100 



On Insurance. 



Vol. hi. 



insurance companies, and by this means sweep 

 all before it ; coming before us as a " fact," 

 we suppose the author has made himself well 

 acquainted with the subject he pretends to 

 inform others upon. But stojj — let us inquire 

 and know whether those things are so. How 

 are insurance companies organized 1 By in- 

 dividuals depositing or pledging a large sum 

 of money, say $.50{),000, in the form of stock 

 to pay losses upon tires; — and whose losses 

 do they pay ! The losses of their customers 

 when they are so unfortunate as to meet with 

 them ; the very persons whom Observer says 

 "pays to the insurers not only all the remu- 

 nerating fund which they are to receive back 

 in case of loss, but all other expenses." In- 

 surance companies generally invest their cap- 

 ital in permanent securities ; by this opera- 

 lion we will suppose they receive a fair inter- 

 est for their money ; their profits therefore 

 great or small, all their expenses, and the 

 risk of the whole capital must be met by the 

 small premiums they receive. The game, 

 as Observer calls it, often turns in their favor ; 

 but sometimes it is otherwise, when whole 

 companies are broken up, their capital lost, 

 and individuals ruined who have vested too 

 largely in the stock ; look at the devouring 

 fires in New York, in Charleston, and many 

 other places that have either ruined the com- 

 panies or greatly injured the capital. These 

 are the " gambling insurers" that always keep 

 on the safe side; who play "a game always 

 in fa /or of the insurers and against the in- 

 sured." Comment here is unnecessary ; Ob- 

 server's facts upon the main point are all used 

 up. 



Let us now examine the subject of lotte- 

 ries. How are those establishments formed, 

 and in what way do they operate 1 Just as 

 Observer says, " the purchaser of the tickets 

 pays all the prizes — defrays the expenses 

 of the scheme, and also all the profits of the 

 game ;" so that in comparing a lottery with 

 the insurance company I have described, Ob- 

 server has made an error in his calculation 

 of half a million of dollars in the insurance, 

 and fifteen per cent, in the lottery capital. 



As to principle. Observer's own plan of in- 

 surance is as much a "species of gambling" 

 as the institution he complains of: one plan 

 may be more economical than another, but 

 the principle in a moral point of view is the 

 same ; but no insurance bought either at a high 

 or low premium can have any resemblance to 

 gambling; there is no lottery in it; you may 

 buy insurance too high like any thing else, 

 but to talk about it being a thing of chance 

 in the sense in which the word is here used, 

 a mere hap hazard kind of affair, is perfectly 

 futile and rediculous; a misapplication of 

 terms. When money is paid for insurance val- 

 ue is received ; because it is &8 valuable for a 



man to diminish his losses, as to increase hLs 

 profits. Is a man a gambler because he builds 

 a parapet wall to his neightor's house, or 

 covers his barn with slate? No — neither i» 

 an insurer. The money paid in both cases is 

 to lei^son the risk of loss, and monry cannot 

 be spent for an object more just, fair and 

 praiseworthy. 



There is no more comparison between in- 

 surance and lotteries, than there is between 

 incendiaries, who set fire to houses, and 

 the generous hearted firemen who put fires 

 out. A lottery office in a neighborhood may 

 be compared to a grog shop, an insurance to 

 a good bridge over a deep and dangerous 

 stream. One leads you to ruin, the other 

 safely away from danger. Insurance has 

 grown up in the community upon the virtues 

 of the people, lotteries upon their vices; if 

 Observer can find comparison here he is 

 welcome to it.' 



The plan proposed by Observer is a very 

 good one, and I hope it will grow into gen- 

 eral use. Mutual insurance bar done well in 

 New England, but it is not yet in operation 

 in his neighborhood, and can answer no prac- 

 tical purpose until it is ; but if his essay should 

 prevent some honest farmer from insuring un- 

 til it is too late, it will be but little satisfaction 

 for him to know that saving a few dollars from 

 the grasp of " gambling speculators" has de- 

 prived him of the means of rebuilding his 

 barn. Farmers — if you are not in a situation 

 to bear the loss of fire, insure your property; 

 insure it on the best terms you can — but in- 

 sure it. 



Observer may suppope Tarn intpre,sfed in 

 insurance stock ; but so far from this being the 

 case, I have been a subject of profitable 

 "speculation" to these "gambling insurers;" 

 I have during the last 26 years paid on an 

 average something over $;28 per annum, and 

 have not been burned out once. This kind 

 of game, according to Observer, holds out 

 strong inducements to become insurer ; but 

 this effect has not been produced ; I have du- 

 ring the above period " speculated" i good deal 

 in bank and insurance stock, but from a con- 

 viction of their instability I hare exchanged 

 them all for banks of earth, and stocks of 

 Durham cattle. 



In conclusion, I will remark, that I look 

 upon msurance companies among the noblest 

 and wisest of human institutions, deserving 

 both the approbation of an enlightened com- 

 munity, and a high rate of interest for the 

 risk necessarily attending such investments. 

 Subscriber. 



Whatever be the size of a family, every 

 member of it should be employed either in 

 earning, or saving something valuable. 



