GOVERNMENT LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1141, 31 May 1911, Page 9

GOVERNMENT LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT.

Sir, —As 'one of many, similar policyholders in this Department , ; 1 desire to know why the legal work of this Department cannot ba done either by a permanent solicitor on its stalf or by ;he Oown Law Office: Under the present system oi management, tho perusal ci all mortgages is done by one outside solicitor at the cost of the Departmeut, irreBpsctiveot' what solicitor prepares the same, 'ine rule of law accepted by all lending institutions is that the mortgagor pays All thn mortgagee's costs. Tnis Department sets aside this rule, and pays the costs out of the funds of the uolicsholdcru—of course, it is quite easy to be generous with thr> funds, of the policy-' Jioiders, who wonder wb.v their bonuses are so small as compared with other life offices.

Tho general advising is done by another firm. This lat:er work' is heavy under the present system. The smallest point that a policy of timidity can magnify is referred to this latter .firm, an 3 of course, paid for by. the policy-holders in general. On the smallest pretence tho matter is made one. for a Court argument, and so unnecessary was one recent cess—Greenaway, ...V-nknipt, .heard on November 8, 1910-t\atrthe Court declined to allow tlve Depr ,-tihent its. costs. It is only .where, a.trustee of a . fund has brought frivol'as .and unnecessary proceedings that a Court goes to the extreme length of refusing costs, and this notion, of th; Court was a judicial snub to the practice of trying to make costs at tho expense •of the" policy-holders. With a Government officer doing the legal work he would have no incentive to bring unnecessary proceedings, and his charges would bo moderate.

Tho Government' Departments (other than the Public Trust Office) all employ the Crown Law Office. Thq Advances to Settlers Office, which occupies as regards the Consolidated Fund an analogous position to tho Government life Department, employs its own solicitor for ordinary mutters and Crown Law Office for heavier ■work. The Public: Trust Office gives its clients the benefit of n legal department which does the whole legal work of that Department, whether in tho nature of advisinsr. Court work, or conveyancing generally. This latter firm formerly held nn annual retainer from its Public Trust Office, and did much of its work. What was the result? In the session of 1905 nn acrimonious debate tool; place in the ITousn as to thp charges made by this firm in connection with local bodies' loans, especially in connection with the I'etone Borough and Mastcrton Borou?h. The mutter was brought before the House by Mr. A. W, floss. This continued for some years, until, it is common knowledge in the city, the appointment of a' new Public Trustee and a new solicitor, when the Public Trustee had backbone to discontinue its whole practice. The retainer was discontinued, and the whole of file lepil work done bv a proper! yeriuippcd solicitor's department in the °ff\ce itself, It is geuerallv accepted in

tho city that the departure has been a complete success, and no more complain)*, hiive arissn as to charges. The coming session will be. free from any largo business, and advantage i.i Roinp to bo taken by certain of tho policyholders to have the affairs of the Department overhauled from top to bottom, when the subject matter of this letter will bo thoroughly gone into. I, a policyholder of many years standing, have a number of policy-holders who desire nn inquiry into the* working of tho Department and its poor results. In order to form a strong fighting committee to demand an inquiry into the workings and ramifications of tho Department, if necessary by a Royal Commission, the names of other similar minded policy-holders arc asked to be forwarded 'o fiir. Dominion offic*. The services of certnin Reform members have been enlisted, and the Department, will next session get its long-desired ventilation in public. The practice of conducting its legal work and other matters will receivo attention. The practice of rushing tho Estimates through will not avail this year.—l am, etc.,

A DISGUSTED POLICY-HOLDER OF MANY YEARS STANDING. May 22, 1911.

HOME RULE. Sir,—Mr. Milligan's letter on the above subject in this morning's issue ot The Dominion is before me, and I must say it is no improvement oii his former effusions. Ho distorts my. remarks to suit his oiFii views. He quotes statistics to show that somebody blundered. Yes, "somebody blundered, volleyed, and thundered," but not "R.D." He also quotes an authority whose name he suppressed in the first instance, leaving his readers to suppose his remarks purely his own! Now, what are we to think of him, even though he does not write over a nom-de-plnme, but trots out his own signature? If he only knew the value I place on statistics in relation to religion and nationality, he would not be likely to quote them again for my information or that of tho readers of The Dominion.

In speaking of the numerical strength of the Irish in America, I never mentioned the name Catholic, nor Roman Catko : lie, if you like, as I wish to dissociate religion from politics. Mr. Milligan sets down the Roman Catholics of America at twelve millions! Not a trifling number at all; but that is beside the question. My reference was to the Irish and their descendants —knowing very well that there nre millions of good arid true Irishmen in that country who are not Catholics, but who love their country and the land of their fathers and "forefathers, and would ,bc ready to die for her if the necessity arose. If the question of religion had entered my mind at the time, taking into consideration the Catholic population, of the United States, Canada, and South America, I might have safely enumerated them at least fifty millions instead of twenty-five millions! As to Mr. Milligan's authority, with his high-sounding title, we may take his statements for what they are worth. Is it not a fact that at the time in question the great tribune, Daniel O'Connell, arose in his placo in the House of Commons, when the matter was under discussion, and pledged himself to go over to Ireland and raise a quarter of a million of Roman Catholics in the defence of the Queen should any attempt be made to place the Duke of Cumberland on the English Throne? So much for the Boyne nnd incident connected with it.

Mr. Milligan winds up his latest epistle with whnt he considers an appropriate doggerel as applied to the Nationalists. May I be allowed to quote in contrast:— "Let each man learn, to know himself,

To gain that knowledge let him labour, Improve those failings in himself— Which he condemns so in his neighbour!" I am, etc., " E.D. Wellington, May 22, 1011.