8 DEPARTMENT BULLETIN 912. 



the eastern part of the State to 45 cents for the western. The amount 

 of insurance per acre was $10. The losses during the year proved to 

 be moderate, amounting to only $127,060, and the total cost of ad- 

 ministration was $6,072. All losses were, therefore, paid in full and 

 the year was closed with a balance or surplus on hand amounting to 

 $21,128. 



During the early months of 1919 the States of North Dakota, 

 Montana, and Nebraska materially amended their hail insurance 

 laws. During the same months the States of South Dakota and Okla- 

 homa also enacted laws providing for State hail insurance. 



The new North Dakota law and that of South Dakota provide what 

 is frequently called " compulsory insurance," although the term " au- 

 tomatic " would seem more accurately to describe the plan. In each 

 of these States every acre of crop is now, without action on the part 

 of the owner, insured against loss or damage by hail, the amount being 

 $7 per acre in North Dakota and $10 per acre in South Dakota. In 

 the latter State such owner may, however, exempt his land entirely 

 from the operation of the hail insurance law by filing an application 

 for exemption with the county auditor before June 1 of each year. 

 He may also, if he so desires, retain one-half of the $10 insurance per 

 acre and be subject to one-half of the indemnity tax. In North 

 Dakota the owner of a growing crop may exempt such crop by filing 

 a statement with the commissioner of insurance, except that a flat 

 acreage tax of 3 cents per acre must be paid to the hail insurance 

 fund whether the owner retains or rejects the hail insurance provided 

 by the State. 



In both the Dakotas hail insurance premiums are now collected by 

 the State in a manner similar to that provided for the collection of 

 taxes. The same is true under the laws as now existing in Montana 

 and Nebraska. In the last two States, however, the State hail in- 

 surance takes effect only upon the application for such insurance by 

 the owner or tiller of the land. The Oklahoma law, which was not 

 operative in 1919, is similar to the Montana and Nebraska laws in 

 providing for strictly voluntary or optional insurance and follows 

 the original North Dakota law in requiring premiums to be paid 

 in advance. 



The maximum hail indemnity tax that may be levied in North 

 Dakota under the existing law is 50 cents per acre or 7^ per cent of 

 the insurance. The actual levy in 1919 .was only 25 cents per acre, 

 exclusive of the so-called acreage tax of 3 cents per acre. In South 

 Dakota, where the regular amount of insurance per acre is $10, a 

 fixed rate is applied for each of four different districts, into which the 

 State is divided, these rates being, respectively, 35 cents, 10 cents, 42 

 cents, and 45 cents per acre. Such rates are not to be reduced until 

 the department has a surplus or reserve fund of $2,500,000. 



