February, 1912.] 



163 



Miscellaneous. 



(Summarised from the Bulletin of 

 Economic and Social Intelligence, 2nd 

 Year, No. 11-12, November-December, 

 1911, published by the International In- 

 stitute of Agriculture). 



GERMAN EMPIRE. 



Insurance Against Forest Fires 

 in Germany. 



The object of insurance against forest 

 fires is to compensate the owners of 

 forests destroyed by fire for the value of 

 the wood burnt or the expenses of re- 

 afforestation after the disaster. The 

 frequency with which forest fires occur 

 is well known, whether they take place 

 in spring, when the wind blows with 

 greater violence, or in the months of 

 summer and drought, when the temper- 

 ature reaches the maximum of heat and 

 the wood becomes more readily inflam- 

 mable. In Belgium, Germany, Norway, 

 Sweden and the United States, the losses 

 from these fires are so serious as to 

 induce the Governments or other public 

 authorities to study special measures for 

 their prevention or diminution. 



¥"et, as is shown in a study on the 

 matter published in the December 

 Number of the Bulletin of Economic 

 and Social Intelligence, published by 

 the International Institute of Agricul- 

 ture, it is difficult to attain statistical 

 data of the frequency of the disasters 

 and the seriousness of the damage 

 caused by forest fires, which shows the 

 advisability of insurance against this 

 class of risks. Germany is one of the 

 few states that provide precise and 

 detailed statistics in this connection : in 

 the above mentioned article the present 

 conditions of insurance against forest 

 fires in this country are studied. 



Two causes contribute to render this 

 class of insurance more and more appre- 

 ciated by the proprietors : in the first 

 place, the number of industrial establish- 

 ments and railway lines in the vicinity 

 of forests increase from year to year, 

 and hence the risk of fires becomes more 

 serious ; in the second place, reafforest- 

 ation of uncultivated lands is effected in 

 most cases by means of plantations of 

 firs, pine trees, or other conifers, which, 

 as is well known, more easily take fire 

 than other kinds of trees. Not only 

 private societies, but also several public 

 Provincial fire insurance societies in 

 Germany, now undertake insurance 

 against forest fires. 



In the article referred to mention is 

 also made of the criteria on which the 

 calculation of premiums is generally 

 based. The premium is fixed at so 

 much per thousand of the amount 



insured and varies from £ to 4 per 

 thousand. 



For example, for forests of various 

 kinds of trees, or of full grown trees, 

 the premium varies between 0'25 and 

 0*80 per thousand : on the other hand, 

 for forests for felling, or composed of 

 conifers and various other trees, the 

 premiums vary from 0*60 to 1'50 per 

 thousand. For pure conifer forests, the 

 premium is fixed in respect of the age of 

 the forest ; so, for example, if the trees 

 are less than eight years old, the pre- 

 mium varies between 3 and 4 per thou- 

 sand, while for forests of more than 

 forty years the premium is less; it may 

 vary from 0*5 to 1'5 per thousand. As 

 from one year to another there may be 

 appreciable variations in the number of 

 disasters and in the amount of the 

 damage, it is necessary that the insur- 

 ance institutes may count upon a cons- 

 tant number of insured ; the contract 

 must therefore, as a rule, be made for a 

 period of 10 years if the insured is not 

 willing to bind himself for so long a 

 time, he must pay a higher premium. 

 Finally, tbe insurance premium is in- 

 creased, if there is a line of railway in 

 the neighbourhood of the forest : to con- 

 vince ourselves of the justice of such a 

 rule, it is enough to glance at the 

 statistics on the causes of forest fires, 

 published by the Statistical Offices of 

 the Grand Duchies of Hesse and Baden, 

 given in the article referred to, 



With a view to encourage private 

 insurance businesses also to undertake 

 the risk of forest fires, the Imperial 

 German Supervision Office has recently 

 published a model of the conditions of 

 contract for this class of insurance, 

 compiled in conformity with tbe Impe- 

 rial Law on Insurance contract of 30th 

 May, 1908. Similarly with those the 

 same Imperial Office has published with 

 respect to the contract of fire, hail and 

 cattle insurance, they determine the 

 rights and duties of the parties at date 

 of passing contract, while it is in vigour, 

 before and after the disasters. 



In the article on forest fire insurance, 

 we have already several times men- 

 tioned, these conditions of contract are 

 translated in full : there is no need to 

 say how much the knowledge of them 

 may facilitate the labours of new socie- 

 ties, formed to undertake this branch of 

 insurance and what great interest they 

 have for every one interested in forest 

 economics. 



(Summarised from the Bulletin of 

 Economic and Social Intelligence, of the 

 International Institute of Agriculture, 

 Year II., No, 11 and 12. 31st Decem- 

 ber, 1911.) 



