Compensation for War Damage The motion now on the Order
Paper of the House of Commons, signed by 18o Government supporters and call- ing for the setting up of a joint committee of both Houses to discuss a scheme of compensation in respect of war damage to property, raises an important issue. Clearly the private insurance company, however great its resources, would not be able in war-time to carry the risk of damage due to enemy action on an ordinary actuarial footing as calculated in time of peace. It is true that neither economic stability nor the principle of equal sacrifice stand much chance of survival in the next war ; but as a contribution towards salvaging as much as possible of both it is obviously desirable that these risks should be as widely spread as possible, and their incidence not left entirely dependent on the fortuitous date of an insurance policy or the still more fortuitous course of an incendiary bomb. A special pool to be set up by the insurance companies themselves has been suggested, and such a pool, swollen by an Exchequer con- tribution, probably represents the best solution of the problem. Certainly the experience of post-War French governments in dealing with the rehabilitation of the devastated areas teaches a powerful lesson in favour of work- ing out a compensation scheme before, rather than after, the occasion for compensation has arisen.
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