The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1910. CONFIDENCES ABUSED.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 772, 22 March 1910, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1910. CONFIDENCES ABUSED.

At a. meeting of the Taranaki Provincial- Executive of the Pamirs' Union last week an important iiscussion took place upon some renarkablo letters that have been isiued to farmers by the State Fire tnsurance Department. We reprint ;n another column the Eawera Star's report of the meeting, and, we feel sure ; that those who read it will be properly indignant at the principles ;hafc govern tho administration of some of the public Departments.'ln ihe letter ;rcad at the meeting the nanager of the Taranaki branch of ihe State Fire Insurance Department informed Mr. Maxwell, who initiated the discussion in, a speech af great clearness and force, that he bad been, "advised" that the insurance on Mr. Maxwell's buildings mortgaged to the Advances to' Settlers Office fell due on , March 31. Ihe letter went on to say that it was the desire of the Superintendent that ill insurances on.property mortgaged to the Advances to Settlers Dflice should be effected with the State : Fire Insurance Department. Mil.' Maxwell was accordingly asked to fill in an accompanying form of proposal for insurance '"in lieu of the Farmers' Mutual policy," the sxisting insurance having been effected with that concern. He was told that it was "imperative" that tie should cover before March 28,' and the letter concluded with an expression of opinion that "it is reasonable to ask those, settlers who areDnjoying tho. benefits , , of-; the . cheap money scheme conferred by the State, to place their insurances with : the Government Fire Insurance Department." .Although we do not admit svery word and comma of Mr. Maxwell's very strong.speech upon this improper proceeding,, yet we associate ourselves with the general, drift of his contentions. His main objection to the Fire Department's action was an objection to the misuse of confidential information supplied to another Department, in order to attack the business, of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Association. His objection is. valid, but the Association's interests are of less moment than, the interests of the community as a whole, which 'are really very deeply involved in the affair. ■ .' Let us therefore first dispose briefly of the matter so far as the Association is concerned. Being established, the State Fire Insurance Department should use every legitimate method of getting good and profitable business, It should display all the enterprise of a soundly managed and honourable private insurance company, but no more. It should not, for instance, resort_ to the illegitimate method of. so cutting rates as to be run at a loss and at a cost to the general taxpayer. And it should least of all use confidential information that it has not legitimately acquired as part of its business. The information supplied to the Advances to Settlers Department is not such permissible information at all. Now,.as to the- broader issue involved. The multiplication of the State's Junctions and the growth of bureaucracy and paternalism have vitiated the' public's understanding of the fundamental principles _ of government, but we do not think that anybody can learn without being shocked that the confidential information obtained under the law by State Departments is available for use by the trading Departments of the State. Many people may feel inclined to think that "the Government is the Government," that the Departments are simply branches of one big concern, and that therefore what the Advances to Settlers Department learns in the course of its business is learned also by the,, State Fire Insurance Department, the Tourist Department, the Telegraph Office, and all the other Departments of State. But even the dullest person will perceive the fallacy in this view when he reads Mr. Maxwell's argument from analogy. "If you were doing business with a lawyor," he said, "and borrowing money from him, and he acted in a -similar manner, you would certainly have nothing to do with him in the future: he wuuld be absolutely, disgraced and discredited as a business man. We have always assumed, , ' Mr. Maxwell continued, "that we would get at least the same protection from Government Departments that we get from- private professional or business people. But here we have complete proof that they are not guided by business integrity, decency, or morality." We incline to believe, _ and we should greatly like to believe absolutely, that the readiness of some of the Departments to act in a manner contrary to "business integrity, decency, and-morality" proceeds from the inability of the Government properly to grasp the principles _ that should govern the administration of the Departments. In the case under notice, however, there are evidences of guile that discount any theory of ingenuous error. There is no compulsion upon a person who mortgages his property to the Advances to Settlers Department to insure that property in the State Insurance Office but that office's letters to the

| farmers, as is clear from the discussion that followed MB. Maxwell's speech, wero cunningly framed to convey the impression that that compulsion did exist. The whole affair makes a striking footnote to the Peimk Minister s virtuous speeches upon the sanctity of confidential information when tho trouble in the Income Tax Department was under discussion last session. The rule that should govern the administration of the Departments was quite correctly indicated by Mr. Maxwell: "What right has the State Fire Office to tell us what the Superintendent of the Advances to Settlers Office wishes? What connection is there? . What connection ought there to be ? None." When the Government holds such extraordinary views ol its duty in respect of the confidential information that it is in a position to obtain, who can any longer feel confident respecting the sanctity of the information supplied to the Public Trustee's Office, the Land and Income Tax Department, or even the Telegraph Office? If the Insurance Department can obtain private information from the Advances to Settlers Office, it is reasonable to assume that it can obtain private information from tho Telegraph Office, the information obtained by which is in no way more sacredly confidential than that obtained by any other Department of the State. If it wishes to reassure and soothe the public, the Government will be well advised to show that it has realised that it has been taking'a wrong view of its duty. V