Hawkes Bay Herald WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 1879. GOVERNMENT TRADING.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5417, 25 June 1879, Page 2

Hawkes Bay Herald WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 1879. GOVERNMENT TRADING.

With the . expeptioa^pf^slip^t-aigfited biit'- opinionated- p6liticians«n>.t)Jf ■■ the Barff type^ ■who'thiTik;that"'tlie J Gdverrli7^ merit ' should/.' b^blisK*. a' ; J3ta|e Bank , and, other profitable instiiiutions, and : pocketi.the profitseto aidj-theisreveiiueji jbbere are few> wW^imagitie^wlfol'-will 1 ' maintain that the "Government < should eater mt&any.brancn of .fiovamer.ee,, or-, speculation .purely;, in .opposition, to existing institutions of ; a -similar' Hype> Yet we have such an establishment projected' ancl {carried -oir l l NewS Zealand^ we 'refer* to the Government ; Life Assiirahce " t^'epartment'. J '' J There are .:an.d cogent reasonsjiwhy* the Government of any- ; conn%ryj /should adopt this ' arid Ysitnilar f nieani3 l of encouraging thrift' arid '>''' care for the futures * among-, the -, ; ; popul^ony. v and doubtless this idea was uppermost in the-i minds' 'of "those > whd' 'took.an 1 active part in the formation of the Government Life Assurance -but the rules and regulations drawn up by statisticians and red - tapists have caused the institution to have a purely commercial basis. In no particular do we find any material difference between the regulations of the Government and of private life assurance companies. The risks are calculated with 'the samp /ri|cety,^nd\e very /policy is hedged round with restrictions. These precautions are right and proper, nay necessary, in an institution' where ; shareholders have subscribed a large capital, because these piivate companies are • professedly^ established for the express purpose of returning 'profits to the shareholders. The conduct of any institution must depend on the objects of its establishment. Now, the Government Life Assurance De- . pa&meni r wll *no t^&Mshed direct profit to the State — indeed by law all profits have to be divided among 1 . tlje: jasgured. ,l,^But^ ' there 1 > ; is* something besides a direct pi-ofit — there is an indirect -profit of which the State reaps the whole benefit. Thus, 1 a man dies leaving ho~ other provision for his, family, than. a-life assurance.,. for; £500. This money would in the majority of cases enable- some business to be entered into by the widow or other survivors, and iKey are prevented, by the foresight , of jbhe^deacj. hu^b^dpr (father, from becoming paupers and / burdens on' the S|;ate,|,slt is evident ; that the State thus "gains by a dimimiiion of pauperism- -This indirect gain therefore justifies bhe State in entering- ■■ into ■ £ta/ : undertaking ' *whioh ; : could not be justified from a 1 purely commercial point of view. | -But, if it is . only this indirect Jgain ' which! justifies the establishment of a s Government Life Assurance Depart>ment, it is cjear.thatispmftthjng more J ijhan purely commercial reasons should , be' -taken into account in framing the , tables. At the present time the Government Office is the most strict of all bflices in refusing " doubtful " lives, and thus many men are prevented from making a provision for their families, ; in case of death, often become ' iaore or less dependent upon the State. Now, as the special object of the j ' Government Life Assurance is to save ,' the State' "from ipauperism; ifeisx'eMdent ' tjhat restrictions calculated to defeat ■ ttiatv object are unwise/, and,; ;in, . .fa'Cjt,j ■ unjustifiable qm economic grounds^ Iti . i£ iiot 'too much; to- say that -no "* : life '-'• should be refused, i ong : i a^th^.cia' mdi;i ndi- ; date enjoys. a fair;share of : health, /^hacL may/iin 1 th'e'niajority of ncases-be^testetl ' by 10 hisH l abJlity>'t6 f fo]low hi^ !:; t»rdinary r trade or occupation. " That the existing /Department' is' v c'Hndu'cted' 6n ; llotally '• different rule^, i^ up.de;xiable. .,^There is case, in./Kapipr^jagt? i^ month wnich affords an illustration. .An j i man - proposed to insure- -his life for. '• £500.. clHe'i was. .thoroughly, " by a doctor, who found no trace of disease 1 dr : : organic 'Weakness, and that ,he is not of a very delicate -constitution may( 4 be. inferred; from the. fact that jfrom boyhood he has <been^engaged, in : :an • employment necessitating ; ; constant labor of both, body' arid : bi'ainy 'arid a; close" attention, to jblisiriess^/y'et 'he;has! been without,. a- single week's, illness, cind almost without a holiday. Butf.it . happened tKat his father died of consuniptibn; arid this was considered "by the , Govepment red-tapists, , sufficient ' reason for the rejection of the proposal. The applicant has passed the age when consumption is likely to develop itself, without- any sign of weakness of the lungs. It is now generally .admitted by the foremost physicians of England that the, fact of the father being con- j sumptive does not afford even prima facie grounds for believing that the son lias similar tendencies. If the mother were consumptive, then the disease may be looked for in the sons ; if the father, the' 1 daughters are likely to be affected. There are exceptions to this rule, but close observation has enabled those who have studied the subject for a lifetime to come to pretty accurate. conclusions upon the matter, and their verdict ' is as stated above. Yet the Government Jbife Office in at least this one instance rejected a proposal on no better grounds than that the son was likely to die as the father did. Admitting that there was this chance, if would

not justify the absolute rejection of 'the : proposal. The case would have been met by the imposition of a he&yier j premium^,: which the 1 proposer, |yas qiiite willing cvto pa'yyjj Of\\ cdu^e i 4 would JSeiunMH to &< \MMyM td' take alLat the. same i.preniijim, butetheS contributions could be so arranged as%o^" equalise the risk. It is welllsaiowin that many of those rejected b*y 'life assurance companies 'bScaiise 1 : of a'p-' /parent delicacy, live to a " green old age," and^among a given .^number; of ,, " risky lives " „there. there would , be sure to be some of these, to afd the 1 bthers and t that th'e^^iking^f .^oula:^ prevent good lives, being assure(i)'f6r fear .that the bonuses would be reduced, this difficulty could easily. ( \be establishing two or more distinot classes of assurers, the .profits fi.*oi>.i each class beiug divided amongat class.j /There, are way's and means of „> equalising or^ minimising the risk, and thesecinearis"" .should be 'ayail^d- 'of, so that no man may' J have 'ttvo v leave his family depend dent t upon the Sfca,te , because the Stftte refused jbo allow Jutu ip^yisioii'^ for themi, .. Thßrisk oniP&chilifei.slio.ul^. be fairly assessed, but none should be >l absolutely i*eje'ctea/!: By.'" pursuing ■ the present system "tlidse" responsible for the .conduct of the Government Life,-, Assurance Department are reducing it to a mere ,. useless, ,encumbrance, whose place could" just'asSvelibe filled by a private r company. .„ , If G the, State§ underHkesi i Ahe*!'; establishment: . and! maintenance of '-'such, "an' in'stitution^it'i should be seen that the j management of the institution is justifiable pn economic grounds. -- We' &b iiot want, a -Go.vern^ nient department to enter' the' 'field merely as a competitor with private association Si --- '*■ ' ''■ £ & '-» 2&