Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-06-03

washington, ~, W., WAY OIL. oho Va
the most interesting Of the war de-
velopments in business way 10 the
fact that it induced the United States
government to 60 into the insurance
business. Uncle Sam has been under
writing policies for eighteen months
now-time enough to give his abilities
in this line fair try-out, and to justify
the people of the country In asking
how he is getting along.
Uncle Sans record bears investiga-
tion very well. As an insurance man
he has been almost successful enough
to have his biography printed among
those of the poor but daring captains
Of industry who saw their chances and
made their fortunes. The federal IN
surance bureau has q balance on the
right side of its ledger Of almost two
million dollars.
OF course, that balance may not last
long. All insurance Is more or less
an uncertain business, and the gov
ernment's insurance business is the
most uncertain Of ALL Its very un.
certainty is the reason that the gov
eminent is in it. 1t was too uncertain
for anybody else; too uncertain for
all the private companies to handle
together. The official name OF the
new bureau is the bureau of war risk
insurance.
Like the rest of the federal depart
ments and bureaus, the war risk insur
ance bureau was never intended for 8
profit maker. 1t was established as m
emergency measure, to relieve m
acute and critical situation. 1t did Its
work so quietly and we'll that few PEG
pie realize now how critical that sttua
ton really was. Fl.
When the war broke out, American
business was faced by the problem OF
protection for American shipping
There was a brisk demand for Ameri
can goods abroad, there were Amer
lean goods in plenty to be shipped, but
In between lay the broad Atlantic
representing a whole list Of new mari
time perils whose gravity and very
nature were only matter OF guess
work No merchants were willing to
risk large shipments on those waters
without having them adequately pro
tected by insurance. American insur
ance companies were confronted by q
situation that was rather beyond them
to handle.
There were three factors complicat
ing that situation. In the first place
the hazards Of voyage had increased
immensely In the second place, the
volume of shipping increased rapidly
as Europe began to buy. In the THIRD
place, in the financial disturbance thai
swept the whole world. the expedieni
of reinsurance in England, by which
risks may be reinsured in the Londor
market, was seriously limited. OWNS
to the coincidence Of the August Bank
holiday, the reinsurance markets were
entirely closed for the first three days
of this critical period, and American
companies had to carry the total 1nsur
ance risk themselves. AS q result
they cut down on the amount of insur
ance they would accept on any on<
vessel or its cargo Small companies
limited themselves to small amounts
while the maximum for the bigges
companies stood at 100000 or $3.50,
900. From this 1t followed that thu
shippers could not get anything like
the amount Of insurance they wanted
and were forced to carry a large pro
portion of the risk themselves.
What insurance was Obtainablt
came high. It was perhaps not too
high from the standpoint of the ISSUING
companies who were facing an UMPIRE
cedented set of circumstances, but i
was. high enough to put a serious OBJ
stacle in the way of foreign trade, hat
nothing been done to alleviate the sit
uation. Premiums on vessels and car
goes passing through the North SEE
ran as high in some instances as 81