252 INSURANCE 



branches of insurance do not appear to offer suitable fields for 

 private endeavor, and conservative state action is well adapted to 

 meet their peculiarities. Within the last year companies have been 

 organized to insure losses resulting from strikes. Insurance against 

 loss of employment has also been considered to a limited extent; but 

 in this, as in so many other special forms of insurance, we have not 

 even made a respectable beginning, and the attempts which have 

 been made in foreign countries may be studied by Americans to 

 great advantage. Because of the peculiar character of the con- 

 tingencies to be insured against, the last-named branches of insur- 

 ance represent difficulties which are unknown in life or even fire 

 insurance. 



In the concluding sentence the writer desires to remind his audi- 

 ence that he has written as a layman from a layman's point of view. 

 The professional insurance man, who is responsible for the success 

 or failure of his business, must decide to what extent a layman's 

 judgment can find practical application. 



SHORT PAPER 



JAMES W. ALEXANDER, of New York City, contributed a paper to this Section 

 on the subject of "Do Governments and Law-makers Regard Life Assurance 

 from the Right Point of View? " 



