paid for salaries, and in addition to which 10,534.68 crowns ($2,823.29) were incurred by the postal savings banks in connection with the insurance activity of the institute. The total amount of premiums of all kinds collected during the first year was 324,817.99 crowns ($87,051.22), from which should be deducted premium adjustments paid out, 4,244.00 crowns ($1,137.39), while 7,670.25 crowns ($2,055.63) were paid out in claims during that year. The assets accumulated at the end of 1903 therefore amounted to 319,145.11 crowns ($85,530.89), which amount covered the following liabilities: For the year 1908 the finances of the institute stood as follows:(") a Riksförsäkringsanstaltens underåniga berättelse, 1903. b Riksförsäkringsanstaltens underåniga berättelse, 1908. 67725°-VOL 2-11-57 11, 267. 83 912, 391. 42 LIABILITIES DECEMBER 31, 1908. Advances by postal savings bank........... Claims and premium adjustments settled, but not paid out at the end of the year.... Premiums paid in advance.. Premium reserve.. $1,447. 19 576.49 1, 145. 42 26, 960. 80 The expenses of management of the institute in 1908 amounted to 105,819.69 crowns ($28,359.68), of which 40,437.51 crowns ($10,837.25) were for salaries, and 24,445.75 crowns ($6,551.46) for agency expenses. In addition to these the postal savings bank incurred expenses to the amount of 13,382.31 crowns ($3,586.46). The number of local agents of the institute at the end of 1908 was 381, distributed in 360 localities. These agents are paid a commission of 6 per cent of the premiums for collective insurances, and 0.40 crown (10.7 cents) for every individual insurance, these commissions, as well as the other expenses, being paid by the State. EXTENSIONS OF THE SYSTEM. Before proceeding with the statistics of insurance in force, accidents occurred, and indemnities paid, it will be well to give an account of the present status of the insurance privileges available, as the provisions of the law of 1901 have since received a wider application than was originally contemplated, while still other extensions of its application have been proposed, although not yet adopted. On June 3, 1904, a law was promulgated amending article 23 of the law of July 5, 1901, so as to provide for sick benefits before the sixtieth day after the accident. This law reads as follows: Employers who, according to article 10 (of the law of 1901), insure their employees against accident in the State Insurance Institute, shall have the right to provide for their employees by means of insurance in the same institute, in addition to the benefits prescribed by article 4, sick relief or an annuity on the basis provided for by the said article 4, such that a workman who suffers a material reduction in his working ability through an accident, whether such reduction lasts more than sixty days or not, shall receive sick relief from the date of the injury, and that a workman in the case of whom the loss or reduction of working ability as a result of the injury mentioned in article 4, section 2, takes place before the sixtieth day after the accident, shall receive an annuity from the time that such loss or reduction takes place. If an employer who conducts any trade other than those contemplated by this law, wishes, by means of insurance in the State Insurance Institute, to provide for indemnity on the bases laid down by this law for injury resulting from accidents occurring in his establishment, he shall have the right to do so. If an insurance such as mentioned in this article is issued, the provisions of this law applicable in such cases shall be complied with. This law shall go into force on October 1, 1904. It should be noted, of course, that the sick relief before the sixtieth day after the accident, as provided for by the above law, is not obligatory on the employers, but that any employer who wishes to provide such sick relief may do so by additional insurance in the State Insurance Institute. The premiums payable for such additional insurance have already been given (p. 2388). At the time the law of 1901 went into force about 150,000 workmen were already insured in private accident insurance companies, and in nearly all such cases the insurance covered accidents happening outside as well as during working hours, whereas the law of 1901 and the policies of the State Insurance Institute provided insurance only against accidents happening during working hours. Both employers and workmen had expressed the wish that the state institute be given the authority to extend the application of its policies in a similar manner. In many cases the workmen had even demanded that they be insured against accidents outside as well as during working hours, so that the employers had been forced to place their insurance in private companies instead of in the state institute. The state institute was in favor of this extension of its functions, and in 1906 the Parliament passed a resolution requesting the Government to look into the matter, and if its views were favorable to present a bill to the Parliament making the necessary provisions. Such a bill was presented in the following year, and it became law on May 27, 1907, going into force on January 1, 1908. In does not alter the provisions of the law of 1901, but empowers the State Insurance Institute to grant insurance against accidents occurring outside of working hours, and such insurance is granted only in connection with and as an addition to the regular insurance issued in accordance with the law of 1901. The additional insurance is to be subject to the general provisions of the latter law, and the benefits are to be in accordance with article 4; that is, the same as for the regular insurance. The policy provides that the claim is payable only if the accident happens within one day after the insured has been in the service of his employer, and is void if the insured was intoxicated at the time of the accident, or if the accident happened through negligence on his part, or if