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Evening Star, Issue 3885, 6 August 1875, Page 2

At first sight it really would seem as if it were the duty of the Insurance Companies to provide for the support of the lire brigade. It is only when we come to consider the thing with considerable closeness of attention that we perceive how very little it can matter to these companies whether there is a Brigade or not. To a'person who gives the matter only a passing thought, it no doubt appears that the persons principally interested in having au efficient hire brigade in Dunedin are those who would be very heavy h-sers it large blocks of buildings were burnt down through the want of such ■i body in the town. it is true that these companies would run a certain amount ot extra risk for that part of the year during which the current policies continue in force ; but after that, the existence or the non-existence of a hire Brigade could exert but little influence over their profits or losses. Mr in hia letter on th© subject,

has pointed out that this is the case. Ihe importance of having the principle which underlies • this question thoroughly understood is so great, that we think it our duty to contribute our mite towards its thorough elucidation. That when insured property is saved from burning, the insurance offices cannot be said to profit by the existence of the Brigade, may be, we think, learnt from the following considerations. If there were no Brigade at all, the insurance agents would be extremely chary of issuing policies on adjacent buildings, and would ask higher rates as an equivalent for greater risks. If buildings are now insured at a compara- : tivel y l° w rate, it is because the risk incurred by the insurers is comparatively small. Make that risk great, and it is plain that the officers of the companies will not forget to insure themselves by making their premiums greater. It is thus perfectly plain to anyone who gives the matter a moment’s consideration, that the contributions of the Insurance Companies to the support of the Fire Brigade really come out of the pockets of the insurers, so that the latter are virtually taxed to support a Brigade, part of whose work is to put out the fires of improvident persons who do not insure. These same careless peisons, as far as the Brigade is concerned, get their fires put out for nothing, and at the expense of those who do insure. The managers, then, of Insurance Companies cannot fairly be called upon to contribute to the support of the Brigade ; indeed, in doing so, they would be misapplying the funds both of their insurers and of their proprietors. But no one will deny that a Brigade is quite indispensable in a town of the

size of Dunedin. How, then, is it to oe supported? The Brigade is, undoubtedly, for the benefit of all the citizens—these should, then, all contri--011 te to its support. We are thus inevitably led to the conclusion that the duty of supporting the Brigade belongs entirely to the City Council, and that if it should neglect this duty, and allow our thoroughly efficient Brigade to disband, the members of the Council will be neglecting their duty just as much as if they allowed the road in Princes street to become impassable, or if they suffered the Waterworks to get so far out of repair that they could no longer be of any use for supplying the town with water.