CLASSIFICATION OF ENTERPRISES, INDUSTRIES, AND PROFESSIONS, BY DEGREE OF RISK; AND PREMIUM FOR EACH RISK CLASS-Continued.

Transportation on rivers and lakes:

468

469

Sailing vessels on lakes, rivers, and lagoons, including the entire crew.
Steam vessels as above.

a For deep sea transportation a special tariff applies which has not yet been approved.

The personnel of service included here must not be occupied at anything but hand work; if persons handling machinery (elevators, all kinds of motors, steam heating plants, etc.) are included, the premium niust be increased correspondingly.

CLASSIFICATION OF ENTERPRISES, INDUSTRIES, AND PROFESSIONS, BY DEGREE OF RISK; AND PREMIUM FOR EACH RISK CLASS-Concluded.

Tariff of premiums for combined collective insurance of seamen (not subject
to the special provisions of the law of January 31, 1904, concerning deep-sea
navigation:

529

Crew of harbor and short-distance tugs.....

530

531

Pilots in harbors and for short distances on steamers and sailing vessels.
Crew on barges and ferryboats in harbors and for short distances..

• This rate should be used when the tariff does not determine the conditions of work of the motors or if it is impossible to tell in advance the kind of machine at which the insured will be employed.

> From Bollettino di Notizie sul Credito e sulla Previdenza, 1905.

ADMINISTRATION.

The institution is autonomous, although subject to government control. The central office of the institution is located in the Milan savings bank, the largest of the ten banking institutions which have entered into the agreement. The executive committee of the Milan bank acts also as the executive committee of the national insurance institution. It must meet weekly, and oftener if necessary, and administers all the current business of the insurance institution, supervising the work of the executive force. It studies the necessary premium changes, prepares the annual statements and every five years the technical statements, conducts the agitation among the employers and workmen for insurance of workmen, studies methods of accident prevention, etc. All the other banks which have signed the agreements act as local agents of the insurance institution, and these local officers are under the control of the executive committee, while the work of this committee and the general policy of the national insurance institution is supervised by a superior council constituted as follows: The president, vice-president, and five members of the executive committee, and one representative from each of the other nine banks. This council must meet semiannually, and oftener if necessary. It approves the premium and indemnity rates, approves the annual budget and the statement, controls and revises the action of executive offices, may order audits, etc.

The law of December 23, 1886, provided a method for introducing changes in the conditions of the agreement. According to the law the superior council may recommend to the Government such changes in the conditions as experience shall prove desirable, and these recommendations may be approved by royal decrees (administrative

acts).

STATISTICS OF OPERATIONS.

A record of the operation of the National Accident Insurance Institution for the entire period is quoted in the following table, showing the total number of policies issued and the number of persons insured each year from the beginning of the organization of the institution. This table shows the growth of the transactions, though not altogether accurately. The number of policies issued and the number of persons insured is excessive for the years 1898 and 1904. During 1898 the first compensation act went into effect, and during 1904 the amendments of 1903, and in both years many policies were written twice, first for a short time under the old conditions, and then again to comply with the new requirements, which explains the very large number of policies issued during these two years.

NUMBER AND KIND OF POLICIES ISSUED AND NUMBER OF PERSONS INSURED EACH YEAR BY THE NATIONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE INSTITUTION, 1884 TO 1907. [Source: Bollettino di Notizie sul Credito e sulla Previdenza, 1902 to 1908. Atti della Cassa Nazionale d'Assicurazione per gl' Infortuni degli Operai sul Lavoro, 1908 and 1909.]

a The large number of policies issued in this year is explained by the fact that policies were issued twice during the year, first before the new regulations went into effect, and then for the rest of the year.

Included in combined collective insurance.

The actual increase in the number of wage-workers insured is shown in the second column of the following table, giving the average number of persons insured throughout the year. The difference between the number of persons insured during the year, as shown on page 1770, and the average number insured throughout the year indicates that a considerable number of persons were insured for only a short time. The highest number was reached in 1903, after which the formation of the Sulphur Mine Employees Obligatory Insurance Association caused a considerable reduction in the average number of persons insured throughout the year in the National Accident Insurance Institution.

This table shows the increase in the number of accidents. The column giving the annual number of accidents per 1,000 persons insured shows a very rapid increase in the frequency of accidents, which has caused a very strong outcry against the fraudulent practice and malingering, discussed more fully in a subsequent section.

The rapid increase of the accident rate from 28.48 per thousand in 1886 to 41.22 in 1887 and 61.41 in 1888 is explained by the inclusion (by the decree of July 27, 1887) of all accidents causing disability of over five days, while previously benefits were paid only for injuries causing disability of over 30 days' duration; and, as is well established by the accident statistics of all countries, a very large proportion of accidents caused disability of less than one month.

The accident rate seems to have remained fairly uniform for about eight years (1888 to 1895), since which it has grown rapidly with the exception of 1899. The increase was especially great in 1904 as compared with the preceding year, the rate rising from 107.41 to 143.08, or fully one-third. The increase since 1895 is seen to have taken place mainly in the accidents which did not result in death, for the death ratio has not increased, but rather declined. A comparison of the totals for the three periods, the one before the enactment of the law (1888 to 1898), the period of the first law of 1898 (1899 to 1903), and of the amended law (1904 to 1906), brings out more forcibly the rapid increase in the accident rate.

NUMBER AND PER CENT OF ACCIDENTS TO PERSONS INSURED IN THE NATIONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE INSTITUTION AND ACCIDENT RATES, BY RESULT OF INJURY, 1884 TO 1906.

[Source: Atti della Cassa Nazionale d'Assicurazione per gl' Infortuni degli Operai sul Lavoro. Verbale della Seduta del 22 dicembre 1908. On September 30, 1908, there remained unsettled 3 cases of 1900; 1 of 1901; 7 of 1902; 56 of 1903; 127 of 1904; 90 of 1905, and 738 of 1906. These numbers are not included in the figures reported for the respective years.]

In addition to the increase of accidents there was also an increase in the average amount of compensation. In the following table the figures do not refer to the amount of compensation paid during any one year, but the amount paid in compensation for accidents occurring during the year. Such a method of presentation is much more accurate and valuable, though it causes considerable delay, as the figures for the last five or six years are always subject to correction because some claims remain unsettled for several years. The marked increase of the average amount of compensation per case from $9.92 in 1898 to $17.93 in 1899 shows the effects of the act of 1898, which regulated the amounts of compensation and increased it for both the fatal cases and those leading to permanent disability. Under the voluntary system the average amount paid for a fatal accident fluctuated between $140.17 and $243.74; under the law of 1898 it immediately increased to $548.02, and in 1905 was $570.69. In cases of permanent disability the average amount of compensation under the voluntary sytem was under 500 lire ($96.50), and immediately after the passing of the law of 1898 increased to nearly 1,000 lire ($193).