of the courts will permit. The fixing of rates within the state is an easy thing compared with the complex problem of trying to place a valuation upon the assets and expansion and absorbing power of a corporation existing in several states.
Insurance
The development of insurance legislation under the able management of Herman L. Ekern, the present insurance commissioner, has been remarkable. It will be observed that the same principles run through insurance legislation, i.e. that the contract conditions must be made plain, the accounting given the proper publicity, the business made public and the cost as cheap as possible, involving as little litigation as possible. No attempt has been made to develop this department to the point reached by the railroad commission act, but the foundation evidently has been laid for a thorough control of the company and the protection of the individual which is assured under the other act. With the introduction of industrial accident insurance, the department bids fair to develop into as great an institution as the railroad commission. Certainly as time goes on, it will have to assume some position similar to that of the German department if the kind of legislation which is now being undertaken continues to be enacted. It is the intention of the legislators to make the office of the
