HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 115

an employer to adopt any one of the methods of assuring
payment of the compensation as provided for in this Article,
if such action is reasonably necessary to secure and safeguard
such payments to employees or for the diminishing and pre-
vention of accidents. Any action of the Commission for the
purpose of diminishing or preventing accidents shall not apply
to public service corporations under the jurisdiction of the
Public Service Commission. Any decision of said Commis-
sion under this section or Section 14 of this Article may be
reviewed by writ of certiorari in the Circuit Court for the
county in which the employer may reside or in any of the
Common Law Courts of Baltimore City, if the employer resides
in Baltimore City.

Any employer, subject to the provisions of this Article, who
fails or refuses to insure voluntarily the payment of the com-
pensation specified in this Article to his employees and their
dependents through one of the methods of assurance of pay-
ment, mentioned in the second paragraph of this section of
this Article, or fails to furnish satisfactory proof to the Com-
mission of his financial ability to pay such compensation him-
self, or give bond or deposit securities as aforesaid, shall at
any time after November 1st, nineteen hundred and fourteen,
be compelled by the Commission to insure to his employees
and their dependents the payment of the compensation speci-
fied in this Article, by paying to the State Treasurer for the
use and benefit of the State Accident Fund, hereinafter author-
ized to be established, the premium or taxes levied and pub-
lished by the Commission for the group of employments, in-
dustries or works to which said employer belong. And any
such employer who fails or refuses to so insure within ten
days, after being ordered by the Commission to do so, shall
be liable to the State in an amount equal to the premium or
taxes required of him for six months' insurance in the State
Accident Fund, as a penalty, which, together with his premium
or tax due the State Accident Fund for the first six months,
may be collected by the Commission in the same manner and
with the same effect as provided in Section 22 of this Article
for the collection of premiums or taxes in default.

In exercising the discretion conferred upon it by this
section and Section 14 of this Article, the State Industrial
Accident Commission shall consider the reputation of any
insurance company or association, in which any such employer
may desire to insure, for promptness and fairness in the settle-
ment of compensation claims, without unreasonable resistance
on the part of any such insurance company or association,
and shall also consider the financial strength of his employer,
the number of employees employed, the degree of hazard to
employees engaged in the employment, the likelihood or dan-