Evening star., 1923-10-11
F1RE-PREVENTION TALK
No. 5.
Prepared by
Insurance Department,
U. 8. Chamber of Commerce.

U. 8. Chamber of Commerce.
We have stood many times
in the crowd watching the
flames leap through some indf-
viduars place Of business or
home and have heard. some one
make the remark:
Let it burn; the insurance
company will pay for it."
Perhaps at the time we may
have agreed with the remark,
knowing that the person whose
property was burning. undoubt-
edly had full Insurance. protec-
tion. We knew the owner
would file his loss claim, collect
felt that in a reasonable time
we would see a new building
arising out of the ruins of the
old one.
But, no matter how fully the
property may be covered by In
surance, %he owner of the busf-
ness and the public are losers.
The institution of insurance
enables the owner to replace the
property. destroyed by trans
fcrring the risk to an insur-
ance company, but it Is fall
lacy to consider that the COM
pany is the ultimate loser. The
insurance. company is really a
distributing agency through
which the losses of the unfor-
tunate few are carried by many
policy holders. When the fire
la "tes of an insurance company
increase it il necessary that the
premium income of the company
he increased proportionately to
pay the lo-seS. The general
fire loss. therefore. has a direct
effect upon tie premiums raid
by individuals and individual
business organizations, whether
they actually sustain the loss
or not. Ar 1t is. natural for
manufacturing and other busi-
ness organizations to consider
insurance charges as part of
the cost of production, these
charges are passed on to the
ultimate consumer. This places
an added burden on the citi-
zcns of the country. and since 1t
Is reflected in the cost of every
thing purchased 1t may be lik-
ened to a tax.
Further, when a fire occurs
the results of productive energy
are lost forever. BY means of
insurance the owner is sup
piled with a rebuilding fund,
but the nation as n whole has
suffered the loss of value rep
resented by raw material and
labor utilized in the construc-
tion of the property destroyed.
Suppose a few men were living e
on a desert island dependent
entirely on their own resources
for their existence. These men
agree to divide their labors so
that each will conduct def
mite activity for the benefit of
all. One has been designated to
carry on farming. and is rails
ing crons for the use of his
companions As the result of
a storm the crops are entirely
destroyed, and though they be-
long exclusively to the one man
raising them. the others suffer
equally bv being deprived of
the subsistence which they re-
quire.
In our busy community and
in the nation as whole this
analogy nolGS, dllHOuBHo oli q
larger and more complicated
basis The fact remains. how
ever, that each individual prop
erty loss is permanent loss
to the nation. 1t cannot be re-
placed. although the burden can
be distributed among many.
1t behooves every one. there
fore. for selfish reasons. IL for
no other. to use every care pos
sible to prevent fires either on
his own property or on that or
others. This week is being OBJ
served throughout the country
as fire prevention week. during
which time every one is called
uUcn to consider carefully the
matter of fire prevention and
the means which he can utilize
to reduce the enormous annual
fire waste.