Insurance Against War Risks On Monday Mr. Oliver Stanley introduced
the Govern- ment's Bill for the compulsory insurance of ships, cargoes and commodities against " King's Enemy Risks." Within the self-imp9sed restrictions of the Bill there appears to be few loop-holes. The principle is that interim and imme- diate compensation shall be provided in the event of damage, and that the Government will attempt to provide full com- pensation after the war. Compulsion is•obviously necessary, since without it there would inevitably be unfair disparities of price between insured and uninsured commodities. The weakness of the Bill lies in its deliberate omissions, and since Mr. Stanley devoted more than half his speech to the vexed question of insuring house property it appears that he is himself aware of the importance of dealing with that problem too. His statement that a committee of experts would be set up to investigate the possibility of including house property in the scheme was obviously welcomed by the House. The sooner it starts work the better.
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