The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-02-13
ABOUT HAIL INSURANCE

The pill providing for state hail in
surance is still one of the leading sub
iects for discussion in the Legislature.
The subject of state hail insurance
has been discussed since the session
of 1909, and in 1911 the first state in
surance bill was introduced; since
that time at every session Of the legi5-
lature a hail insurance measure Of
some form has been presented.
In 1915 saskatchewan bill was in
| troduced by the then Representative
Solem of Minnehaha county. This
bill provided for an acreage tax on
all lands in the state. whether the
land was tillable or not, or whether
il is under the pillow or pasture land.
The objection to this land tax is that
a great part OF western South Dakota
is altogether grazing land, and it was
decided as unfair to compel the people
living on this land to pay for the hail
insurance in the intensely cultivated
counties in the southeastern Inc east
ern portions of the state.
Correspondence between the insur-
ance department Of the state and the
states having state hail Insurance
North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska and
the Province of Saskatchewan in Can
ada, led to the crystallizing of the
opinion of a number of people who
had given the question of state hail
insurance considerable thought, and
Senate Bill No. SO was introduced by
the joint committee on insurance of
the house and senate.
, This bill provides that the land
benefited shall pay for the protection
provided and the rate is fixed at ap
proximately one-half of the rates
charged by companies previously writ
ing this kind of insurance. The farm
ers of the state, after the visit OF the
are automatically insured at
AMOUNT of $1,000 or $500 per acre,
or If they desire to carry no hail in
surance under this act, they can make
affidavit to that effect which, if
filed with the county auditor prior to
June LIST, relieves them from the oper.
alton of the act.
A letter from the commissioner OF
hail insurance in Saskatchewan states
that several years ago their act pro-
yided insurance in an amount of $3.vO,
$500 or $500 per acre at a rate OF lie
15c and 19c, respectively, which would
equivalent to a rate OF CSC for $40
of Insurance.: the rate charged under
the proposed South Dakota law in the
favorable district in h state be-
ing CSC. The Saskatchewan law re-
ferred to in this paragraph, being
purely a voluntary act as to lndlVld-
uals and the political subdivision that
corresponds to our counties, was not
a success. and in 1908 a deficit of over
one hundred thousand dollars caused
the repeal Of the act.
After seeing a copy OF the South Da-
kota bill, Secretary Hingley OF the
Saskatchewan Municipal Hail lnsur-
ance Association. at present the o
successful governmental enterprise
set on foot, says: 81 must con-
graduate you upon the general pro-
visions of the bill. 1t should make a
foundation for a practical,
system of state or government lnsur-
ance." Hon. S. A. Olsness, insurance
commissioner of North Dakota, IN a
letter. after having submitted to MN
a COPY of the South Dakota bill. says:
After reading 1t through / find your
n,an in general is good and the bill
is certainly well and carefully drawh'
/. = am going to propose the
embodying of your form OF statemeh.
as to listing of lands in our Dill
We will also propose an amendmeh'
as in your bill to the effect that no
loss below 1000 be recognized"