provision of section 53, which relieves an employer paying a premium to the State Fund from all liability on account of personal injuries or death sustained by his employees. In consequence of the latter provision, the coverance afforded by the State Fund policy under the Workmen's Compensation Act is absolutely complete. The management of the State Fund has contended, accordingly, that its policyholders are given perfect coverance under the Workmen's Compensation Act and that this is the only protection really needed by employers engaged in hazardous employments that come squarely within the provisions of the act. This contention has been substantiated by the experience of the State Fund to date, as no case has arisen in which its policy has failed to give complete protection to the employer. The competitors of the State Fund cite in this connection various decisions of the Appellate Division, Third Department, Supreme Court, in compensation cases, as showing the existence of liability outside the Workmen's Compensation act not covered by the State Fund policy. The principal cases thus exploited as arguments against insurance in the State Fund are the following: Shinnick vs. The Clover Farms Co., in which the Court sustained the right of action on the part of an employee who had suffered a disfigurement by the bite of a horse; Bargey vs. Massaro Macaroni Co., in which compensation was denied to the dependents of a carpenter killed while doing a piece of construction work in a factory; Gleisner vs. Gross & Herbener, in which the Court held that a janitor, injured while ascending a roof to put up a flag, was not entitled to compensation. Without entering into a discussion of the issues involved in these cases, it may be pointed out that they emphasize strongly the need of an amendment of the act to clear up, once for all, troublesome questions as to its application to certain classes of employees, and further, to make the coverance under the State Fund policy clear, definite and complete beyond any possibility of doubt. It is an intolerable situation that employers insured in the State Fund, or desiring to place their insurance with it, should be deterred or disquieted by reason of any questions as to the application of the act and the coverance under the State Fund policy. Employers are entitled to a speedy remedy for this condition at the hands of the Legislature. The Workmen's Compensation Act should be amended in such way as to remove all possible doubt as to the scope of the act and the coverance afforded by the State Fund policy. This can be effected by amendments defining and extending the scope of the act or granting to the State Fund authority to issue a policy covering not only liability for compensation but also any incidental or collateral liability at common law. It is hoped that the Legislature will take action that will settle decisively the moot questions relating to liability at common law and coverance under the State Fund policy and thus remove the whole subject from the realm of controversy. Expense estimate furnished by bureau of cashier (18 months ended December 31, 1915).... 275,679 54 Expense ratio to earned premiums.. 14.3 Losses and loss reserve (including $26,413.05 deferred claim department charges). 1,240,638 13 Loss ratio to earned premiums.. 64.8 Total surplus accrued to policyholders (18 months ended December 31, 1915). 579,211 57 347,541 45 231,670 12 Investments.. 1,059,824 91 Number of accidents reported (18 months ended December 31, 1915). 17,315 126 (B) ACTUARIAL ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENTS ARISING UNDER THE NEW YORK WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LAW Actual statistics relating to the cost of workmen's compensation claims in the United States are, up to the present, difficult to obtain. For this reason it is thought that some analysis of the 10,307 accidents reported to the New York State Insurance Fund during the year ended June 30, 1915, the first year of the operation of the act, may not be without interest. Schedule A, appended to this memorandum, shows analysis of these accidents according to the character of the benefit payable, giving the total incurred loss under each head and the average cost per accident. The experience in all cases has been brought down to December 31, 1915. This means that at least six months has elapsed between the date of the last accident and the date of the compilation of the experience, thus insuring statistics much more accurate than those compiled immediately at the close of the period to be analyzed. The first point to be mentioned is that these 10,307 accidents are simply "notices." It has been found impracticable to reduce them to terms of " tabulatable" accidents or to apply any other definition of what constitutes an accident. (The commonly accepted definition of a standard or "tabulatable" accident is one which disables the employee for some part of a day other than the day on which the "accident" occurs.) It will, of course, be recognized that the number of "notices" depends very largely upon the practice of the employers whose operations are covered by une insurance policies issued. Large employers with well organized first aid and accident prevention service are likely to report every accident down to the merest scratch, however trivial, while small employers whose operations are not on a sufficient scale to permit of the systematic organization of accident work are not apt to file notices of accident unless the case appears to be sufficiently serious to make it appear probable that either medical aid or compensation will be payable. To reduce to terms of "compensatable" accidents there must be subtracted from 10,307 the sum of the 3,649 cases in which there was no loss and the 4,189 cases in which, although medical aid was paid, there was no compensation 7,838 cases in all-leaving 2,469 "compensatable" accidents where the injury caused either death, dismemberment or disability continuing for more than two weeks from the date of the accident. The calculated incurred loss in these 2,469 cases was $650,468.41, which gives an average of $263.47 per compensatable injury, not including the cost of medical aid. With respect to the several items in Schedule A, the following comments are submitted: Item I shows that out of 83 deaths which occurred up to December 31, 1915, arising from accidents occurring on or before June 30, 1915, 72 were cases involving dependency with an average present value of $3,997, almost exactly $4,000, including |