The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1887. FIRES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1664, 16 September 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1887. FIRES.

New Zealand many years ago obtained a very unenviable reportation on account of the number of fires occurring m the colony, which was out of all proportion to the number of buildings it possessed. At first this evil reputation was confined to Dunedin, then to Invercargill, and finally to Auckland. In the latter case they were of such abnormal frequency that the various Insurance Companies doing business, there had m self-defence to largely increase their rates. This we believe was done because on investigation, it was found that m a gaeat majority of the cases the premises, furniture, or stock were insured. In fact the proportion of those that were insured, to those that were not, was so large as to suggest that m many m which the origin of the fire was " involved m mystery," something more than accident had had a finger m the pie. A similar course we believe, was for similar reasons adopted by the Insurance Companies m Invercargill, if not m Dunedin. Of late, however, the epidemic seems to have become pretty general all over the colony. There is scarcely a day that passes on which we do not recieve telegrams commencing "a fire broke out here." Now, though their frequency may give rise to evil surmisings as to their cause, we must bear m mind that our knowledge on the subject of spontaneous combustion is extremely limited and this may account for a few of them. Still, we think, that culpable and wilful negligence, if proved, should be included m the list of causes that would vitiate a policy. We do not see why the innocent should be compelled to suffer through not only increased rates but also the loss of property, by those who m their greed to grow suddenly rich by the acquisition of the insurance on buildings which are not revenue-producing, or those to whom the ready money would be more acceptable than their overinsured fnrniture, may be tempted to leave a light unextinguished m a dangerous position, or to adopt other unsuspected devices m order to accomplish their own selfish ends.