26 



INSURANCE OF LIVE STOCK IN BAVARIA. 



The Board have received through the Foreign Office a copy 

 of a memorandum prepared by Mr. L. Buchmann, H.M. Consul 

 at Munich, upon the insurance of cattle and horses in Bavaria. 



Mr. Buchmann states that there are four kinds of cattle 

 insurance in Bavaria : (i) government insurance (Law of 

 May n, 1896), (2) private insurance companies, (3) local 

 insurance associations, and (4) municipal insurance of cattle 

 for slaughter (in some of the larger towns only). 



1. Government Insurance. — The German Imperial Law of 

 June 23, 1880, amended by that of May 1, 1894, concerning 

 the suppression and prevention of diseases in cattle, provides 

 for the payment of compensation in certain circumstances to 

 owners of animals which are slaughtered by order of the police, 

 but only on condition that the regulations have been 

 previously carried out by the owner. The State, however, 

 does not compensate in the case of loss through ordinary 

 illness or accident. 



The first attempts at cattle insurance in Germany date from 

 as far back as 1799, when in Holstein, and somewhat later in 

 Hanover, the so-called " Cow Guilds " were founded. These 

 were local associations involving the joint responsibility of 

 the several members. Parochial and municipal associations, 

 founded subsequently, were not able to cope with heavy 

 losses, and the aid of Government was called in. After 

 Baden, Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine and Switzerland had shown 

 the way, Bavaria followed in 1896. 



In 1892, there were 3,337,978 head of cattle in Bavaria, 

 having a saleable value about £33,000,000, or on an average 

 £10 per head. It was ascertained that nearly half of the 

 total number of cattle in Bavaria belonged to the smaller 

 farmers, i.e. those possessing not more than 25 acres of arable 



