Foreign, of Liverpool; the London Assurance Corporation, of London; Thames and Mersey, of Liverpool; the Union Marine, of Liverpool, and the Indemnity Mutual, of London. The American business of these and other foreign marine-insurance companies operating in the State of New York is set forth in the following table:

TABLE 24.-AMERICAN BUSINESS OF SOME LEADING FOREIGN MARINE-INSURANCE COMPANIES, 1906.

[Annual report New York superintendent of insurance, 1907.]

AMERICAN COMPANIES.-In this country the marine-insurance business which is not in the hands of foreign underwriters and corporations is controlled in the main by seven domestic companies, namely, the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company of North America, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, Federal Insurance Company, Boston Insurance Company, Providence-Washington Insurance Company, and the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Only one of the companies named, namely, the Atlantic Mutual of New York, depends solely upon its marine and inland business. The other six companies depend largely upon a fire-insurance business. Two other companies besides those named, namely, the Etna Insurance Company and the Home Insurance Company, also have marine branches. The business of the nine companies mentioned is set forth in the following table, which gives a summary of the capital stock, incorporation, gross and inland premiums, admitted assets, and total marine and inland risks of the said nine companies for the years 1902 to 1906:

TABLE 25.-BUSINESS OF PRINCIPAL AMERICAN MARINE AND FIRE-MARINE INSURANCE COMPANIES, 1902-1906.

[Compiled from various reports of the New York superintendent of insurance.]

In the United States insurance on vessels or cargoes is usually obtained through insurance brokers or agents. Exhibit XIV hereto includes specimen copies of applications for marine insurance on vessels, cargoes, and a certain kind of cargo, namely, cotton.

Recently there has also been a marked tendency toward selfinsurance. While the coastwise lines and the smaller transoceanic lines depend almost entirely upon marine-insurance companies for their insurance, it appears that in the case of such lines as the great German steamship companies nearly all the insurance is carried by the companies themselves. This system of insuring a line's own ships was also inaugurated by the International Marine Company. Where steamship lines, however, may subinsure their vessels, they refrain from insuring the cargo, permitting this risk to be covered by marine-insurance companies. Several small domestic steamship companies and vessel owners carry their own insurance.

COMBINATIONS. It is seldom that an entire marine risk, especially a large one, is accepted by a single underwriter, or even, in the case of corporations, by a single company. There seems to be a general tendency everywhere for marine underwriters and insurance companies to work in groups. Lloyd's Association, of London, is one of the most striking examples of this group method of operation. In the United States two interesting combinations operating on western rivers are the New Orleans River Association and the Western Rivers Underwriters' Association. At Milwaukee, Wis., 12 companies appear to have combined in the issue of a policy upon cargoes on the Great Lakes.

Section 4. Marine-insurance policies.

Every maritime nation has its own particular form of marine policy, agreed upon by the community of insurers, the conditions whereof form the basis of almost every contract of insurance. Some maritime communities-as, for example, the United States-have adopted a different policy for insurance either on hulls or on goods, but English insurers generally abide by Lloyd's policy, the wording of which is adapted to both cases. This form of policy was adopted by Lloyds in 1779, and is still the standard form of the contract of private underwriting, and Lloyd's clauses are often included in other policies and transactions relating to shipping. The clause usually inserted in such cases is "Practice of Lloyds."

Exhibit XV (5) is a copy of one of Lloyd's policies on a Mississippi River boat, together with the names of several groups of underwriters indorsed thereon and the amount of risk severally assumed. Compare with Exhibit XV (6), which is that of a hull or vessel policy

issued by an American company. In this country no standard form of policy is prescribed by law.

KINDS OF POLICIES.-The following enumeration will indicate the general character and the range of property to which the several kinds of marine-insurance policies apply: River-hull policies, ferryboat, vessel, lake vessel, towboat, towboat hull, hull, lake hull, inland hull, blanket, Atlantic barge, schooner, blanket policies on hulls, hull marine policies, steamboat only, tug, lighterage, yacht, whaling and fishing, canal hull, cargo on wharf boat, hull and cargo, cotton, coal, lake cargo, vessel and cargo, cargo vessel, blanket policies on hull and cargo, river cargo policies, builders', and stranding or collision policies only.

