The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-07-12
Now for a few figures again,
seem to be Mr.. Johnston's

NOW Tor a lew ngureS again,
which seem to be Mr.. Johnston's
strong suit.
Mr.. Thos. Sheehan, the Deputy of
the State Hail Department prepared
this statement showing premiums re-
ceived and losses paid by the state as
we'll as the line companies each of
the four years, 1918, 1914, 1915 and
1916.
This comparative table was sent to
Mr.. Johnston, so he possessed the
facts when he wrote the last attack,
June 21st. Still he persists in using
his own figures to show how much
greater returns the farmer would
have received from the line compan-
les 100 per cent, that the states SO
per cent in 1916.
These are the correct figures pre-
pared by Mr.. Sheehan and taken from
the official reports Of the Hail De-
partment:
"In 1913 the state paid SO per cent
of it's loss, now on $8O0.O 90 insurance
on 100 acres if you had been insured
with the state, you would have re-
ceived that year $7O4.0O at a cost of
$4,000. If you had been insured with
the old line company that year the
cost for the $704.O0 insurance would
have been $45.76. In 1914 the state
paid IS per cent Of total loss or $500
out of the $4,000 at a cost of $4,000
The old line companies that year
would have charged you $3.50 for
the same insurance. In 1915 the state
paid rs per cent of total loss or
100000 at a cost of $4,000. For the
same insurance that year with the
line companies, the cost would have
been $4,000. In 1916 the state paid
only SO per cent of total loss at a
cost of $4,000 on the $304.O 90 that you
would have received. The cost Of the
old line company for that year would
have been $1976. Now you can see
from these figures that you would
have been ahead every year so far
as expense wa concerned, if you had
insured with the state, except the
year 1916. The amount received
from either n being the same"
"For recapitulation. Old Line
Company 1913 cost $45.76; 1914 cost
$33 80; 1915 cost $4,000; 1916 cost
$19.76; total cost for the four years
with old line companies 1882. Cost
with the state for the four years
: $4,000. You ear see from this that
the state has the better of the argu-
ment by 1882 in the eastern part of
the state. Now let us look at the
western half Of the state, where for
these years the rate has been 10 per
cent. The amount in comparison for
these four years from either n
and the amount received By the party
, insured would have heal $2,128.OO.
From these figures you al readily
see that the party insuring with an
old line company would have paid in
premiums $212.8O or a difference in
favor of state insurance of $92.8O.
You will find that these figures r
correct, but l suppose when you start
ed this thing you e thought that
other people could have a broader
view of the matter than you had. We
take our figures from a statewide
view and you from a local."
eff this were compulsory there
! would be a fund of between $4,800,-
900 and $4,000, 900 raised every year
at the rate charged at the present
time on the cultivated land alone, a
sum that would be sufficient to pay
out in full every year, for all losses
even in the worst year that we have
ever experienced, viz: last year."
! The fact should not be lost sight of
that the present state insurance act
is not compulsory. It simply provides
an avenue of escape from a specula-
; tive system Of insurance, where
gambling is the main feature.
i Those who have read Johnston at
tacks on my little treatise or insur-
ance will note that both he and I
have used figures and used them cor
rectly. If so, it is up to you, farm
ers, who read these figures, to Judge
the possible motives prompting each
one of us, in presenting these con-
ficting views.
! l shall leave it to the reader to fig
ure out what Johnston's motives r e
And as for myself will say, that l
could not even be suspected of hav-
ing any other purpose than to defend
a cause that I believe a good, just and
profitable one to the state.
1 think if the farmer understands
the working of the state insurance
plan, they will patronize it more gen.
orally, and if this was done to the ex-
tent of the total of all the insurance
written in the state and distributed
evenly, the state plan, ever at the
present rate, would pay 100 per cent
one year with another. I think /
am safe in saying, that the farmers of
North Dakota would prefer a safe
and sane insurance plan whereby
they can get all that is coming to
them according to the premium in
vested to the plan advocated by Mr..
rI-.L>- :~,,o1.:r~ $ha~o ~ a rifrhod