New-York tribune., 1910-02-13
TAKE CHANCE ON ANYTHING.

1t is, of course, painful to an outsider to
learn that any of the ingenious, sporty and
dead game LloydS are not on the square, for
when you subtract SquaTenesS from gam
bling nothing is left but vulgar graft. The
official and irreproachable side of Lloyds
associations Of underwriters is maritime in
surance. It is the little groups of indie
pendent Lloyds which get together to guar
aEtee no triplets, shortlived uncleS and the
like. These groups viii take a chance on
anything. They issue policies on elections
Thaw trials and the possibility of the Cars
visit being cut short by bomb. They have
insured a shopkeeper in the Strand against
the danger of Nelson's monument falling
down and wrecking his store. Not that
there is any more chance Of that casualty
than of the Washington Monument topping
over In times ships are insured
against capture. and in peace vessels over
due are guaranteed TO reach port safely.
Once their was a ship four days overdue.
Lloyds advanced the premium to so in 500
On the fifth day the rate rose to SO in $685.
and the day following it reached $50. On
the next day Lloyds phianthropically Of
fered 10 guarantee the cargo for 500 in
$500, and many merchants thankfully paid
the enormous premium. The next day the
ship came safely in.
There was another big killing for the
underwriters, though based on inside
knowledge rather than on a gambling
chance. during the South African war, when
IIoyds guaranteed grain merchants that
the Car would not prohibit their shipments
of Russian wheat from the ports of the
Black Sea. On the other hand, the post
ponement of the coronation owing TO King
7 to he
blithe spectators who used to meet at
I.loyd's coffee house. Thousands of stands
along the route OF the coronation process
sion were insured at the rate of 10 to %
per cent on their value when filled with
loyal Britishers and visiting foreigners;
hundreds of shopkeepers had insured their
goods laid IN especially for the holiday
trade. The underwriters lost heavily on
the single item Of purple cloth. which was
TO have been sold by the million yards for
dc corations. The cheapiy dye1 cloth faded
SO quickly that it was worthless by the
time the coronation finally took place AS
q partial offset to these losses Lloyds did
big business in selling policies on the Kings
life means taken by tradesmen to insure
themselves against dull business in case
London should be plunged in mourning An
other peculiar and profitable form of insur-
ance arose out II IDHuOu scare
In 1902, when not only individuals took out
policies against smallpox germs. but shop
keepers insured themselves against loss by
quarantine
Perhaps the apex and the apotheosis Of
the insurance idea was attained when a
Lloyds group offered to guarantee man
kind against the material consequences of
lying. II the moral and spiritual conse-
oUeDCes had bPep insured q mention
the reception of the liar in the next world,
the proposition would have overstepped the
limits of good business and encroached On
the preserves of theology.
American companios. as was said are
conservative and backward. compared to
all this. although there are about one
hundred OF them, and their total annual
premiums amount to hundreds of millions
OF dollars. Each company carries from
three to a dozen lines of more or less
allied insurance. Items like Paderewski's
$50, 600 fingers. Caruso's valuable voice. the
monkey Consurs 100000 personality, cele-
brated dogs and famous racehorses are
usually carried by groups OF Loyds IN
derWriters.
The mere fact OF insuing all sorts Of
things is not as insignificant or important
as the indirect result OF the Insurance
system. The Development of universal in
surance in America means less dishonesty,
crime, cruelty and misery. II is not that
the companies intend it that way: far be
il from them TO pose as moral forces for
the betterment of mankind But their
profits depend on morality in many di-
rections. and they have compelled moral
ity IN places where laws, courts societies
and Teformers have failed.
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