THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1901.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 117, 19 October 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1901.

CUBING the last half a dozen years, the , Government have agitated in favour of introducing state or a municipal fire insurance, and nearly as many Bills have been framed, laid on the table of the House, read a first time, and then dropped. The Bill of 1901 following in the make of its predecessors, by being placed with the “ slaughtered innocents” on Wednesday last. In the chairman of the South British Company’s annual address on the 9tb inst he referred to the evil done by the last ..BUI'S introduction, via.—the announcement i -■

of the bill caus«U.“a u»up m one week iu the tfalue of insurance stocks of no less than £90,000. It is true, values have recovered, and to the cool and sensible, and wealthy shareholder, it has not mattered, but to the poor, nervous shareholder, perhaps a poor woman, and to any whose necessities at the time of fluctuation made it necessary to sell, it has mattered a great deal, and has inflicted a loss that ought not to have besn forced upon them.” This yery example seems to point to a different course being taken in the fatnre. Now looking seriously at the past experiences, is there anything to justify more of such agitations? The government of New Zealand in. 182 was badly in want of money, Mr Julius Vogel saw that if they could Induce settlers to purchase

annuities and deferred endowments —money would be paid in to the treasury, and on which no interest would have to be paid for many years, and advised the state doing this and life assurance business, mentioning also that no injustice could be complained of to any vested interests, as then no such offices existed in the colony. This was repeated in 1870, when Mr Vogel as Colonial Treasurer in bis financial statement said he anticipated that future treasurers would be much benefited thereby. How Changed are times since then. Now no respect is to be shown to our old established fire insurance offices, which have managed to pull through many adverse years of underwriting in the colony, simply, it seems, by extending their business more and more outside, so as to secure a lighter average of losses. A State department would not have this’ advantage, for its business would, be restricted to New Zealand. Iu the early days of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department, it was said that it would work at very much less expensive rates than would be possible elsewhere., The Hon. Mr Seddon, at Fielding, on June Ist, 1898, advocated State Fire Insurance,' and an ' Accident Insurance 'Branch, saying that the latter would reduce by half the private offices’ premium rates. The Accident Branch bus been in existence since June 7th,

but instead of reducing rates, complaints were wa Je ■ later through the columns of the Press that the Government were charging rates in excess of- those of the private offices. Of course, looking at it in.a rational maimer, no other result could be expected. But such being a fact, how little reliance can be placed in a boasted reduction of lire insurance rates. The same result would follow. The premiums for life assurance of 1870 were advanced in 1877, again in 1885 and 1900. Industrial life assurance was twice started by the Government, and after spending. 66 per cent, of premiums in expanses, had to be closed. With these examples why should more agitation bo started ? In the early days of the life office other branches of the Civil Service had to be levied upon to help it. No postage, telegrams, etc., were charged for many years, and then not to give equal results to private offices does not speak much in favour of such enterprises. In 1895 Invercargill was much agitated by the private offices increasing rates for fire insurance. The Hon. Mr Ward paid a special visit to urge the establishment of municipal or State fire insurance, The Southland Times of December 6th thus wrote :—“ Sava us, we say, from another army of highly-paid officials, occupying another suite of expensive rooms in Wellington

and swathing in fresh folds bf red tape a suffering public. It is simply appalling to the economic mind.” The Australasian Insurance and Banking Record then called attention to the fact ‘*that the proposals made in the colony of New Zealand and at Ballarat, in Victoria, for the municipalities or the Government to establish State fire insurance are by no means original, for several attempts have been made in England and America, but in every instance, we believe, have resulted in failure.” The Coast Review, San Francisco, March, IS9&—a highclass insurance journal— wrote in regard to this Invercargill project “ If the municipal league scheme is undertaken we confidently predict its failure and the embarrassment of claimants. The cost of insurance will probably increase, for any possible saving of expense will be more than equalled by increase of fire losses. Municipal imoranoo will- - p*

mote inoendlariam aad excessive damage clfeims. The claimant ■with a political poll will he able to Obtain * extravagantly ’liberal settlements, andmanjr iticendiary fire» will, by official connivance, remain undetected. Municipal insurance will seriously affect the business naan’sxsrodit, because his indemnity in case of fiieisnot first-class. Conflagrations will wipe out reserve funds, and delay 4he payment of losses until the slow machinery of the municipal league or the State can raise the money by special Acts or by tlu creation df new reserve funds This, is -the scheme of m p n who cannot see why fire insurance should not be administered at as email a cost as life insurance, and who profess to be surprised and indignant because the companies appear to be worked in the interests of themselves and not of the people. Perhaps the municipal fire insurance experiment ■will- be tried somewhere some day in obedience to fhe clamour of'foolish men, urged on by designing 'politicians. We do not know any other place than New Zealand where we should prefer to see the experiment ?tried. Our peaple will learn a wholesome lesson at the expense of New Zealanders.” Farther comment is needless.