Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-06-13
HAIL LOSSES MET
BY STATE SYSTEM
Two Canadian Provinces are
Providing Protection at
Low Cost.

The 1927 report of the State Hail
Insurance Commission of Saskatche-
wan recently published, contains inter
esting information for farmers who
believe in State Hail insurance. OF
the funds collected for the 1916 crop
season only 6.l2 per cent. was needed
for expenses and the remaining 93.SS
per cent. was available for paying
hail losses, or to be more explicit,
for every $1O0 of revenue, $93.SS were
returned to farmers suffering hail
losses. The Province of Alberta
which also has state hail insurance
has had an even more favorable ex-
perience. It's cost of administration
over a period Of years was only
$4.3S per $100 of revenue annually.
No private company does business
on such a small margin. Generally
the private companies must have from
$25 to $50 or more to pay field agents
general agents, officers, office ex
pense, advertising, and private profits
The records of the Insurance Depart
ment Of North Dakota, for instance
show that over space of 6 years
the private companies operating in
that state paid back to farmers who
had suffered hail losses only $50 out
of every $10O of premiums collected
Their margin of $31 was over s times
the amount needed for conducting the
business in Saskatchewan and over
Z times the margin for four years
in Alberta.
Methods of Operation.
BY the Saskatchewan plan an extra
tax of cents an acre is levied, with
few exceptions, on all the land o
the municipality (county) which ha.
decided to accept the state insurance
The plan thus recognizes the funda
mental principle that the idle lant
gains in value by whatever promotes
the success of farming in the localit.
and should in fairness to the mel
actually working their land, bear ,
part at least of the cost. The maxi
mum loss paid is IS an acre.
Previous to 1917 Alberta levied onl!
a flat tax on all assessable lands
but in that year the act was amended
to provide Q) fiat tax Of S cent
an acre on all land; and (2) an ad
ditional levy on crop area only. Th'
tax put on the crop lands last yea
was 35 cents an acre. But this mean
the Alberta plan assures the pay
ment of crop losses in full. in import
ant advantage over the Saskatchewan
method which not only limits the pay
ment of losses to $500 an acre bu
provides for prorating the payment
if there are not enough funds to cove
all the obligations. The Alberta farm
er is thus always insured in full, an,
the act provides for temporary borrow
ing if the losses in a bad year excee,
the funds collected. The borrowe
money is then paid back in the goo
years.
League Advocates State System.
From the beginning the Nonparti:
an League has advocated state ha
| insurance similar to that of Saskatcht
| wan and Alberta as simple, cas-
method Of cutting down one Of tn
| expenses of farming. Private insul
ance against hail is. of course, bette
than no insurance at all, but its metl
DDS are too wasteful, too costly, I
be tolerated by an enlightened farm
ing community. Only state system
for instance, can shift part of tn
burden at least to the land held out {
use fo- speculation. Only stat
system can make THE great saving
possible when every farmer subje,
to the risk is taken in automaticall
Minnesota is depending entirel
on inefficient private companies.