ques-
tion was taken up by the Commercial
Club, and the impression has gone
abroad that the fire insurance com
panies are discriminating against Rich.
Inond This is unfortunate, because il
is untrue. What really has happened
Is this: Numerous owners of bad risks
being unwilling to make necessary i'm
provements and get reductions, have
Eaddled their individual grievances of
upon the Commercial Club which has
taken them up as if they were the
one grievance the city at large suffer,
ed Doubtless the Commercial Clut
numbers among its members many who
have no real grievance, rea! or imag
inary, against the companies Theil
3iska- aee we1a-hspt up andrararsosix.