STATE FIRE INSURANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 173, 3 August 1901, Page 2

STATE FIRE INSURANCE.

a * a Whil* we join with our contemporaries i and ethars who are denouncing the . scheme of S'ate Fire Insurance i. duoed by the Premier, says the Rangi i tikei Advocate, we cannot agree wi th - their arguments against the State i undertaking the work. Oo the con i, trary we consider it one of the fa« - things which could be done with ad- - vantage and safety by the S ate , Naturally enough all whosi crift is in , danger are oppose 1 toi 1 , but w« cani not losa sight of the faofc that insurance b is a very heavy tax on the public, and 3 that the business at present is pr&cti- - cally in the hands of atiust. Amonp the assarrions made is the old oce thai ' the State could not s'aod a very he >vy loss from firf, but the absurdity of thu , is seen when we remember th«t ) the people have to staid all th' , losje-t as it is, and tbe State > is only another name for tbe I people. It is also a'leged that 'the i margin of profit by the CJinpanits ba* i bean tmtll, and while this is open to ; contradiction, seeing that they have i bean able to build up s'rong re serves ; and declare very substantial divi- , dends, it also must be remembered i that the busin<ss is at present>cut up ' among 27 different companies, each , with its sapirite staff, its separate i lots of shareholders who expecl divi i dends, and its separate reserves ti i create. Obviously if the Snate did the work it could do it at a twentieth of ; the cost at le\st, and it would not need to create any reserves if it made the insurance universal, did not aim at piofit-makirg, and oollected the premiums by mean' of a rate, tfot would it need to provide foo mnsuraoo9 for even under present conditions the insurers hav>>, in same way or another, to make up for all the losses the compmies may sis'ain, and even if the whole of VVelling'on was obliterated by fire tbe reat of the people would have to make the loss to the companies good, for it is not te be sup posed for a m jmsnt that any company is going to carry on business f r the bent fit of the public only. As a mattei of fact the total losses of the compani's have never in any one year excluded i4OO 000, and as many millions worth of insurable properties e*is f , we balieve their premium income frou> the colony does not fall far short of anything between two and three mil •iocs. There is every argument id favou" of the S"ate doing the woik if it doss it on the universal and non-profit-making plan ; but if it attempts it on the lines of t'le Premier's Bill it will only add another burden to the people. And it may be pointed out that the rate on all insurable property in the colony, sufficient to produo*

£50,000 or £IOO,OOO mora than the highest annual losses of the companies, would be a vary light oae indeed, eon* pared with preaant payment*.