In spite of variations in detail, however, it is apparent that all such policies are in their nature and contents fundamentally identical, and adapted from a few common forms.

As regards the sum insured, a policy may be either open or valued. Where the agreement expresses on its face that the subject of insurance shall be valued at a stipulated sum-not necessarily its actual value-as, for example, "the ship Argus, valued at $10,000," it is known as a valued policy. On the other hand, an open policy is one wherein the value of the property insured is not expressed, but is left to be ascertained in the case of loss.a

As regards the vessel on which the insured interest is placed, policies are either "floating" or "named." They are called "floating when the ship's name is not mentioned therein; "named" or "special" when it is. The floating policy is purposely intended to effect insurance on goods to be shipped from a distant port, the insurer not knowing as yet the name of the ship or ships which will convey them. The name of such ship or ships is, however, stated afterward, and within certain limits of time, by special declaration. When the whole sum insured is thus accounted for, the policy is said to be fully declared or written off. When both the sum and the ship are specified in the policy, the policy is also called "named” or “special," and is also called "open" when neither the one nor the other is stated therein.

As regards the duration of the risk insured, there are voyage and time policies, the former for a particular voyage, the latter for a specified period.

WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS.-In the case of warranty, compliance must be "absolute and literal" or the policy is liable to become void from the moment of noncompliance, while as regards a representation "equitable and substantial fulfillment" is asserted to be sufficient.

a Richards, Law of Insurance, 2d ed., pp. 18-19.
b Gambaro and Gault, Lessons in Commerce, p. 129.

Among the expressed or implied warranties in marine-insurance policies are: (a) That the vessel must be seaworthy in all respects for the intended voyage at the time of starting; (b) that the vessel shall proceed in the usual way, directly and without deviation or unnecessary delay, from the port of departure to the port of destination, and (c) that the adventure shall be legal in all particulars.

PERILS INSURED AGAINST.-After the general description of the adventure, the marine-insurance policy usually mentions the perils against which protection is granted. Some American policies still retain the old enumeration of Lloyds, namely:

Touching the adventures and perils which the said Insurance Company is contented to bear, they are of the seas, men-of-war, fires, enemies, pirates, rovers, thieves, jettisons, letters of mart and countermart, reprisals, takings at sea, arrests, restraints and detainment of all kings, princes, or people of what nation, condition or quality soever, barratry of the master and mariners, and all other perils, losses, and misfortunes that have or shall come to the hurt, detriment, or damage of the said vessel [or goods] or any part thereof.

While retaining the language of the above clause in other respects, most American companies omit in their policies the specifications of all perils except those of the sea, fire, and barratry, and assume liability for all losses to which the insurers are liable by the rules and customs of insurance in a particular port, subject to the conditions and provisions contained or referred to by clauses in said policies. Other companies, especially those insuring inland risks, grant in their policies "protection against the perils of the lakes, rivers, canals, railroads, and all other losses or misfortunes, except those arising from carelessness or lack of skill in loading or stowing the cargo, or in navigating the vessel, or from other legally excluded causes.”

Four perils merit a brief discussion, namely, "perils of the sea," fire, jettison, and barratry:

The term "perils of the sea" appears not to include all casualties that may happen to a ship or cargo on the sea. Not only must the loss be incurred "in consequence of some peril which is of the sea," but even where this is the case it must ordinarily be the result of an unforeseen occurrence; that is to say, an accident. One writer has comprehended under the term "perils of the sea" those of "the winds, waves, lightning, rocks, shoals, collisions, and, in general, all causes of loss or damage to the property insured arising from the elements and unavoidable accidents."

Similarly, in the case of fire, the underwriter is said to be liable for all losses arising from it, "provided only that the cause was accidental and not brought about by any action of the insured for which he is