74 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [Vo.. VIII. 
dangerous. The inequalities in different parts of the country on what seemed 
similar risks were a remarkable feature of the summary, and these alone 
proved that the rate indicated was not a reliable index of what a general 
tariff should be, or, rather, that a uniform tariff cannot justly be adapted. 
In parts where coal was being rapidly substituted for wood, as fuel, the fire 
hazard was decreasing, while the introduction of burning fluids and mineral 
oils for lighting was attended by a considerable increase of danger, through 
explosions. It was once asserted that electric lighting would do away with 
risk from artificial lighting, but it was soon made apparent that the danger 
from defects in wiring, original or developed from use and accidents, is 
very real. Losses in all kinds of manufacturing business seemed to increase 
both on the crest of good times and in the worst of bad ones, quite irrespec- 
tively of the moral hazard, which probably follows a different rule. The 
elevators every large city building must now have are a very pregnant dan- 
ger, facilitating both the origin and the rapid spread of fires. The govern- 
ment returns show that there has been for several years past a steady in- 
crease in the rate of premium charged, the figures being 
TOOZ ey Ste $1.47 LOGS iss... $1.50 
This may result from combination among the insuring companies. I am, 
however, inclined to think that there has been an actual increase of hazard 
in the business quarters of rising towns and cities, due to defective construc- 
tion, flimsiness of material, and especially the increase in the size of buildings 
and stocks. This implies more hands, often organized into departments, 
which are almost so many separate tenancies. There are now fewer lots 
vacant to break the spread of a fire. And ina large establishment, once a 
fire is master, the heat is greater than in a small one, and the task of check- 
ing the conflagration harder. The whole business, in this country of such 
changing circumstances, has often reminded me of a game of blind-man’s 
buff, in which the chief actor has only slight indications to guide his uncer- 
tain steps. Once indeed I classified a company’s declined risks for several 
years, and while there was not the same certainty that all the losses were 
reported and correctly stated, the extra percentage did not seem alarming, 
there would have been a profit in carrying the risks, and on reasoning the 
matter out with the assistant secretary of my company I reached the con- 
clusion that the local agents should be little interfered with except in cases 
of a glaring tariff error, or when the black list shewed previous incendiarism 
unexplained, or when mercantile agencies indicated bad business habits. 
Some fire underwriters have been known to make public brag that they 
at least can adjust premiums to hazards in the certainty of gain, and I have 
known a few who have had a great run of luck, but I have never thought 
