The Thames Advertiser. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1874

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1884, 22 October 1874, Page 2

The Thames Advertiser. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1874

When it became known yesterday that the jury in the Fraser libel case had been discharged without coming to a decision there was general surprise, aud this was largely increased when it was anuounced that eight of the jurynien were in favour of an acquittal, whilst four only were in favour of a verdict for the plaintiff. Auckland juries rarely can agree, and we ought not therefore to be surprised that they should have Jailed to do so in this particular case. It is said that Captaiii Eraser intends to bring the question on again at the- next session of the Supreme Court, three months hence, and under these circumstances we refrain from commenting upon the ease.

The Government annuities scheme has been pushed very vigorously during the year, and the report presented to last session of Assembly shows a flourishing state of affairs.. It will not, however, be for some years yet that the system will be tested, as the majority of the lives which have been assured are those of young men. In this scheme, as in others, the Government have been greatly aided by the prosperous state of the colouy generally, which has enabled many to assure who otherwise would have been unable to do so. During the year, under the three classes of insurance, endowment, and annuities, 1968 proposals were received, of which 540 were declined and not completed, the amount assured being £506,910. Of this sum ,£503,260 is under the annuities class. The total amount of new premiums is £18,223 Is lOd. The claims during the year have amounted to £6,700, caused by the death ■ of 14 persons. Since the establishment' of the department 514 policies have been completed, assuring £147,850, of which 31 have discontinued through death-or maturity, 5 through surrender, while 470 have lapsed, fhis seems a large number to have lapsed. On each of these policies money has been paid, and trouble must have been taken by the persons assured in filling up the forms and passing the necessary medical examination. We are not informed how much money has been dropped by assurers ou these lapsed policies, but it must be something considerable, and we presume all goes to the benefit of the fund. The proportion, however, of premiums which are allowed to lapse is large in all assurance societies, especially in those whoso members are chiefly of the working, class, who are more careless in money matters than other classes, and who, from .change of residence within- the country, and from leaving tlw colony, cease to keep up their assurances. The same thing occurs all over the world. In the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows there are 500,000 members, and the members who allow their payments to lapse amount to 20,000 per annum. During the last session an Act was passed to enable the Government to make certain changes in the, insurance scheme, the principal :of which is a division of profits among the assured,! when ascertained by actual calculation, after the deduction of a sufficient reserve. On another point a change of considerable interest 1 to the working classes has been made, which is thus referred to in the. report of the Commissioner;— It is obvious that, in order to secure fully the beneficial objcct of Stato Insurance, its operation should be extended to the mass of th e community. Experience every day shows that' in the poorer classes, of which that mass is constituted, tho want of posthumous provision for tliQ support families is a prolifio cause of

destitution, ignorance, and crime. The aim should be to facilitate the insurance of the multitude who live from hand to mouth, and who are practically unable to lay by savings for the payment of premiums at long intervals. Iu pursuance, therefore, of that aim, it is advisable to make arrangements for enabling payments to be made, thus rendering this institution as accessible,as possible, and extending its benefits to the large majority whose adoption of it is of vast social importance, but who otherwise would not generally adopt it. Actuated by these views, I have caused a special table to be prepared, under which weekly payments will secure life insurances for sums not exceeding £200. I propose that for the present the use of this table should be confined to members of Friendly Societies,-whose co-operation will be_ invited. The rates are higher than under exi'sHng tables, in order to meet the necessarily greater expenditure incurred in the collection of weekly premiums, and the greater risk of loss frooi lapses; but the facilities of payment given to insurers will, it is expected, far outweigh, as experience has shown elsewhere, this excess. As this proposal has met with your approval, I trust that the table and the regulations accompanying it may soon come into .force. ' The; proposal, I may observe, is iu the direction pursued with unparalleled success in the United Kingdom ;by the Prudential Assurance Company in its Industrial Branch.

The Government have sent a copyof this report to the different lodges jof friendly societies, ' and -have invited their co-operation, but nothing more done. It is rather difficult to understand how the Commissioner proposes to work such a scheme with the co-operation of the frieudly societies. These societies themselves act as insurance offices to a certain extent, and a Government scheme which received weekly payments would appear to us to enter strongly into competition with friendly societies. T ; he societies "insure- against sickness, |so that they could not merely collect the money and lodge with the Government, but perhaps some arrangement could be come to by which the amount of a life insurance could be collected from the members of these societies. Another proposal is made in the report,'in respect to which' no steps have been taken, It is thus set forth ■

Another table which has been prepared, and which I have submitted to the Government; is :a' special-one for clergymen of all denominations, allowing, on the basis of statistical experience, a special reduction in the case of clerical lives; but such table is only to be used in furtherance of any arrangement which'may be made by a denominatioa for the establishment of a pension and superannuation fund for its clergymen, and of a charitable fund for their widows and orphans, It is hoped that by this means .religious bodies will be enabled;to establish such funds on a sound and satisfactory bssis. Should that result be attained, a considerable social benefit will be secured, for it is a matter of public importance that those who exclusively devote themselves to the moral welfare of others should be relieved from anxiety on the subject of temporal provision for themselves in' their old age, and for their families after their own death.

We were not aware that clergymen were exceptionally favourable lives, but if statistical experience shows that in their cases a: reduction in the premiums may safely be made, they may have the benefit of it. As to the public importance of those " who exclusively devote 'themselves to the moral welfare of others," being enabled to make provision for old age, and for their families, we have some doubts that any exclusive claims can be set up for clergymen. Ministers now-a-days are very much like other people, and if they are to be assisted to provide for their families at the cost of the rest of the community, we shall make a similar claim for newspaper editors, who also devote themselves, and more exclusively and toilsomely than clergymen, " to the moral welfare of others,'' There is a, great danger in giving exclusive benefits to particular classes, and the Government aunuity scheme will succeed the better if those who manage it abstain from making experiments.