Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-05-22
HAIL LOSSES NET
BY STATE SYSTEM
Two Canadian Provinces are
Providing Protection at
Low Cost.

Aue ASZi report OF inc STATE dau
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 6.12 per cent. was needed
for expenses and the remaining 1888
per cent. was available for paying
hail losses, or to be more explicit,
tor every 500 of revenue, 1888 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 4 years was only
$4.3S per 500 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 a 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 500 of premiums collected
Their margin of $31 was over 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 4 cents an acre is levied, with
few exceptions, on all the land of
the municipality County which has
decided to accept the state insurance.
The plan thus recognizes the funda-
mental principle that the idle land
gains in value by whatever promotes
the success of farming in the locality
and should in fairness to the men
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 only
q fiat tax on all assessable lands,
but in that year the act was amended
to provide (1) fiat tax of cents
an acre on all land; and (2) an ad-
ditional levy on crop area only. The
tax put on the crop lands last year
was IS cents an acre. But this means
the Alberta plan assures the pay
mont If ov.or, 1oooos i, full IL Sv,ooor+
ant advantage over the Saskatchewan
method which not only limits the pay
ment of losses to $500 an acre but
provides for prorating the payments
if there are not enough funds to cover
all the obligations. The Alberta farm
er is thus always insured in full, and
the act provides for temporary borrow
ing If the losses in bad year exceed
the funds collected. The borrowed
money is then paid back in the good
years.
League Advocates State System.
From the beginning the Nonpartis.
an League has advocated state hail
insurance similar to that of Saskatche-
wan and Alberta as a simple, easy
method of cutting down one of the
expenses of farming. Private insur-
ance against hail is. of course, better
than no insurance at all. but it's meth
DDS are too wasteful, too costly, to
be tolerated by an enlightened farm
Ing community. Only state system,
for instance, can shift part of the
burden at least to the land held out of
use for speculation. Only a state
system can make the great savings
possible when every farmer subject
to the risk is taken in automatically,
Minnesota is depending entirely
on inefficient private companies.