40 GERMANY - INSURANCE AND THRIFT 



them, free of cost. The condition necessary to keeping administrative costs 

 as low as possible is that of gratuitous servdce. 



The society has been preserved in a good condition financially because 

 the A-ear 1915 allowed the principle of compensatory losses — which, as we 

 have seen, is fundamental to the federation — again to be observed. This 

 result is due, it is true, to the grant of a sum of looo marks by the ' ' Notstands- 

 fonds " of East Prussia, as indemnit}^ for losses indirectly caused b}' the 

 war, and to the effect of the subsidies accorded b}" the Minister of Agricul- 

 ture in aid of the societies in embarrassed circumstances. For this 

 object the federation receives an annual grant of 3,000 marks. But dur- 

 ing these two years the whole of this amount has not been used, and it 

 has been possible to pa^^ the sum so saved into a relief fund, which is intend- 

 ed to allow aid to be given at the end of the period of insurance to soci- 

 eties then in the debt of the federation for advances. In this way these so- 

 cieties will not have to raise their premiums paj'able in the succeeding pe- 

 riod in order to redeem the debts thus incurred. A request made to the 

 minister for fixed financial support, which would allow costs of administra- 

 tion and former printing costs to be met, was however not granted. 



Causes of Casualties : 



In this respect 1915 showed improvement as compared with 1914. 

 The societies can have no influence except as regards casualties caused b}^ 

 accidents , difficult parturition and the swallowing of foreign bodies. The 

 accidents have certainly increased in number by one; but the casualties 

 consequent on parturition have diminished by three, those consequent 

 on tuberculosis by two and those consequent on aphthous fever bj" 

 one. By putting into execution its plan of adopting the method recognized 

 by the State, as being the best for the fight against tuberculosis and that 

 which those interested can themselves follow, the federation v/ill reduce 

 the ill effects of this devastating disease on the total sum of losses. 



But this plan cannot be put into execution before the return of normal 

 circumstancs. 



The federation can also exercise a certain influence in favour of the re- 

 duction of casualties consequent on accidents and it will not fail to do so. 

 The accidents are usually due to the carelessness if not to another fault 

 of the insurer. The federation devotes much attention to a revision, as 

 comiplete and extensive as possible, of all the rules concerning its rigorous 

 inspection of the care given to animals and of the manner in which they are 

 lodged and fed. 



Diseases of the digestive organs (intestinal tumours, appendicitis, 

 twisted intestines, obstructions, digestive troubles) were responsible for 

 nine casualtis in 1915 — a very large number, perhaps explained by the 

 bad quality of the forage har\^est. Among other internal diseases occur 

 cardiac affections, dropsy, affections of the matrix, inflammation of the 

 spinal cord, fistulae of the salivary glands, and blood poisoning. 



