The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1888. Government Life Insurance

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 29, 18 August 1888, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1888. Government Life Insurance

.» It is well known that there are more persons holding policies in the Government Life Insurance Association, resident in the Manchester Block and Kiwitea, than in any other part of the colony with the same population. It is easy to imagine, therefore, that any rumor affecting the credit or good management of the Association would fly with astonishing rapidity from one end of the district to the other with almost the wings of light. The innate propensity in human nature which impels us to be believe evil in preference to good, receives in all such cases abundance of encouragement to develop itself, and " trifles light as air become confirmation strong as holy writ." Strange to say, this sort of excitement is moat infectious, aud easily communicated to even the strongest minds. Men who, in the ordinary business of their lives, perform no act until after calm and mature deliberation, are often, by a mere hint of a possible danger, suddenly prostrated in almost abject terror, thereby becoming oereft of all that firmness and judgment, for the possession of which they may have hitherto been held in high esteoin by their fellows. It is this feeling of dread of the amorphous unknown which has caused panics in the ranks of the bravest armies the world has ever seen, and commercial disaster among the shrewdest financiers who ever kuelt and worshipped at the altar of Mammon. These points being admitted, tbe deduction may be natur ally made that those whose business it is to cater for the public in the supply of news, Bh< v d be careful iv thf selection of the items they put int circulation. We do not believe wheii the agent of the Press Association at Napier sent away that now famous

telegram, which stated the Government Insurance Department had refused to pay the value of a certain policy which had become payable by the death of a Halcombe.. resident, had the smallest idea that lie was doing a thing which might have mtlie end very serious consequences to himself and the Association, whose servant he is, as well as to one of the most popular and well managed public institutions in the world. This incident only proves how dangerous it is to put the weapon of a giant in the hands of an infant. We have long held the opinion that no one should be appointed as agent for the Press Association unless he is qualified for the position by previous experience and education. In conclusion, we can only reiterate our previously expressed confidence in the stability of the Government Assurance Association. Should at any time a policyholder, or the friends of one, want information on any point in connection with the business of the Department, let him consult the nearest postmaster, or a respectable solicitor, but let him shun " the man in the street" as he would a leper, Verbum sap.