The Cairo bulletin., 1910-10-28
USE SURETY COMPANIES.
Is Advice Of r. r. GiIkey, Manager
Of American Surety co.Their
Advantages.

1.C S'@s@NN VI 1AANNJ SN'i
Is a very large one and much time
would be required to v even a
portion of 1t. Notwithstand 'ng
"a keen desire to try to cover the
whole field. | must necessarily limit
my remarks. | believe that the sub
iect chosen will give me an opportun-
ity to present to you in a concrete
form some IDEAS concerning Surety
Companies and surety bonds.
think that you NAV be interested
in knowing something Of the nistorv
of surety companies. but the time s
mot at my disposal to say more than
n few words concerning that. Pror
o 1884 there was practically nothing
known of corporate s~uretyship, ln
hat year the first American company
was organized. Capital, as usual. was
aoking for new fields 3 o develop, and
there were those who were, ready t.
engage in a new enterprise which
Of necessity. was exper mental in 1t
nature. Since thit time many other
companies have sprung into exis
ence. Many of these companies, in
ldition TO suretyship, have under
rSen other forms of insurance rsFs
/. Tart ot Their business. such es
ate siass insurance, employers lia-
uity insurance, burglary Insurance
~nplovers liability insurance and
'''er classes of risks that are re
raea as ve~y hazardous. The frs
mexican company to be organize
~ confines itself solely to the In
ance Of s~rretyship obligations, and
ne or two other companies dc
tkewise.
The business of corporate surety
ahin, which in this country is but
'wenty-six years old, has made grea.
progress. When the business was
started there were no tables as a
guide as to the nature and hazard Of
the various risks. The underwater
in the dark in this respect as
well az to the proper premium charge
for his bonds. Naturally there was
much guess work. The business
started by men who had a mark
ed success In the iaaucial and com.
mercial world and they BY hard work
deep thinking and the closest atten'
ION to their new business yer able
to guide their enterprise in a safe
channel to the end that the business
ns > whole has been a success and
demonstrates that their theories were
most practical and that there was a
real need for corporate suretyship
The experience gained during a qua.
ter of d century has been of great
value and the experience tables for
that period are now a safe guide for
the future.
A surety is one who undertakes TO
become responsible for the debt, de-
fault or miscarriage Of another.
Therefore. the business of e"retyship
is. to a large extent, a credit enter.
prise, and many Of the rules govern
ing the dealings of banks with their
customers, and merchants between
each other, are applied. The bust
ness Of surety COMPANIES liz divided
into two divisions, one called TIE
fidelity deDartment,' the other called
the court and contract department"
Under the first Division bonds are rs
sued guaranteeing to make good to
an employer a loss sustained by rea-
son Of the dishonesty of an employe.
The term empower" as used here
means a corporation, a firm or an in
dividnal, and the emp.oye OF a co Dor
alton may include its officers. In the
other divis on, bonds are Issued as
surety for a contractor who under
takes the performance of o cont net
for the erection of a building, the
building of n railroad or otfer con-
struction work: also the signing or
bonds renrtred nv a court p w"lrh
litigation is pending such as bonds on
anrea'. rerlevin. attachment, etc. In
all probate proceedings executors, adj
mInistrators, etc, are required to give
bond for the faithful performance Of
their duties in administering their
trusts.
This ID but a brief outline Of the