The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 981, 11 June 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1879.

StoAßt*fat a week passes# over our heads without the occurrence of some sudden or violent death. Some breadwinner, toiling hard to win an independence for himself anil his little ones, is struck clown by the ruthless hand of that grim tyrant who spares neither young nor old, neither gentle nor simple. Cut off, perchance, at the moment when lie was beginning to spy " land at last," ho was unable to leave to his family the wherewithal to feed, clothe, and educate them. Had he been spared, in all likelihood the case would have been different, for in a land like ours industry and sobriety rarely fait to surround the man who brings them int«> ptay with the solid comforts of this life. ;The question then arises, How is a man I to make that certain provision which will ; leave his memory beyond reproach, satisfy the still, smalt voice of his eonscience, and save, perhaps, his boys and girts from the gutter and the gallows} The answer is " as ready as a borrower's cup " —By insuring his life. This is without doubt the short and certain war. No Script tire ever carried more solid convict ion in its terms than that wherein it is said, " It is appointed unto every man once to die." Than the fact that alt must die nothing can be more sure, than the moment of death nothing loss certain. Flow woefully negligent, then, how wickedly reckless are those who, white admitting the benefit of a life policy, yet defer securing one, and let "To-morrow, and to-morroW, aud to-morrow, creep on its petty pace from day to day." To the right thinking man the existence ok such a ctass would almost appear mythical. Exist, however, it does. One of its most common " outward and visible signs is the constant circulation of subscription lists in behalf of the widows and orphans of men who were able enough to attord the payment of a premium for a policy of reasonable amount, and who were in many cases bringing up their families in comfort and eren luxury, ft is then that the conviction of the necessity ot life insurance ripens into absolute certainty, continents upon the folly of neglecting such a plain duty are freely made, and the resolve to lose no more time in effecting a policy is come to. Alas I ho wever, for the stability of good intentions. Unless an agent should at that very moment present himself, the chances are that the good intention witt only go to add another square to that pavement which is said to- be composed of them. It is- this spirit of procrastination that we earnestly desire to combat. We are of opinion that few save the most abandoned will be found to deny the obligation that is laid upon theni to insure. \et we see ■ that insurance is by no means so general its it shoutd be. That such a state of things should exist in New Zealand, where the State provides insurance on easier terms than are obtainable in any other country in the world, is a disgrace at once to our hearts and our heads. In the ranks of the great army of the insured are to be found not only the reckless and improvident, but the tender husband and loving father, who never ceases carefully to watch over the welfare of his family, and who allows " neither sleep to his eyes nor slumber to hts eye-lids" if he can at all further their prospects or better their position in life. In spite of all this he neglects to take that one precaution which would have crowned his efforts with absolute certainty, but without which he has toiled in vain. He forget 3, I or can scarcely bring himself to believe, that their future happiness and well-being | hang upon the single thread of one life, and that life his. What can be more brittle than that? What can be easier than effecting a policy, and thereby : transforming reckless risk to certain safety I After the death of such a man how crashing is reverse of fortune, how deeply the iron pierces the soul of his family. Perchance, hopelessly plunged in immediate want, they cannot but »es! in every fibre the rapid transition front ease and comfort t» poverty, with its consentient fait in the social scale. Those who have been reared in adverse circumstances, and forced trom earliest youth to contend with a " sea of trouble?,' :»re in much better case than those we i depict as falling frovi a high estate. ; Kinder then would it have b«en never to have petted them, never to have let them I know what luxury or comfort meant, than, having known them, to east them upon the tender mercies of a hard world, alt unprepared for its scoffs and sneers, and bearing about with them the feeling of what might have been their lot had only reasonable care been exercised, For a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things. In this matter the paths of duty and prudence are one, and nothing can he more to the point,{or more plainly inculcate the doty of insurance, than the text

which runs thus—" He that provideth not for his own and especially those of his own household, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Not only do Scripture and human reason combine to impress this solemn duty upon all of U3, but besides tliis the possession of a policy meai.-i the possession of a profitable investment, and one which grows daily more and more lucrative as it grows older. A policy is, besides, an excellent collateral security for business advances, and policies are constantly made use of for this purpose. <)i these advantages we do not here intend t>> speak. Our object is to impress upon the great army of the uninsured the necessity of insuring, and that right early. We close with a gem from the prince of Iy rical poets — To make a happy fireside clime For weans an* wife, Tliat's the true pathos and sublime 0' human life.