"Our Commission has adopted the plan of discussing tentative propositions in order to confine our attention to specific questions. I move that this Conference now direct its discussion to the consideration of whether the scheme of workmen's compensation in all cases of industrial accidents is industrially feasible at the present time."
[The motion was carried.]
Mr. William Brosmith, counsel for the Travelers' Insurance Co., of Hartford:
"I do not know that I am in a position to give you any advice as to the industrial feasibility of workmen's compensation. Personally, I am a strong believer in workmen's compensation."
The Chairman:
"Do you believe that the insurance companies would be willing to place at the disposal of this conference, or any one, the actual experience they have had under collective insurance; in other words, would they be willing to allow statements to be taken from their figures showing precisely the number of accidents in any given occupation or the total number of people insured, the number of injured, the kind of injury, the time the injuries lasted, of course leaving out the question of how much was paid by the company?"
Mr. Brosmith:
"I can speak positively for one company. I know that we will be very glad indeed to furnish to the State Commissions the experience of our company on industrial accidents. I have offered already to do that for the New York State Commission. I have no right, of course, to speak for other companies, but I am confident, that all of them which write industrial accident insurance or which cover it in one form or another, will be glad indeed to furnish their experience. I do not believe that the value of statistics you gather abroad as to the practical working of workmen's compensation and insurance in foreign countries will be of much value, but I do believe that in our own country, where we have a vast mass of experience it will be of practical benefit.
The company which I represent has been transacting accident insurance in this country for fifty years. We have written, I presume, millions of policies of accident insurance upon persons engaged in industrial occupation. We have that experience all tabulated and arranged and classified so as to show the injuries sustained in the different occupations, the injuries sustained at occupation, the injuries sustained foreign to occupation, the premiums charged and received in all of these years, the loss ratio and the accident ratio. I believe, the insurance companies in the United States could in a very short time know the exact amount paid by any employer of labor as a premium rate, or cost of insurance which would be necessary to protect the employer against the compensation which he in turn would be obliged to furnish to his employees. I believe that experience will be very valuable to the State Commissions and I know, that so far as the accident companies are concerned, when a scheme of compensation is perfected in any State, it is to that experience we will go in order to ascertain what we will charge the employer for the insurance protection. We will not go to the experience of any liability insurance. That may have a value, I presume it has, but it is not at all comparable to the value of experience in personal accident and health insurance, and particularly the experience of the companies which write industrial insurance.
At the present time, the insurance company has the privilege of selecting its risk, and the benefit of that selection affects the premium charged. Today we may insure a thousand employees of the Pressed Steel Car Company, but we will select that one thousand; the ones who are of bad habits, careless, or of bad morals we decline to take. Under the workmen's compensation, however, we would have to insure all of the employees of a given industry, good, bad and indifferent. The fact that we would have to insure all of the risks in a given industry without selection, would have the effect of increasing the premium somewhat. However, under workmen's compensation I would assume that the injuries to be covered by the insurance would be only the injuries sustained in occupations, so that a very considerable percentage of the injuries now covered by general accident insurance, would be taken out of the insurance under workmen's compensation."
Prof. Seager: