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Show PATRONS OF THE MUTUALS ia 1 ARE FORCED TO MAKE GOOD f 1 1 Corriwiwndonce The Sun. SAN FRANCISCO, Auk. 2. Thnt property owner of the stnte of OrcKon nre looking with suspicion upon mutunl fire Insurnnce is tho story brought to Snn Frnnclsco by n well known mer-chnnt mer-chnnt of Portlnnd, Ore. Repented fnllures of Oregon mutunla during the pnst three yenrs hnvc ncqunlnted OreKoninns with the fnct thnt mutunl fire Insurnnce Is first of nil "fnir wenther" indemnity. in-demnity. So long ns the losses rcmnlned normal, with mnnngGmcnt expenses nt n modcrntc figure, fig-ure, the Oregon mutunls were ncceptnble to mnny of the people of the stnte. When the losses grew nbove normnl, bowever, tho locnl mutunls were unnble to wenther the storm nnd In consequence mnny Oregon property owners who hnd put their trust in mutunl insurnnce hnve been unnble to collect for fire losses. Thnt policyholders who hnd the misfortune to lose their property by fire nre not the only suf ferers, however, wns brought home to the people who hnd bought policies in the different Oregon mutunls when the circuit court nt Snlem n few-weeks few-weeks ngo ordered the receiver for three of the mutunls to nssess every property owner holding n policy in tho company for n sum sufficient to bring the policyholders' cost up to whut the Inlter would hnve pnld for Insurnnce In the stock companies. com-panies. Then there wns trouble. The property owners who hnd previously been strong for mutunl mu-tunl insurnnce renllzed thnt they hnd not bought nn insurnnce policy ns they hnd supposed, but hnd ncqulred Instcnd full pnrtnershlp In n business busi-ness which hnd fnilcd with henvy llnbilltics nnd nsHcts nil. To mnke mutters worse, the mutunls' creditors set up n clnmor to be pnld Immedlntely. Tho worst blow of nil enmo when the receiver sent n curt notice to the policyholders advising thnt If nsscssments did not come fonvnrd moro promptly, suit would bo brought ngninst ench policyholder In nrrenrs. I Whnt hnppcned in Oregon hns nlrendy hnp-pened hnp-pened In every stnte where mutunl fire insurnnce hns oporntcd. Persons nttrnctcd by the promise of chenpness hnve Iwught Insurance policies from the mutunls only to find later thnt their "chenp insurnnce" wns not entirely whnt they hnd expected. ex-pected. The number of mutunls which have failed fail-ed in the United States amount to nn nmnzlng figure. Unfortunntely, property owners do not hnve nccess to tho statistics of fire mutual mortality mor-tality nnd so are Ignornnt of the fncts when buying buy-ing their mutunl fire policies. In Cnllfornln a few yenrs ngo, the unreliability of mutunl fire Insurnnce had been so thoroughly demonstrated that the stnte legislature nbblishcd general insurance in-surance by mutunls nnd until 11)11 there wns not n solitary mutunl writing a general business in ' r'i the stnte, the only policies then written being j W. J Issued by county mutunls, which operated only y' l S in their home counties. 1 In 1911 Cnlifornin wns invaded by n number of " W " V outside mutunls headed by n concern from Sent- h f tic (the Northwestern Mutunl Fire Insurnnce ft Compnny of Senttle, Wnsh.), which proclaimed M S that it hnd developed n new nnd wonderful sys- II fl tern of mutunl insurnnce which provided nil the u S benefits of the mutunl without the "pnss the hat" c jM drawback which hnd bruoght mutunl lire insur- .,' W H nnce into disrepute before. The stnte legislature " , R , . obligingly repealed the former restrictions nnd Sr fl for the pnst four yenr Cnlifornin property owners W H hnve been nblc to buy mutunl insurnnce. How , 1 H much longer they will be permitted to enjoy this B "privilege" is not known, but if the experience K IH of mutunls elsewhere Is a criterion, tho time will jK surely come when the Cnlifornin property owners ' Hi, i, fl who are insuring with the mutunls will face the Hf S same situation ns now confronts the good citizens m' IH of the neighboring stnte of Oregon. fl The mutunl may tell the property owners that w fl the assessment liability hns been eliminated by K H Inw, but courts have nn embarrasliiK habit of t mt jM construing the statutes when the mutunls fnil W' nnd the K)llcyholtIcr can not hope to escape pny- mt H ing In full for any benefit he has previously en- m ,fl Joyed. The mutunl may also declare that it has M- -S more cash surplus in proportion to Its liabilities S vfl than the stock companies, but It lchoovcs the 1 K. S prudent property owner to snfcgunnl himself by ' K ' I Insuring his property where the cost is absolutely , , : WL J W fixed In advance nnd where a Are loss enn be paid .' I. K XS In full without "pnssing tho lint," ns so mnny of ' K ul the mutunls nre forced to do. B . SHiM Rood Compnny to Let Alone. E.lfl Tho Northwestern Mutunl Insurnnce conjpnny P-' of Senttle, Wnsh., reference to which Is briefly B ' ' 4S made in tho above, has attempted to do business m,t fl nt Price through n locnl ngency, but ns fnst ns tho K assured under but a few xliclcs out in this sec- flr H lion nre put wise to the Mutunl's business mcth- M'' H ods tho policies nre dropped. : . fM The Northwestern Mutunl 'hns hnd nil kinds of mt:" I trouble In Cnlifornin nnd in Utnh as well, mention Kr , fl of which hns heretofore been made in The Sun. f ' WsT',- H It is one of thoso concerns which the insuring ' BJ . fl public will find a good thing to let severely alone. K.lfl Willnrd Done, ex-insurunco commissioner for K 1 Utnh, burred the Northwestern National nut of Hi Utah when he wns in office. . Klifl I As in other features of his daily life, the prop- ( BSI erty owner when In need of fire insurnnce, should i.'v E!K9 observe "snfety first." 1 HH |