FARMERS* MUTUAL TIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES. 11 
special agents when as a matter of fact it would have been equally 
true to state that this service was performed by certain directors or 
officers. For this reason it is believed that the plan of securing busi- 
ness through responsible officials of the companies is even more com- 
mon than the above figures would indicate. Many of the companies, 
it may be mentioned in this connection, pride themselves upon the 
fact that their history indicates a steady and healthy growth cover- 
ing a number of decades and that every member of the company has 
been admitted as a result of a personal application on his part and 
without any effort or expense on the part of the company. While this 
passive attitude toward the growth of the company has worked ex- 
ceedingly well in certain communities it is by no means universally 
applicable. 
Only 232 companies reported making efforts to secure business 
through advertising, while 892 stated specificalty that they did not 
advertise. Thirty-seven companies did not reply to the question. 
Of the companies resorting to advertising as a means of promoting 
the growth of the company, 112 reported the use of newspapers for 
this purpose. Forty-nine reported using special circulars only; and 
42 reported using both newspapers and special circulars. Twenty- 
nine companies merely replied that they did some advertising without 
specifying the method employed. 
Seven hundred twenty-two companies reported compensating their 
representatives for the solicitation of business by means of a fixed 
fee per application taken. The maximum of such fee reported by 
any company was $4 and the minimum was 25 cents. The average 
fixed fee allowed was $1.28. Only 32 companies reported such fee 
in excess of $2, while 78 companies reported a fee of less than $1. 
Fifty-six companies paid both a fixed fee and a small commission 
based on the amount of insurance written, while 82 companies re- 
ported paying for services in soliciting business on a per diem basis. 
No information concerning the cost of getting business or the method 
used in compensating for this service was given by 170 companies. 
One hundred thirty-one companies reported compensating their 
officials or agents for the solicitation of business strictly on a com- 
mission basis. The average commission allowed by these companies 
amounted to $0,027 per hundred per year of the insurance written. 
Only 18 companies allowed a commission equivalent to more than 5 
cents per hundred per year, and 62 companies paid such commission 
equal to less than 2 cents per hundred per year. 
The fixed fee plan of compensating solicitors of business in these 
companies may thus be said to be the current practice, being followed 
by more than three-fourths of the companies. This plan eliminates 
all temptation on the part of agents either to encourage or to permit 
overinsurance. 
