The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1921-02-27

impartial and practical statement Of
some such matters Of general interest
to the public as will be Of practical
benefit to the people in dealing with
the question Of fire insurance.
/ have done this with the convic-
ton that if the rates are too high
they should be lowered, but, if low
cred or raised, it should be done in
an orderly and logical way, and in
such way as really to take care Of the
interests Of the assured.
The first thing of utmost import
ance TO the people is that rates shall
be as nearly as possible scientifically
determined, for without this the SOL
vency of the company or carrier, no
matter Of which class, whether stock
company, mutual company, or recip-
rocal exchange, cannot be preserved !;
nor could there be any such thing as
an application of rates charged for in
surance that would be fair and equit-
able to the public.
With these two results made I'M
possible, there can be no such thing
as sound fire insurance. and the peo-
pie would be left helpless victims of
takers and demagogues, who would
reap personal gain through the promo
ton of questionable and short-lived
insurance schemes.
Questionable insurance companies
would spring up all about us, and their
promoters would flourish for a sea-
son by collecting premiums from the
unsuspecting public and then pay their
losses with bankrupt notices. 1t is
therefore, of first Importance that re-
forms and relief along these lines be
sought in an orderly, thoughtful, de.
liberate and calculating way; other
wise, even perfectly honest effort to
obtain relief for the insuring public
will produce the exact opposite result
1t is an open secret that in this re-
spect Alabama has made for herself
an unenviable record. One has only
to think Of the large number Of limo
cent, unsuspecting Alabama farmers
being made defendants in the courts
to action for the recovery of their pre-
rata of losses sustained by mutua
insurance company Incorporated by
special act Of the Alabama legislature
the legal process in such action being
served anywhere from three to five
years after the policies held by the de-
fsadants had lapsed. Or, again, one
has only to think Of innocent and un,
suspecting citizens from various quar-
tiers of the state appealing to the De
partment Of Insurance to know what
has become Of their hard-earnet
money which they had been induced
by insurance experts and rate reform
ers to invest in the capital stock Of
Alabama fire insurance companie:
long since defunct.
If one is not convinced from thu
records found in Alabama, certainl,
reference to conditions now prevail
ing in our sister state mississippi,
il sufficient to show the serious re
. suits that may come to the insurint
public by the thoughtlcss and incon
siderate efforts to work reforms II
insurance matters.
, Thousands Of farmers with thei
cotton in warehouses, which they ar
! forced to hold for want Of market
!, and whirA they can hold no longe
! without securing loans, and who ar
, unable to secure loan for the reasol
J that no insurance on cotton is obtain
, able. For the same reason thousand
, Of loans previously negotiated are be
, ing called, and the whole bushes
, fabric of the state is in confusion an
, chaos, all for the reason that ccrtail
classes of insurers, being prohibits
, by statute from having any connec
, ton with a bureau organized for tn
purpose of properly classifying, rat
ing and inspecting fire risks, and hav
. ing purchased the schedule from a
independent organization, charters
by the state itself, sold the fire pro
lection to the citizens of the state a
uniform price in accordance wit
the schedule which they ha'
! purchased.
1t does seem to me that the real in
terest of the insuring public demand
that we seek relief in these matters il
, accordance with sound, orderly am
, conservative business methods.
,..xx,c CunEc WEAu InNEEE