The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-04-20
GO AFTER MUTUAL COMPANIES
Trustees Of the Volunteer Fire De-
partment to Make Strong Efforts to
Collect Premiums Due to the City
Fire Department.

A1 the regular monthly meeting OF
the board of trustees Of the Kenosha
volunteer fire department held on
Tuesday evening the trustees decided
to take drastic action to collect the
two per cent Of insurance premiums
due to the city for the support of the
fire department and the attorneys Of
the fire department. were instructed to
appeal to the Wisconsin state insur-
ance commissioner for aid in making
these collections.
The law provides that the two per
cent of the premiums shall be paid to
the treasurer of the fire department
before the first of February each year
This year three of the agencies in the
city have not made their pay
ments. 1t is thought that these pay
ments will be collected without any
great trouble on the part of the state
department, but the trustees of the de-
partment are anxious to establish a
precedent which will make it easier to
make collections in future years. At
the same time the trustees will take
up with the state official the question
of the collection of a portion of the
premiums earned by the so-called
mutual" companies in Kenosha. It
IS claimed that if the department
could get two per cent Of the premiums
collected by these companies annually
the amount turned in for the support
OF the fire department and the pension
fund would be more than double the
amount now collected.
Henry lsermann, chief of the fire
department has already gone deeply
into this matter of securing the pay
ment of these claims and he has found
that most of the companies writing
this mutual' insurance are COM
panies not writing insurance under
the laws of Wisconsin and it will be
a. very hard matter to get at the col
lection of the amounts claimed. "We
get up against snag early in the
game said Chief Isermann. "as il
lis positively impossible for us to find
out just what insurance is carried in
Kenosha where the companies are not
regularly licensed by the state. Some
of the big companies in Kenosha have
from year to year recognized the moral
claim of the fremen for a portion of
these premiums and have made gifts to
the department, but there is absolutely
no way for us to check up these ac-,
counts and what we get is just so
much found. It would be useless for
the department to attempt to uncover
this insurance as if the managers of
big plants were DESTROYS of so doing
it would be an easy matter for them
to prevent the facts in regard to the
amount of insurance carried being re-
vealed. There is no doubt, however.
out IhaC dehn1te report of this in
surance would largely increase the
amount to be paid to the city by the
various companies"
Ii an investigation is made by the
insurance department it will mean a
checking up Of the books of the vari-
GUS agencies to show that they have
paid just amount to the fire depart
ment and it is certain that for the
most part the agents would make no
objection to such a checking up.
There have been no charges made of
false returns, but if an investigation
is to be made the department will in
sist that it be a thorough one.