Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1917-05-24
State Hail Insurance Is
Cheap, Safe Protection
State Insurance Commissioner Boost,
State Hail Insurance Department.
Cheap, Safe Protection

A word to the wise is sufficient.
From now on the farmer will plan
how he might best protect his grow
ing crops against losses by hail. In
view Of the enormously high prices
of seed and labor, as we'll as the
prospects for high grain prices by
next fall, it will be readily under
stood that the magnitude of the in
vestment is too great, and the prob
lem of a successful harvest too i'm
portant to be dealt with lightly, or
in careless, unbusinesslike man.
ner. While the saving of crop
are many, shall confine myself to
that of insurance.
1t is well-known fact that heavy
losses by hail storms are visited up
on our crops every summer. The
farmer seeks to prevent loss by frost
by sowing his grain and vegetables
within the season least subject to
freezing. He tries to prevent loss
through shelling, by beginning to
cut the grain somewhat on the green
side. These are precautions neces-
STATED by experience. Hail storms
are absolutely non-preventable,
hence man invented the plan of pro-
tecting himself against their ravages
by means Of insurance.
In view of all admonition we now
read and hear about economy and
saving, feel l am only doing my
duty as a state official when I call
attention to the insurance problem.
therefore take it, that the pro-
i. vident farmer. will this year moro
than ever before, look to one or
another of assurances sources for
protection Of his crops, and with
your permission, let me call to your
attention the last, but not least, we
have the state hail insurance. This
plan of insurance has been in oper-
alton for six years, with limited
success. This for several reasons,
some OF which are as follows: The
law provides that the assessor shall
take the applications when on his
rounds assessing property. But, as
the assessors duties end before the
season for writing the bulk of hail
insurance begins, very little busi-
ness is written by the assessors.
They can write insurance any time
later but the fee is only one-half
cent per acre, and few will make
the extra trip. Another reason is
that cash must accompany an ap-
plication for state insurance.
Allow me to point out why !
think a farmer should patronize
state insurance: Because it is his
own institution and all the pre-.
miums are kept within the state. 1t
is the cheapest Of all Except self
insurance), that is the most econ
omical because of the extremely
low operating expense, yet it is ade-
quate and safe because you get ex.
actly what you pay for.
With apologies to w. w. Felson,
auditor of Pembina county, 1 pre-
sent. the following comparative
table:
State Plan: Premium on 1OC
acres at 30c, $1,000; Assessors fee,
Soc; Maximum insurance loss, $500
Old Line Plan: Csc rate; Pre-.
MUM on $500 insurance. s52;
Maximum insurance loss $500.
This shows a saving of s21. sc
under the state plan
In case OF $50 had to be borrowed
for six months at the rate of 10 pei
cent, the cost under the state plan
would be about s32, or a saving O
$40 over the old line plan.
A word to the wise is sufficient!
IS. A. OLSNESS,
Commissioner of Insurance.
Good Garden
'There is a fine garden at tn