Arizona republican., 1912-09-30
A MONOPOLY
 0F INSURANCE
The Italian Government Is Preparing to Take the Nations Life Assurance Business Into It's Own Hands

uer Wnlch the new governmental In- stitute of Insurance, provided for in a bill recently passed by the Italian parliament, will begin work on Jan uary l of next year. have just been made public by the government. The experiment, which practically is the establishment of a government mon- opoly of all life insurance in Italy, i through the absorption of the Italian | companies and by gradually taking | over the business of foreign concerns | now operating in this country, will | be most interesting. as the profits 1 derived therefrOm will be used to augment the Workingmen's Old Age Pension Fund and because it is the intention of the government to make life insurance compulsory for many classes of the people
 A sensation was caused both in
 Italy and abroad in April of 1911 by the announcement that Signor Nitti,
 minister of agriculture, industry and
 commerce in the then newly formed
 GiOlitti cabinet. intended to introduce
 into parliament a bill for the forma-
 tion of a state monopoly of all life
 insurance. The measure contained
 provisions for the absorption of the
 Italian companies than in operation
 and for the curtailment of foreign
 companies doing business in the
 Kingdom.
 The scheme as outlined affected
 powerful and established interests
 and called forth intense and wide spread protests. A party, nicknamed the Young Turks was formed in the chamber of deputies and it Waged
 strenuous war against the project while the companies organized, in the press and through public meetings, propaganda in favor of the main | tenance of insurance conditions as they then existed. Meanwhile John | G. A. Leishman, the United States ambassador at that time accredited | to the Quirinal, headed a movement supported by the diplomatists repre- senting the countries where cOmpan- | ies doing business in Italy had their head offices, which produced per haps, a greater effect than the com bined agitation of the. deputies and of the people.
 The representatives of the United
 States, Great Britain, France, Ger | many, Switzerland and Austria Hun gary maintained that the sudden ex- | pulsion of foreign companies, which for years had operated in Italy where | they employed enormous amounts of capital and where they had establish | ed important permanent interests un-
 der laws passed by the Italian parlia- ment, might almost be considered a breach of good faith.
 l As a result of these protests the in
 surance bill had not received the ap- prcNal of parliament when he sum mer lecess was taken, and during the | vacation period Signor Nitu and Premier Giolitti took the opportunity l to study the question mOre fully ana to add to the bill certain provisions | by which the foreign companies could continue. for the time being, to work | in Italy, though in an inferior posi- tion compared to that of the govern ment institute of insurance. The measure, then, with a few additional amendments, was again presented to parliament. which passed it by a | large majority.
 The scheme will be an experiment | in socialism under a monarchical government deducts each month tax corresponding practically to an in come tax. A percentage. of the sum collected goes towards the Working mems Pension Fund which entities | the pensioner or his family in case | he voluntarily leaves the service, or dies, before the expiration of twenty | five years to one months salary for each year that the man has served. After twenty-five years the pensioner receives one third of the salary earn | ed. and the amount of the benefits gradually grows until after forty years of servitude the employe is en- titled to a full pension
 The governments idea is to ex- tend this system to all individuals who even indirectly have dealings with the governmental, provincial or municipal authorities, and also to those workers for whom insurance against accident already is compul- | sorry on the part of the employers.
 The Institute of Insurance in employ | ing help will give preference to the | clerks of the present companies. Among the advantages to be deriV- ed from the institute is one by which
 the insured who pay premiums at any | government office, such as the post l telegraph, telephone, customs, and tax
 collectors, and at the offices of the salt and tobacco monopolies, etc, vii be allowed a reduction in their pay ments. The new law provides that | the surviving insurance companies may operate only under a tariff pre-
 scribed by the government and they
 cannot make reductions in any form | to their clients, not even in the shape l of private restitution of taxes pa1C to the government, under the penalty of having their authorization to d( business immediately revoked.
 In a few years the government monopoly of life insurance will bt | complete and the scheme is expected
 to bring to the exchequer an amour | of capital at present difficult to esti mate. The law already establishe that this immense fund shall be in vested half in state consols which vii
 render possible, perhaps in the neal future. the reduction of the interes
 from 31b to 3 per cent; one-tenth II real estate and the remainder il loans and subventions to military anC
 civil servants or pensioners of thu government