The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-05-23
A WORD ABOUT STATE HAIL
INSURANCE.

| do not know whether 1t Is custo-
mary for one who has had a little to
do with the formulating o. our laws,
whether they be good or bad, TO offer
a WORD concerning some OF the meas
ures which through the action OF the
recent legislature were enacted into
law. However / always believe tn?
voters are always glad to get any In
formation they IAN about the laws
that have been passed and TO which
they will be compelled to conform In
the future, SO | have decided to write
briefly concerning some Of the o
important measures that came be-
fore us at the racent Sessi OF, Of the
legislature. In this article / shall
discuss briefly the provisions Of the
Hail Insuranceslaw. Later, | hope
through the indulgence OF our editors
to be allowed space in which to take
up The Good Roads Law; State Aid
For Rural Schools; The Mortgage
Registry Tax, and perhaps one o 7
two others.
/ / presume by this time there Is no
one who has not heard something. at
least, about State Hail Insurance.
The law has been published in pham
phlet form and sent out broadcast
over the state. Many articles have
been written and published In arions
papers touching upon many phases
Of the law, SO / say everyone no doubt
is more or less familiar with its pro-
Visions by this time.
In this article | shall not attempt
to convince anyone that he should Or
should not await himself OF the op
portunities that may be offered by
the law, but rather to discuss one or
two provisions which make certain
things obligatory upon the farmer.
To my mind the law is dependant
for its strength upon the way In
which the exemption clause Is drawn.
Unless the farmers OF the state are
very. very, careful, there wi lie
many men who through neglect or
forgetfulness will be compelled to pay
a premium Of forty cents upon every
acre OF land they have under cultiva-
ton, You ask how can that be?
Simply this. The law provides that
every man who does not want hail In
'surance must notify the County Audi
tor on or before June lst, each year
that he desires to exempt his land
from the provisions of the law, and
every man who does not do so Is auto
matically insured, whether he SO de
sires or not. So / desire u emphasize
the fact that Ii you do not want in
insurance 1t Is incumbent upon you
to make 1t known in tie manner pro-
vided by law. So don't forget or neg
Iect.
If you desire to come under the pro
visions of the law and take out In
surance you can do so with the Town
ship Assessor, when he makes ) your
of which you may take advantage.
Contrary to the ideas of some people
1t is not necessary to insure your en-
tire acreage but only such portion
thereof as you may desire, bur this
must be done by exempting all land
you do not want to insure. However
an accurate description must be made
as to the location of the land to be In
sured together with the kind OF crop
growing thereon!
Ag .in, it's not necessary to insure
for the $40 limit. but anyone may re-
luce his insurance to the $5 limit
theremby reducing his premium fifty
per cents
In the case of landlord and tenant
either or both may insure as Iris In
ter6st in the crop may appear In case
the farm Is cropped on shares. Ii
| rented for cash then tile matter Of In
! s0rauce rests entirely with tile ten.
| ant or course. However, In either
| case II the tenant desires to insure
| and the landlord does not, then the
landlord retains a lien upon the en-
tire crop as a surety for the premium
There are other minor details 81
witch I might speak, but lest this
article becomes wearis ONE l will d.
sist. Don't forget that II you don,
want hail insurance you must say so
Remember also that II you d. want
insurance tn. law Is flexible enough
IL meet the needs OF everyone. Pc
sonally I was not over enthusiastic q
! bout the law as 1t Is drawn, however
X included eighty acres OF winter
wheat under Its provisions, and l be
ue,e as time goes on, with perhaps ,
few fevisions, 1t viii become one o
the u1cny good laws thai have beer
enacted ind will work much good foI
the farmers of our state.
Sincerely yours,
III. 10. COvEY.