STATE HAIL INSURANCE IN NORTH DAKOTA 45 



the rates charged by the old stock companies ranged from 6 | o 'to 8 per 

 cent on the dollar. The State insured one hundred and sixty acres of grain 

 for thirty-two dollars and fixed the loss maximum at $ 1,280. The old 

 stock companies insured the same acreage for not less than sixty-five 

 dollars, \vith a loss maximum of $ 1,000. In other words, the State gave the 

 insured twenty-eight per cent greater value to his crop than did the private 

 companies, while the actual cost was very much less in the former than in 

 the latter case, based upon either total or partial loss. At the same time the 

 loss paying power of the vState, based upon the premium income, was insigni- 

 ficant from a comparative standpoint. State hail insurance reached high 

 tide in 1912, when the premium income amounted to $ 64,840 while the 

 income in this State of seven private companies averaged in excess of 

 $ 152,000 each. 



Nor is that all. The stock companies will accept the hazard of only 

 a certain limited amount of insurance in each section or each township, 

 while the State takes the risk of the entire farm, even though it embraces 

 several contiguous sections. Finally, nearly all the private companies write 

 hail insurance in several States, and this wide diffusion of risk naturally 

 minimises the chance of loss. 



Thus it wiU be seen that the State has laboured under the disadvantages 

 of a comparatively low rate, small income, and extreme chance of loss for 

 reasons above noted. On the side of expense of management the advantage 

 is decidedly in favour of State insurance ; but even this advantage is largely 

 theoretical on account of the .mall volume of business transacted. 



§ 3. Balance sheets. 



The following statements show the condition and affairs of the State 

 Hail Insurance department for the four years 1911 to 1914 inclusive. 



