The Dunstan Times. CLYDE : FRIDAY, DEC 18, 1896.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1802, 18 December 1896, Page 4

The Dunstan Times. CLYDE : FRIDAY, DEC 18, 1896.

j One of the Bills supposed to have been before the country in the recent elections ; government was the G.overn--1 firs insurance, ment Fire Insurance Bill, but it was one which was in fact hardly disturbed, during the campaign, irom its dust-covered position on the shell We do not, in fact, remember having heard it referred -to by either of the Tuapeka candidates. We take it for granted, however,, that Mr Larnach is against it fur he has too much business capacity and common sense to approve of the Government undertaking such, a scheme, and as a director of the National ’lnsurance Company he is not likely to support the crude measure which was laid before the House last session. This extraordinary measure was .introduced by the lion. R, Seddon and provides lor the establishment of a Government Fire Insurance Department. To enable this to bo carried out, authority is given for “ raising” (borrowing, we presume) £.250,000 ; and in ease this ( small sum should prove insufficient the manager may requisition the Colonial Treasurer for more. Now, if the Government were simply going to plunge into, the vortex of insurance, to fight the other companies by fair means, L cutting rates and accepting risks at the minimum of premiums, it would probably be apparent ic any one that their proposals could only end in disaster. The ordinary companies are not earning very large dividends. Some "hardly pay Some pay fairly well, ' but do so chiefly with the help of income from paid-up capital, invested in.mortgage securities. The National Company, for example, has £125,000 cash invested on mortgage, bringing in _ interest. Some insurance companies again have never- paid, and the hard fate of those who, thinking insurance to be a mine oi wealth, took shares in the ill-fated Equitable Insurance Company of New ’ Zea and, must be fresh in the minds of many.. In order, therefore, to give the Government scheme some special advantages over the othei companies, the compulsory insurance clauses are introduced. By these it is provided that any local body (county : or borough) may adopt the compulsory, scheme, it approved by the ratepayers by a plebiscite taken in the same manner as a vote under “ Thu;‘ : Local Bodies Loans Act.” If be carried, an insurance roll will be prepared, and thereafter every building in ‘the district (except those deemed •too specially hazardous) —(1) muse Reinsured, and (2) must be insured in the Government office. Whether any district would ■be found to carry such a proposal, we do not know, but if carried and put into effect, the result, we feel sure, would be the groat loss of the department and of the State, Of course, all other offices wnuld leave. They would not stay to pick up what the Government office refused. The risks then left on the Government shoulders would be enormous, and not being spread out, separated, or re-insured, the strain would be far too great for the soundest office to endure. Sooner or later the country would have to face ua enormous loss. Even with the distribution of risks which takes place under the present system, the losses arising from one large con-, flagration are sometimes enormous. For instance, in the Chicago fire one office lost L6OO 000. If any office held all the blocks in all the towns, and all the risks in every block, we should be sorry to hold shares in such a risky concern. Yet that Is what this Bill would bring our colopy to so far as JNew Zealand is concerned. We trust the Bill, if again introduced on lines like last year, will meet with a short shrift. To introduce such a system in our present not too lucrative circumstances would probably mean ruin. As the chairman of directors of the National Insurance puts it, the object of the Bill should be stated to p e To add another huge department to the already un- 1 wieldy civil service of the Colony, and to increase the taxation of The inhabitants thereof.”

The departure of Mr George Fache from the Dimstan district is an event calling for MR fache. special mention in our columns For years Mr Fache was owner and editor oi; the Dunstan Times, and as such he was known and lespected all over the Otago Goldfields. Coming to Clyde in the early sixties as a. prospector, he saw the famous Dunstan rush, which opened Central Otago. to the outside world,. The.Dunstan Times was founded in 1862, and was at. first printed in a tent, which stood in what is now known as Coquet street, facing the river. Mr Fache acquired the paper and carried it on until 1892, when he leased it to Mr Pyke and in 1894 he finally severed his connection with the paper., As one of the gallant pioneers of the district, as a true representative of the noble band of colonists who helped to open New Zealand, and as one who had always a kind and cheery word for a friend, and a willing hand to help every deserving public object, we respect and honor Mr Fache, and wish him all success wherever he may be.