movable property). A large number of foreign insurance companies
are represented in various Norwegian towns and rural districts.
One very important branch, of Norwegian insurance is marine
insurance. Previous to . 1837, when «Den forste norske assurance-
forening» (the First Norwegian Insurance Union)' was founded in
Langesund, Norwegian ship-owners had been obliged to go for insurance,
as long as the union existed with Denmark, to a company
in Copenhagen, established in 1726, and in the enjoyment of a
monopoly, and after 1814 chiefly to_ Hamburg companies. The first
Norwegian company was mutual. Subsequently several Norwegian
mutual marine and freight insurance companies were founded; but
business, both as regards these and the marine insurance joint-
stock companies, has declined considerably of late years on account
of the numerous shipwrecks and the high premiums resulting therefrom.
A number of Norwegian vessels are now sailing uninsured.
At the end . of 1897, according to the official statistics, there were
26 mutual marine and freight insurance companies, with net liabilities
of 94.2 million kroner, as against 134.4 million in 18 companies
in 1892. In the last-named year, there were 11 Norwegian
marine insurance joint-stock companies (the oldest founded in 1847)
with a net insurance of 168 million kroner (in 1891, as much as
192.6 million), . as against 6 and 111 million respectively, on the
31st Dec. 1898. Most of the Norwegian marine insurance companies
have had a common inspection institution, since 1864, in
the Norslce Veritas,
Life insurance is now very general among the middle-class
town population, while in the country and among the working-
classes in the towns, it is little practised. The large coast population,
who to a great extent earn their livelihood by fishing and
navigation, have generally very irregular incomes, and this fact,
combined with a lack of talent for saving, places serious hindrances
in the way of general life insurance. In the country, the system
of retaining a pension on giving up the property to the heir, is
a barrier to life insurance. Our first life insurance company, the
«Norske livrenteforening» (Norwegian Annuity Association, founded
in 1844), carried on business until 1871 upon a regular tontine
system, but has since been worked on the ordinary principles of
life insurance companies. In 1847, the «Kristiania almindelige
gjensidige forsorgelsesanstalt» (Kristiania General Mutual Provident
Society) began business with subscribing annuities (until 1890),
and since then several larger and smaller companies have been
started, so that the official statistics at the end of 1898 give the
number of life insurance companies as 11, with an annual premium
income of 4.4 million kroner. In addition to these, there are
several foreign companies doing business in Norway.
Norway has only one private accident insurance company of
her own — «Sigyn» ¡gal established in Kristiania in 1885. In
addition to this, since 1895, there has been a state insurance union
(«Eigsforsikringsanstalten»), in which all owners of factories and
other works where the hands are liable to accident, a re. obliged
to insure their work-people against accident in their work. This
insurance is a heavy burden upon our industrial undertakings, but
has been of great benefit to- the work-people (see pp. 212, 213).