The Hawera Star. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1926. INSURANCE RATES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 11 August 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1926. INSURANCE RATES.

Delivered ©very evening by 5 o’clock In Hawera. Manaia, Norman by, Okaiawa, Eltham, Manffttokl, Kaponga, Alton, Harleyville, Patea. Waveriey, Elokoia, Whakamara, Ohangal, Mere n*?re. Fraser Road and Ararat*.

Not only the wishes of citizens, but also good, hard facts, are behind the Hawera • Chamber of Commerce in its effort to secure a favourable review of insurance rates in the borough area. Insurance is costly in proportion as the risk is great—or, at least, that is the normal condition. That it does not always apply is apparent from a comparison between Hawera and some of the towns where, premiums are lower, although the fire risk is at all events no greater. Insurance is a business —a very profitable business sometimes, we are told; but nevertheless a business that renders a valued 1 service to the community. No fair-minded' person, therefore, will begrudge the shareholders in insurance companies a just return on their money. But that is not the point in dispute. No matter how invaluable a service may be to all parties availing themselves of it, common fairness demands —and usually competition ensures —that the charge shall be in conformity with the cost. That- is to say, if a man digs A/s garden in 19 hours and! B’s in 29 hours, B will normally be charged twice as mu eh as A. Insurance is considerably more involved than digging, but the basic principle , remains unaltered. Premiums ar,e charged to cover the risk taken by the insurance company; and if X’s risk is double Y’s, then the rate of Y’s premium should be approximately half X’s. -What constitutes fire risk? Outside of the chance or carelessness that is supposedly responsible for all outbreaks., risk is governed by the possibility of damage. That is why insurance rates are higher for wooden than for concrete houses, and for towns without water supply. As the chances of overcoming a fire and of checking its spread increase, therefore, risk i 9 reducedI—also, 1 —also, one would expect, premium rates. It is possibly by chance only—but more probably a compliment to the cave and watchfulness of residents —that Hawera has experienced remarkably few fires in recent, years. But if a fire did “break” its subjugation would not depend on chance. The restricted! area of the borough, its flatness, the efficient alarm system, the three-fold supply of water in the business area —from: ordinary main, baths and l tower —the up-to-date engine andj equipment and, most of all, the quality of the brigade, supply convincing evidence of the attack which can be brought to bear on any fire at the. shortest possible notice. The duplex street alarm system positively cannot fail, its special advantage being that the necessary electric contact is still made should a wire be broken, while the break itself is. announced at the station and calls in-

sistently for repair. Within five minutes of the .alarm being given, the brigade can be on the farthest outskiits of the borough area, and the new fireengine is capable of drawing on “dead” water and playing it. on a fire at considerably, more than, one '‘hundred pounds’ pressure. The Bor'ough Council’s latest improvement, "which makes the entire contents of the 'municipal baths available in High St. (for fire-fighting purposes) from east 'of Collins St. and as far as Victoria St. ’—and down side streets between added to the auxiliary tower supply, which, may be tapped from a special main in High Street, means that three separate jets can be played on a fire in the business area, and all at full pressure. And; the main business blocks arc- so broken by mnssi\ e construction in the, shape of solid concrete walls that they are divided, as it were, into a number of ‘ ‘fire-tight compartments. Finally, the .proved efficiency of the brigade, as the unchallenged .premier volunteer organisation in New Zealand, guarantees that the hydraulic and mechanical equipment would be, smartly and systematically brought into operation should the need arise. In face of this array of facts, it is unreasonable to contend that Hawera’s fire risk is greater than that of New Plymouth, or no less than that of some other towns at present on the same rating. We heartily support the Chamber of Commerce; in its endeavour to secure an advance in tho classification of the borough, and, as there has been no review since the provision of most of tho latest fire-fighting appliances, we cannot see how the request can be refused.