Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-06-20

particular enterprise. Congressman King
of Illinois, has long been an advocate of
government crop Insurance. and has re-
peatedly introduced bills providing for a
bureau of crop insurance in the department
of agriculture. But Secretary Houston, who
always keeps keen political ear to the
ground, heard the rumble of the approach
ing reaction against governmental enter
prise, and did not advocate the measure. 1t
never got beyond a committee room.
| Nonetheless, some of the experts say that
crop insurance is properly a government
function. 1t would be expensive, they ad-
nit, and this expense could best be reduced
| by one big organization serving the whole
country. Naturally, the larger the territory
served, the more losses in one section would
tend to be counterbalanced by gains in
others
| Again, crop insurance, like boiler insur-
| ance and health insurance, would be de-
pendent upon expert inspection for it's sue
cess, and this expert inspection, which
would improve methods of agriculture would
| perhaps be the most valuable feature of the
| thing. Thus it would be impossible to in
sure a against his own ignorance. He
| could not be paid insurance on a wheat crop
destroyed by smut which he might have
| prevented by treating the seed before plant
| ing But there should be an inspector who
would see that the wheat was treated prop
| erly before the insurance was written. Such
| a corps of inspectors could easily be put into
| the field by the department of agriculture.
which already has an organization of trained
| agriculturalists reaching into almost every
county in the United States. For private
| company to build up such an organization
would be tremendous undertaking. There
are others, however, who believe that our
great insurance companies should undertake
the work and think that this method would
be better than the "paternalistic' one of
having the government insure the crops.
Comprehensive crop insurance was offered
about two years ago by three companies in
the west, and was not complete success.
They insured against drouth among other
things, and when big drouth came along.
they were unable to pay out. The experts
say that bad management was responsible
for this partial failure. In the first place.
the companies should have limited the
amount of risks they would take in any
given section, say the experts. In the Sec
ond place they entrusted the selling OF poll
ces to local bankers These bankers being
more concerned about the financial condi-
tions in their own sections than about the
prosperity of the insurance companies, sold
drouth insurance after the drouth had
started. This was like insuring a house
against fire after it was in flames
Crop insurance as a state function has
also been tried In the Dakotas, Montana.
Nebraska and Oklahoma the state govern
ments offer to insure farmers aglnst loss by
hail. AS private companies offer the same
insurance in these regions, and canvass for
policies, while the state governments do not.
the state insurance has not as yet been
widely taken. Nevertheless, in at least one
of these states the insurance commissioner
is convinced that this state crop insurance
could safely be extended to afford protection
against drouth, bugs, diseases and floods as
we'll as against hail.
Crop insurance seems clearly to be thing
needed in this country and one which either
private capital Or the government must