FIRES AND FIRE BRIGADES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 53, 4 March 1901, Page 2

FIRES AND FIRE BRIGADES.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—Your correspondent, Thos. B. Dineen, when writing upon the above subject in your issue of March Ist, places himself in a very absurd and illogical position.

In the first place, he goes out of his way to condemn the local authorities for what he is pleased to call their supine parsimony in-not providing better appli-' ances for lire brigade purposes, and, after doing this, he winds up his loner epistle by declaring that ' the insurance companies must pay the major portion of all costs incurred in estabilsnlng and maintaining- such institutions. He says this is done elsewhere, aifd further says that it is neither just nor right that citizens who are paying heavy premiums for fire insurance should be again taxed to pay a lire brigade to protect property for the sake of insurance companies, most of which, he says, are paying- big dividends. He further declares thai two local companies bagged £120,000 last year between then?. The latter part of his letter the local j authorities entirely agree with, and so: for the last year or two they have been trying- to get the Government to pass a Bill compelling the insurance companies, the Government, and |he Ideal authorities to bear each one-third of thefcost of maintaining fire brigades. This he apparently entirely agrees with, and yet blames the authorities, who are spending from £1200 to £2000 per annum for fire

prevention, for not doing more, whilgt'tha others are spending nothing. Could any thing be more ridiculous than his position in this matter? It would be well for him, before writing again upon this or any other subject, to make his Alpha aricjl Omega to harmonise.—l am, etc., RATEPAYER