Ch. 645                                    LAWS OF MARYLAND

employees and, their dependents, shall first submit to the
Workmen's Compensation Commission the method he wishes to adopt.
The said Commission may approve or reject the method proposed.
If rejected, the employer may submit another method authorized
under this article. The said Commission may from time to time
revise or alter its decision approving the election of an
employer to adopt any 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 prevention 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 Commission under this section
or § 15 of this article may be reviewed in the circuit court for
the county in which the employer may reside.

(d) Any employer, subject to the provisions of this
article, who fails or refuses to insure voluntarily the payment
of the compensation specified in this article to his employees
and their dependents through one of the methods of assurance of
payment, mentioned in [the second paragraph of this section,] §
16(2) OF THIS ARTICLE, or fails to furnish satisfactory proof to
the Commission of his financial ability to pay such compensation
himself, 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 specified in this
article, by paying to the State Treasurer for the use and benefit
of the State Accident Fund, hereinafter authorized to be
established, the premium or taxes levied and published by the
State Accident Fund for the group of employments, industries or
works to which said employer belongs. 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 § 77
of this article for the collection of premiums or taxes in
default.

(e) In exercising the discretion conferred upon it by
this section and § 15 of this article, the Workmen's Compensation
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 settlement of compensation
claims, without unreasonable resistance on the part of any such
insurance company, or association, and shall also consider the
financial strength of the employer, the number of employees
employed, the degree of hazard to employees engaged in the
employment, the likelihood or danger of several employees being

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