The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-03-02
Managing Our Own Business
Yours and Mine


cnlne operators. Mr.. BeeDe reported
the situation to his company, and
they said the manager of the Potato
Growers association should have
made application for protection on
everybody for all kinds of work they
expected to do during the year. The
policy was taken back and rewritten
the way it should have been in the
first place, and the damage, amount
ing to about $500, was paid to the
man whose finger was hurt.
Had Another Experience
At the end of the year when it was
time to place an order for similar in
surance for the year 1919, Manager
Pendlebury severed his relations
with the company represented by Mr..
Beebe and placed his accident insur-
ance with the state bureau. During
the summer when Mr.. Pendlebury
was experimenting some construc-
ton work about the warehouse, he
climbed up ladder and while he was
at the top the ladder slipped and he
fell, sustaining injuries from which
he was laid up in bed for two weeks,
was unable to do office work for
about month, and was unfit for
active labor for about three months.
He reported these things to the
state bureau of insurance and could
not even get an answer to a letter.
He doesn't know yet whether he has
anything coming or not. All he
knows is that they collected about
the same premium as he paid the
other company the year before and
that he got nothing, not even in
formation.
Experimenting Again
For the year 1920, Mr.. Pendlebury
placed his insurance with reciprocal
insurance association represented by
"A. l.. Fowler of Occur d'Alene, Ida,
and has had no accidents and no oc-
caion to test their service. If they
have any accidents we shall give a
report upon the kind of service that
reciprocal company<gies them.
What is Coming
1t is entirely probable that one
kind of service is better than the
other and will increase in volume
and public favor as time goes on.
If it appears that the state bureau
gives the better service then the pri-
vate, or commercial insurance COM
panies will drop out of that part of
their activities and merely keep up
the payments on injuries already
vouched for till such claims expire,
and they will sustain themselves out
of the proceeds of their other
branches of insurance. If the COM
mercial insurance proves to be better
than the state insurance, it will in
crease in volume and public favor
till the business of the state bureau
peters out, and then the bureau will
have no funds with which to pay the
accrued claims from year to year, for
the widows and orphans will be en-
titled to protection till death or ma
turity shall release the bureau from
responsibility. If the state bureau
runs out of money the other depart
ments of the state government can
not be drawn upon to sustain the in
surance bureau. 1t is merely an
agency for the collection and distri-
button of funds, and when there are
no longer any funds to distribute,
the widows and orphans and the in
jured workmen needing food and
raiment, will be without support and
the tax payers will be called upon to
foot the bills which have already
been paid once when the accident in
surance premium was paid.
Commissioner Church, the head of
the accident insurance department,
admits that this kind of insurance is
an experiment. l propose that we
shall study the matter carefully in
this the third year of it's operations,
and forecast the final outcome. If
you know anything about how it
works, send me your information and
we shall arrive at conclusions sooner.
To be continued.