Conservative * 9
rent year a valued policy bill passed in
Iowa was sent to Governor Shaw for
signature. Mr. Shaw appears to be one
of the most intelligent and conscientious
state officials in the country. He under
took to make an investigation upon his
own responsibility concerning the actual
effects of the valued policy law upon the
cost of insurance. He sent representa
tives to states where similar laws are in
force , and secured sworn affidavits upon
over 800 policies , showing the cost of
insuranoa with and without the valued
policy law. As a result of his investi
gations the governor said : 'In my mind
they are as conclusive as such evidence
can be that the rate of insurance has
been very materially increased by reason
of the valued policy law. In many
instances it has been doubled , and in
some cases considerably more than
doubled. "
"Under the circumstances the gover
nor concluded to veto the bill. The
action of Governor Shaw is but another
evidence of the light which is gradually
being thrown upon the evil effects of
valued policy legislation. He is , we
believe , the seventh governor of an
American state who has declined to
affix his signature to a bill of this land.
"These bills are promoted and passed
entirely in the interest of property
owners who desire to collect more insur
ance than they are entitled to on the
basis of actual damage. It is patent to
any reasonable man that a law , which
guarantees to the property owner insur
ance in excess of the actual value of
property , creates a moral hazard and is
certain in the course of time to increase
the cost of insurance to all the insured.
This may not be the immediate effect of
such a law , but as its purpose becomes
more generally known among property
owners , it is absolutely certain to in
crease fire losses and raise the cost of
insurance. This is the natural and in
evitable result , one of the striking
instances of which is to be found in the
state of New Hampshire , where circum
stances have conspired to make the
operation of the valued policy bill more
favorable than in any other state. But ,
notwithstanding this fact , the experi
ence in New Hampshire has been
decidedly an adverse one from the
standpoint of the property owner who
pays for insurance.
"The withdrawal of all stock com
panies from New Hampshire in 1885 ,
after the passage of the valued policy
law , remaining as they did out of the
state for the next five years , resulted in
an extraordinary improvement in the
physical hazard of property located in
that state , since its citizens , deprived of
the protection of insurance , were com
pelled , as a matter of self-preservation
to reduce the fire hazard to a minimum.
Yet despite these very favorable con
ditions the rate of burning in New
Hampshire , as well as the rate of insur-
ance , has steadily increased since the
passage of the veined policy law. The
increase in the rate of insurance is per
fectly natural. The increased rate of
burning , as well as the increased cost of
inspecting risks , in order to prevent over
insurance , effects a very material in
crease in the cost of doing business to
the insurance companies , which can only
be covered by an advance in the rates.
The annual report of the insurance
department of New Hampshire , which
has just been issued , shows the follow
ing results in that state since the pass
age of the valued policy law in 1885 :
"These statistics show that New Hamp
shire's valued policy law has not helped
the property owner in any respect , but
on the contrary has been a source of con
stantly increasing cost to him. And
yet , the insurance commissioner of that
state , apparently for no other reason
than his affiliation with the promoters of
the law , has , in his annual reports from
year to year , sought to deceive the people
ple of New Hampshire as to the actual
results , by the publication of meaning
less statistics , designed to convince the
property owners that the payment of a
higher rate of insurance is an excellent
thing so long as it appears to justify the
passage of the law. Where political
reputations hang upon the success of
bad legislation it is , perhaps , not strange
that a state official , appointed for the
purpose of promoting public interest ,
should feel compelled to juggle with the
facts and congratulate the citizens of
New Hampshire from year to year upon
conditions which have steadily increased
the cost of their indemnity.
"While New Hampshire property
owners have been paying more each year
for their insurance , the property owners
of other New England states , where no
valued policy laws exist , have been pay
ing less. The following comparison
between New Hampshire and the other
New England states shows the actual
results :
New Hampshire.
Ratio of Rate
burning of
to risks. Ins.
Fourteen years , 1880-03. .0000 .0110
Six years , 1894 09 .0004 .0182
Other New Englnml States.
"From this it will be seen that the
rate of burning in New Hampshire
< F * " . ib f * * K-
under the valued policy law during the
past six years , has increased four points
over the previous average , and in the
rest of New England ( without any
valued policy law ) the rate of burning
has decreased fifteen points. In New
Hampshire the rate of insurance has
increased thirteen points , while in the
rest of New England it has decreased
three points. Wo fear the people of
New Hampshire will continue to be
congratulated complacently upon the
splendid results achieved under the
valued policy law , until its insurance
department is presided over by some one
who has sufficient courage to present
the actual facts. "
MCKINLEY AND THE CIVII , SERVICE.
For more than a quarter of a
century every republican national con
vention has put forth a declaration of
some sort on this question. Beginning
in 1872 with a resolution favoring a re
form of the civil service by laws which
should abolish the evils of patronage ,
and make honesty , efficiency , and
fidelity the essential qualifications for
public positions , the party within twenty
years had reached the point where it
"pointed with pride" to its achievements
in this direction , and made its record a
ground for public confidence that it
would carry on the good work to the
end.
It was an easy matter to frame the
civil-service plank in the St. Louis plat-
form four years ago , by a combination
of the feature with
point-with-pride a
reassertiou of loyalty to the principle.
"The Oivil-Service Law , " the resolution
read , "was placed on the statute book
by the republican party , which has
always sustained it , and we renew our
repeated declarations that it shall be
thoroughly and honestly enforced and
extended wherever practicable. " It was
easy , too , for Mr. MoKinley to accept
this declaration and to supplement it
with his personal pledge. As a member
of congress , he had never lent any sup
port to assaults on the reform , while as
leader of the house in 1800 , he had
strongly opposed one of the periodical
raids of the spoilsmen , and had said :
"Mr. Chairman , the republican party
must take no backward step. The merit
system is here , and it is here to stay ;
and we may just as well understand
and accept it now , and give our atten
tion to correcting the abuses , if any
exist , and improving the law wherever
it can be done to the advantage of the
public service. "
Mr. McKinley was thus entitled to be
believed when , in his letter of accept
ance , he declared that "the republican
party will take no backward step upon
this question. It will seek to improve ,
but never degrade the public service. "
The candidate had only to live up to
this pledge as president , and his posi
tion on the issue of civil-service reform