The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-12
pany, southern states Fire and Casualty

pany, Southern States Fire and Casualty
 Insurance company.
 Life, Legal Reserve-Protective Life Insurance company, Great southern LlIe Insurance company.
 Casualty, Liability, Accident-1nter- state Casualty Insurance company, Southern States Fire and Casualty Insur- ance company.
 Life. ndustrial-Alabama Insurance company.
 Assessment, Life and Mutual Aid As socations-Alabama Mutual Beneht Iife association, American Health and Acci- dent Insurance company, Birmingham Life Insurance company. Great Southern Home Industrial association, Royal Life anG Accident association, Southern ln- demnity association, Southern Mutual Aid association, American Life association. Southern Mutual Life association, Provi- dent Insurance company.
 "Fraternal Benefit Societies-Cycle or Equity, Southern Woodmen and number of secret orders having insurance depart ments.
 "All of these companies are organized with ample capital, and have progressive and able arrangements, with which the focal public at least is so well acquninteo, any individual comment will not be neces-
 sary hera.
 "Something of the great value of the establishment of these insurance com panies In Birmingham may be realized when we consider that the authorized cap ital of these companies, the majority or which is paid in, aggregates now very near s, 3,0000O0. The annual cash premium income of these companies, although a portion of them have really just started business. amounts to about s1, ,50O,OOO per annum.
 "The major portion of this premium income must, under the laws under which these companies operate, be set aside as a reserve to pay losses, ana this money must therefore remain In available cash or be put out on gilt edged securities, and this means, as can readily be seen, that the stronger our local insurance companies become ana the larger the premium income they build up, the larger will be the amount of money to be deposited with Bir- mingham banks as cash reserve, ana this may be loaned out in this section on gilt-edged securities.
 Everyone is familiar with the strong financial position of insurance com panies in the city of New York, for in- stance, and we should be proud of@the rapid strides that the insurance. com panies of Birmingham have alreaoy made along financial lines.
 Home Patronage Due
 Some complaint has been made by some of our local companies because our people do not patronize them qulte as fully as they would seem 10 de- serve. Of course. this committee can not recommend the patronage or any company which Is not financially strong and legally able to take care of any and all claims, but so far as this com mittee knows there are none or our companies in Birmingham but what are financially able to carry out their legal contracts, and if they are care fuI in taking risks there seems 10 De no reason why we should not pc pehe- fitted ourselves without chance or loss when we favor them with our patron- age. ,
 "It has been said of our people that some of the most progressive Of our citizens are fond of talking the trade in Birmingham't idea, but are not al ways so careful to practice 1t. While this may have been true to some ex- tent in the past, and may be true now to a greater extent than IS Iea,lAeu' what we need is campaign Of educa- ton which will cause each loyal Bir- minehamite to place a question mark after every proposed purchase, and ask himself this Can this article be pro- cured satisfactorily in Birmingham, of a Birmingham merchant or or BIT mingham manufacturer, or of Bir- mingham institution?
 Some people are fond of saying that l they believe in trading in Birmingham Fan things being equal. I go further | than this. and contend that 1t Is not
 necessary for all things to be equal think that the customer should be
 reasonably sure of getting an article
 which will meet his reasonable re- | quirements, and that he should expect | to get it at somewhere in the neigh borhood of the price which he would | have to pay for 1t away from Birming
 ham, but do not think that he should compel the Birmingham merchant O. manufacturer every time to make iden tically the same price in dollars ant
 cents as the outside man might make should he send away from Birmingham
 to make his purchase. Birmingham be
 ing comparatively new place, as com
 pared with some of the older cities an'
 SNarufacturing towns, the costs TO
 rentals, skilled labor, and the as
 sembling of some classes of materia
 are higher in Birmingham than else where. but the very fact that thing