Miscellaneous, 



[February, 1912. 



BADEN. 



The Development of Cattle Insur- 

 ance in the Grand Duchy op 

 Baden. 



As long ago as 1834, Baron von Ellrich- 

 shausen, President of the Farmers' 

 Association of the Grand Duchy of 

 Baden, had proposed that in countries 

 where cattle are specially exposed to 

 epidemic disease, local loau banks should 

 be founded fcr the assistance of the 

 owners of cattle affected by the disease. 

 However, in the years in which the loss- 

 es were heaviest and most frequent, 

 these banks seldom succeeded in obtain- 

 ing from the farmers on the spot suffi- 

 cient contributions to meet all the applic- 

 ations for loans, or they were forced to 

 fix a rate of interest so high as almost to 

 be prohibitive for many. It was only to- 

 wards 1840 that true insurance busi- 

 nesses began to be formed, organised 

 under the form of mutual societies among 

 all the farmers exposed to the risk. 



In 1846 there were already 60 ; in 1910, 

 as we read in an article published in 

 the December Number of the Bulletin of 

 Economic and Social Intelligence of the 

 International Institute of Agriculture, 

 cattle insurance was undertaken by 

 about 1,000 local societies in the Grand 

 Duchy of Baden. In addition, a Central 

 Institute, with headquarters at Carlsruhe, 

 organised as a Mutual Society and sub- 

 ventioned by the Government, reinsures 

 the risks of quite 426 of these societies, 

 contributing to make good their losses in 

 the years in which they are largest, and, 

 in the seccnd place, inspecting and con- 

 trolling the work of the individual 

 societies, both as regards their manage- 

 ment and their teehinque. In 1910, in 

 fact, two inspectors of the Feder- 

 ation controlled the working of 166 local 

 societies, and of 3,654 animals slaughter- 

 ed it had been possible for the veterinary 

 surgeon first to visit and treat 3,281 

 according to the rules laid down by the 

 Federation. 



In the above mentioned study we 

 find many statistical tables showing the 

 development of thisreinsuraneeinstitute. 

 It is enough here to note that it was 

 founded in 1893 with 83 adherent societies, 

 with 29,231 head of cattle, while in 1910, 

 as we have noted, the societies reinsured 

 were 426 and the number of animals 

 reinsured amounted to 143,570. 



This reinsurance institute is not mere" 

 ly a precious centre of information for 

 the societies in everything relating to 

 the technique and organisation of 

 insurance ; it may also facilitate and 

 regulate the formation of new societies, 

 furnishing their promoters with model 



rules, indicating to them the criteria for 

 the formation of their tariffs, and help- 

 ing them to overcome the competition of 

 other insurance businesses. 



The subvention granted by the Baden 

 Government to encourage the reinsurance 

 ot local societies, in 1910 amounted to 

 238,300 marks ; it varies with the yeai, 

 because it is only when the reinsurance 

 premium the societies should pay to the 

 Federation exceeds 20 pfennig per every 

 hundred marks insured, that, the Govern- 

 ment is legally obliged to contribute the 

 difference, that is, to pay the remainder 

 of the sum necessary to make good the 

 entire loss. As a rule, however, losses 

 are made good, half by the Federation 

 and half by the local Society, 



In regard to those insurance societies, 

 which in the calculation of their 

 premiums, take account also of the age 

 of the animals, the following data regard- 

 ing the age of the animals affected, are 

 interesting; of 3,915 head of horned 

 cattle, 264 (6'74 %) were under a year old, 

 1,488 (SS^Ol) were between 1 and 5 years ; 

 1,799 (45-95 %) between 6 and 12 years ; 

 and 364 (9'30 %) over 12 years. 



As to the causes of death or slaughter 

 of the animals insured, the data published 

 by the Baden Reinsurance Institute 

 prove that the most serious danger is 

 always from infectious disease :in 3,693 

 cases of loss, 1,113 were due to infectious 

 diseases, especially tuberculosis. 



However, most of the local Baden 

 Insurance societies do not only insure 

 against the death or depreciation of 

 value of the animal in consequence of 

 accident or disease ; they also insure the 

 owners against the risk ot meat being 

 declared unfit for consumption by the 

 public authorities. Here also the article 

 provides statistical data on the deve- 

 lopment of this special branch of insur- 

 ance. 



Last of all it is observed that the 

 constitution and organization of the 

 local societies, as also of the Federation, 

 and their mutual relations, are regu- 

 lated by a special law of October, 1910, 

 amending the earlier laws of 1890 and 

 1898, facilitating the registration of the 

 cattle insurance societies as members 

 of the Federation. This law is repro- 

 duced in full as an appendix to the 

 article. If it is borne in mind that there 

 are still in Baden 527 of these societies 

 not reinsured in the Federation, the 

 impoitance to be attributed to them 

 will be easily understood. 



(Summarised from the Bulletin of 

 Economic and Social Intelligence of the 

 International Institute of Agriculture, 

 Year II, No, 11 and 12, 31st December! 

 1911.) 



