The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-03-28
Peoples Forum

red there could be no premium tax
collected, but in event Of hail loss the
department could be compelled to
pay. A fine situation to face! To
accomplish the wrccking of the de-
partment that much faster the
Sleight bill, making the county COM
missioners official hail adjustcrs,.
might also have been included in
the omnibus bill.
The Carson Press in it's editorial
attack on the governor and the hail
department as of March 10, makes a
bureaucratic officials. injustice to
its policyholdcrs, etc. The trump
argument seems to be that the de-
partmcnt maliciously leads the farm
ers to believe they have valid in
surance by permitting them to be
listed (no mention is made that list
ing may be illegal due to negligence
of their own agent, the assessor)
and later even adjusts their hail loss,
only to rudely cancel same on purely
technical grounds. Now let US see
the other side: The business Of hail
insurance is and must be conducted
by law. Dates are fixed for listing,
for Withdrawals, reinstatement, etc.
These limitations apply to the as
sured as well as to the department.
We're such regulations to be ignored
the whole thing would soon be in a
state Of chaos.
Now in the case before us the
question is whether or not the de-
partment should set aside the law
and recognize the claims of these
farmers who had their lands listed
after June 9th, which would be il
legal. The fault Of such illegal list
ing clearly lies with the assessor,
and because the farmers did not
know their rights under the law
The department believes it was it's
duty to obey the law as it stands
and we also believe the rest Of the
patrons Of hail insurance appreciate
our action.
Question Unanswered
The report of the affair, which
took place in the governors office,
fails to mention the question put to
Counsel Mr.. Murray by Commissions
err Olsness which follows: Would
you be willing to eliminate all pro-
visions in the law relating to fixing
dates for listings, Withdrawals, etc,
and leave to the department free
hands in dealing with these matters
as his best judgment
would dictate, and would you be will
ing to have that question submi tilted
to a vote Of the people to decide ?"
AS | recall it, that question was not
except by an inarticulate
humble. We still believe that it is
better that the department establish
a fixed policy in handling matters
Of this kind, than to stretch" the
law as was recommended by the
spokesman of the Grant County
delegation. Such unlimited power
given the department would surely
give rise to suspicion and charges
Of favOritism and discrimination and
justly so. The department would not
want such privilege.
How many farmers know that un-
less their land is listed by the asses
sor before the first of June and
turned in to the county auditor on
the 10th he is not insured? asks the
Mott Pioneer Press, and again. WHY
should the farmer be held respon-
siblc for delinquency of the assessor?
The last question | have already dis
posed of. In reply to the first we
may counter by asking another: If
there are things about any law that
the citizens governed do not know,
and by the way this is too often
the case, who shall be held rcspon-
siblc when we suffer on account OF
our running counter with that few?
These articles sweepingly charge that
the hail department has ample OPP
portunity to give instructions to the
assessors and farmers which would
prevent such injustice, etc. We OK
planned fully to the Grant County
delegation as we'll as the insurance
committees when this bill was argued,
that it would be physically impos-
9ible to get individual notice to
every farmer in the state, whether
he was properly listed or withdrawn,
by the time hail losses begin to pour
in by the thousand during the month |
Of June. Furthermore, the depart |
mcnt always every spring sends out
loads of circulars with instructions
to assessors and county auditors
besides the many articles of informa-
tiOn through the press( thanks to it |
for that, so that it should seem
pretty well established what assured
must do and not do by this time. |
And the fact that there are only
three instances of this kind, one in
Mercer County, one in Mclean Coun- |
ty, before this one, should prove this.
To pass special legislation Of the kind |
would seem superfluous
and futile, as the cure would be |
worse than the disease.
Vindictive Spirit Shown
When one considers the ill-reason-
ID threats hurled at the department |
~ the report of the incident in the
Carson Press, and the eagcrness +!
With which some of the other papers
ecm to have repeated the story
bout the tyrannical, grasping bu-
eaucracy of the insurance commits
ioner and the governor, one is led
o believe that they care more inter
'sted in destroying she prestige and
of the. state hail insur-
nee than they are in the welfare Of
wen their own clients, for cam
'aign to get every farmer in Grant
'ounty (and incidentally throughout
he state) to withdraw in the future
BECAUSE Of this unfortunate neglect
4 certain assessor, could not re-
tore the loss already incurred. 1t