The Risks of War Sir John Simon's statement, in the
House of Commons on Tuesday, on compensation for war damage to life and pro- perty will be well received by the country. Full compensa- tion will be paid for death or injury to the civilian popula- tion, and the rates of compensation will be calculated by the standard rate of compensation for private soldiers. There could be no clearer recognition that in the next war the risks, and services, of civilians will be as great as those of the fight- ing forces. On the other hand, the Government has rejected proposals for compulsory insurance for property, with full payment guaranteed for losses incurred. The reason is both that the losses are likely to be too great and that the insur- able risk is incalculable. A modest estimate of property losses in a major war is that they will amount to Lloo,000,000 a year. But any estimate is likely to be ex- ceeded ; the Government has arranged that losses will be assessed immediately and compensation will be paid at the end of the war at as high a rate as the country can afford. Only in certain necessary cases will insurance be guaranteed by the Government. For the rest, property-owners will be lucky if the country can afford anything after a war waged with modern methods of destruction.
Previous page
