The Evening Star MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1870

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2162, 11 April 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1870

There are different opinions as to the functions of Government in regard to social arrangements. It used to be held very strongly that it was no part of their duty to interfere in education, any more than in religion, and that public works, such as Hailways, Telegraphs, Water Supply, construction of Docks, &c., should be left to private enterprise, It was assumed that selfinterest would lead to the adoption of plans for carrying out these requirements more cheaply and effectually than could be done by the Government ; that too much patronage and influence would be vested in them by intrusting them with works involving the appointment of numerous officers ; and that on political and social grounds it was desirable they should not be in their hands. The experience of the last thirty years has considerably modified this theory at Home. It has been found that education has not been attended to, that Railways and Telegraphs, et id genus omne, are better in the hands of Governments, that Savings Banks can be worked more cheaply and effectively by them, and that they have at command machinery which may be utilised to an extent that is hardly dreamt of. In New Zealand it is proposed to endeavour to extend this machinery to Life Assurance. A short time ago we received from the General Government some papers connected with their scheme, with a request that public attention should be called to it, in order to urge “ the importance of encouraging amongst “ the colonists a disposition to make “ provision for the future, either by “ life assurance or by the purchase of “ annuities.” It perhaps has scarcely entered the mind of many that this scheme, if worked out faithfully and supported intelligently by the people, might become a most effectual safeguard against the evils of poverty. The genius must yet arise whose astute grasp of the subject will enable him to point out the extent to which this precautionary insurance can be carried. But the risks to which it is already applied suggest that much more may be done, and as the application of the principle is extended to the various contingencies of life, absolute want may be ultimately guarded against, without those degrading and pauperising institutions which accustom the mind to a life of dependence rather than of self-help. Step by step this precautionary system has extended. In the first instance, perhaps, it was applied to marine ventures ; then, as statistics supplied means of ascertaining risks, to fire and life. In England it is ap-. plied to risks of railway travelling, and insurance tickets can be obtained for single journeys or for stated periods, whilst in all civilised countries, for a small sum, persons who might have been unable otherwise to find security for honest discharge of duty, if respectable, can, by a small payment, provide the necessary guarantee. Viewed in the light of life assurance, an insurance office is a savings bank. It may help us to form an idea of aristocratic legislation at Home when we remember that for many years, instead of encouraging that forethought which would lead to providing against the consequences of accident, old age, or death,

the British Government absolutely laid a tax upon policies of insurance, which continued without modification until about the passing of the Reform Bill in the time of William the Fourth. In a more enlightened spirit, the Government of New Zealand comes forward with a scheme which is commended to public notice in the following terms :

Persons whoso lives are insured, or to whom annuities are granted, will have Government security for all moneys due to them. It was the object and intention of the Legislature, by affording this security, to leave no excuse to persons for failing to make provision for the future. As profit is not the object of the Government, the tables are framed with a view of simply making a fair charge for risks undertaken. The Government are able to undertake such risks lower than private associations, because— I. They have their own Government securities in which to invest from time to time the accumulations.

2. Without leaving idle an undue amount of accumulations, they have always ample fu: ds to satisfy all payments due. 3. They will save the charges of agents, to which private associations are subjected. 4. They require neither an extra staff, nor costly buildings, and, in short, all the expenses are less. We are inclined to think that too much stress is laid, at least for the present, upon these propositions, for there are counterbalancing advantages connected with some of the well-esta-blished companies that cannot be realised for years to come by the Government, and that reduce the charges upon the whole business so much as practically to be of little moment in the estimate. The business of Government insurance must be for years confined to a population of about 200,000, while the others operate among the hundreds of millions of the British Empire. The great point is to induce the general practice of life insurance, when not only will the Government but every other office find agency charges reduced to a minimum. The object to be aimed at is thus expressed by the Government:—

The State is much interested in encouraging amongst the people provident habits. , A person who contracts for an insurance on his life, or for a deferred annuity, enters into an undertaking to make a series of payments for a more or less prolonged period. After investing his savings for ten, twenty, or even fifty years, he should be protected from all risk of loss, Coinciding with the Government jn the vast importance of the subject, and having been favored by a competent actuary with some carefully compiled data, we shall return to it again.