THE The Drey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1071, 3 January 1872, Page 2

THE The Drey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1872.

The present visit of Captain Baldwin, the TravellingSub-CommissionerandLecturer for the Government scheme of Life Assurance, and the promised visit of Mr Short, the Lecturer for the Australian Mutual Provident Society, induce us to direct public attention Jo. this, subject. Life assurance is a matter of too much general importance, of too much vital moment, to require any excuse in treating of it. It' has of late years become one of the great national questions of the day at home— national in the magnitude of the interests it represents, in the blessings it haa bestowed upon all classes, and second to none in the amount of attention it has received from the public, the press, the Legislature, and , unfortunately, the Courts of Law also. ,It has had its seasons of adversity ; now high in popular favor, anon. viewed with fear and feelings of clittrust; but whilst the speculations of the day, the manias of the hour, have passed awaj', tenues recessit in auras t Life Assurancebasremainedprospering rin the whole, until it now represents something like four hundred millions sterling. But though on the whole very prosperous, the prosperity has not been attained without considerable suffering, misery, and ruin. The incredulous and unwary have become the prey of speculators, promoters, and villians. Life assurance,, indeed, has ever yielded a bountiful harvest to those, who live upon duping their fellow men. When Dickens sketched the rise, progress, and fall of the Anglo-Bengalee Company, the sketch was as living and truthful a picture of the time as any that has ever been drawn by the pen of that great artist. A man may, as a rule, test the solvency of all other transactions, but he cannot do so in the case of Life Insurance. Be has no reliable data to go upon— nothing to guide him but a company's reputation, a delusive test,, as was evidenced in the case of the Albert and of. many other companies of high standing which have collapsed at home of late years. Special legislation has been tried from time to time, bnt tried in vain— ling have been passed, outlaws ha ye beenpowerless to protect honest: men while investing their hard-earned savings. Finally the State itself stepped in, but private interests ■ were too strong even for Mr Gladstone, and his State Insurance scheme was too limited to become the great success it deserved. Mr Cave, late President of the Board of Trade, in his speech in the House of , Commons, thus refers to the two canses of failure in the English Government scheme of Insurance. "This system," he says, "has not been the great success that could bo wished, partly , in consequence of the limit, but chiefly because no agents were employed to recommend it to the public. It is worth no one's whilo to push, it, aud even the postmasters are not energetic enough, nor sufficiently remunerated to make them zealous in the work." In adopting the IJngliah measure, the New Zealarid Government, benefiting by the ■experience of the Imperial Government, "has guarded against the causes of failure thus referred to by Mr Cave. There were no local institutions in existence, and therefore no private interests interfered wiih when the Annuities Acts were passed by the General Assembly. The appointment of Captain Baldwin and the activity of the^ postmasters have been the means of giving thorough publicity to. the scheme, and of making it as successful as it tow undoubtedly is. Silently but surely this New Zealand Gor vernment Life Assurance measure is obtaining the support aud confidence of the Oolony. And it must be admitted by all who have heard the matter explained, or looked into for themselves, that the terms are as liberal as they well can. It offers to the public, in fact, the two great essential qualities oi Insurance — cheapness and security. Though carried on without a loss, there are no profits as yet, for the scheme is in its infancy, but bye-and-bye r when it assumes larger proportions, pro* babjy any that may arise will be divided amqngst- the policy-holders. It is like every new -scheme susceptible of improve-mentj^brtt'that-,'rib doubt, will tie made from time to time. The tendency of the scheme is, however, on the whole very liberal, and this liberality is Bhown by the fact that, though a man may be unable to meet the payment of his policy when duo, it does not therefore lapse. Ii has -il ways appeared to ub a very great! haj/dßlrip to insurers that a man may go on pitying bis premiums for some time, and

then, if presented j by some circumstance over which' he lias, io control from tendering payment', he ; should lose the whole of the money he had! paid and his policy becomevoid. Colonists more particularly arey owing to Various reasons, unable to make such payments at the proper time, and it was a wise course adopted by the Government to have provided, that six months after the money became due the policy may be' resumed by an insurer. . thus given a brief outline of Life Insurance, and passingly pointed out a few of the advantages possessed by the Government scheme,, which is now, receiving some attention in this district, it remains to say a word) or two as to the importance of the subject generally— not that much is required on this score. Life Insurance carries with it its own recommendation. It appeals to the highest and noblest instincts of our nature — to the love of the father for his offspring, of tho husband for his wife. It satisfies our shrewdness and business habits Itoo, for the amount a man invests in (insuring his life can never be turned to better account, not even if it were to bring him in cent, per cent on his investment.