he was at the time violating any law, ordinance, or warning against danger. The premium for this additional insurance is fixed by the state institute at 0.60 crown (16 cents) for an annuity beginning after the sixtieth day, and an additional 0.40 crown (10.7 cents) for sick relief or annuity before the sixtieth day. These premiums cover insurance for the full 365 days of the year, but if the employer wishes, he may take out policies at lower rates covering only the-300 working days. Agricultural laborers are not provided for by the law of 1901, yet the information gathered by the State Insurance Institute shows that accidents among that class of laborers are by no means infrequent, being due chiefly to falling down, driving teams, handling cattle, being hit by falling objects, and in the use of tools and implements, etc. In a circular dated March 24, 1908, the institute instructed its agents to solicit insurance among agricultural workers. The normal premium was fixed at 4.80 crowns ($1.29) for the "legal insurance," and 1.55 crowns (41.5 cents) for the additional insurance providing sick relief before the sixtieth day, so that agricultural laborers are considered to belong to Class VI as regards the risk of accident (see p. 2388). The authority for the issuing of such policies by the State Insurance Institute is found partly in the abovementioned law of 1904, amending article 23 of the law of 1901 so that any employer exercising an occupation other than those provided for by the law of 1901 may, if he desires, insure his employees in the State Insurance Institute, and partly in the provision of the main law granting the right of insurance in the state institute to any individual workman. SPECIAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE FOR FISHERMEN.-Just as in the case of agricultural laborers, the law of 1901 leaves out of its scope another large class of workmen among whom accidents are very frequent, namely, fishermen. One of the reasons for this omission is the fact that the law of 1901 is mainly an employers' liability law, and as fishermen are in the majority of cases independent tradesmen, they would naturally come outside the scope of such a law. But on the one hand, the tendency since the law went into force has been to extend its functions so as to include all persons who belong to what is generally known as the working classes, and on the other hand it had been recognized long before the law of 1901 was passed that fishermen as a class were in particular need of insurance against accidents. The first workmen's insurance committee took the subject into consideration, and in its report of July 28, 1884, expressed itself in favor of an obligatory insurance for fishermen, to be maintained at least for a time, until experience should indicate the best plan to adopt. The subject was also considered in 1900 in connection with the projects for pension insurance for seamen. It is true that the law of 1901, as amended in 1904, opened the way for the voluntary insurance of fishermen on the same terms as those outlined above for agricultural laborers, but the privilege was not availed of to any extent, probably because of its cost. Accord ingly, on December 8, 1904, the State Insurance Institute was requested to prepare a bill providing for the insurance of fishermen against accidents. It naturally suggested itself that, since the fishermen had failed to avail themselves of the privileges of insurance already accorded them, this insurance ought to be made obligatory, but the state institute advised against this, partly because of the practical difficulties in the way, and partly because of the inconsistency in making the insurance obligatory for one class of workmen while leaving it voluntary for the other classes. Instead of this, in order to overcome the objection of cost, which appeared to be the chief reason for the failure of the fishermen to insure, the institute proposed a state subsidy, not only to provide for the expenses of management, but also partly to cover the insurance itself. In February, 1908, a proposition in agreement with this suggestion was laid before the Parliament, which authorized the State Insurance Institute to effect the special insurance of fishermen, beginning with January, 1909. The Parliament also passed an appropriation for the year 1909, and yearly thereafter, of 27,500 crowns ($7,370) as a subsidy for this insurance, the amount to be taken out of the interest from the workmen's insurance fund. The following are the principal conditions of this insurance: Every Swedish citizen who either wholly or partly supports himself by fishing has the right to avail himself of the special insurance for fishermen. The contribution of the insured shall be 5.50 crowns ($1.47), the insurance to cover one year, after which it may be renewed at the option of the insured. The benefits of the insurance become payable if injury or death results from an accident occurring in the performance of fishing work or in certain other cases, such as an attempt to save lives at sea. The benefits are in the main in accordance with the law of 1901, with the additional provisions that if the insured is killed in the performance of his work, and leaves no widow or children, but supported his parents or brothers and sisters under the age of 15, a single sum of 400 crowns ($107.20) is to be paid to his parents and 200 crowns ($53.60) to his brothers and sisters collectively, or 400 crowns ($107.20) to the latter if the parents are dead. Additional insurance for sick relief before the sixtieth day after the accident may also be had at special rates, and also for insurance against accidents occurring outside of the regular occupation of the insured. For this additional insurance, however, the State pays only the administrative expenses, whereas if the premium for the principal insurance should be found to be insufficient the State will make good the deficit in addition to paying the expenses of management. |