LOSSES BY FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1926, Page 12

LOSSES BY FIRE.

The attention drawn by the Minister in charge of the State Eire Insurance Office (Hon. W. Nos worthy) to the burden which the Dominion suff'ere annually by losses from fire is very timely, In 1925 property to the value of more than £1,000,009 was destroyed, while for the current year an even worse record is anticipated. In announcing the rebate to be given policy holders, in the .State Office for the current year, the Minister pointed out that the continuance of the present level of nett charges, depends upon underwriting profits. Mr. Nbsworthy's further remarks as to the true incidence of the loss caused by fire warrant serious attention. The chief inspector of fire brigades, in his annual reports to Parliament, and almost every insurance authority has insisted that much of the destruction by fire is due to carelessness, and there is little doubt that this is true. The common view that insurance covers this lose, or at least the major portion of it, is true of the individual alone. Every time property and goods are reduced to ashes, part of the total assets of the community goes up in emoke. Even if its replacement has been provided for by insurance, the process involves absorp-' tion of capital which otherwise might have been applied to an expansion of business, which would more greatty benefit the general community. If the fact that material destroyed by fire ie wholly lost were appreciated generally, public opinion ' might bo aroused in regard to the annual drain on national resources through preventable fires, a drain which in proportion to the population and wealth of the Dominion is exceedingly serious. Until the apathy which ekists is removed and the carelessness checked, there seems little hope .of arresting the work of destruction with its heavy cost, to . the nation,