MARINE INSURANCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11335, 31 July 1897, Page 5

MARINE INSURANCE.

The reduction of railway charges within the colony and the arrangement of lower freight rates to England, which the Government has been of late so actively promoting, with a view to helping the producing interests, seem likely to he largely discounted by the cupidity of the insurance companies. Certainly these institutions have made a very good start at the work of absorbing the .producer’s saving by raising' their marine premiums by from 75 to over 100 per cent. The new rates, .which are to come into operation at once, are the result of the combined action which led recently to the fire insurance rates being largely increased. It is impossible to find any justification —none, indeed, is seriously attempted ■ by the com-panies—-for these increases, and we should have thought that in view of the strong sentiment prevailing in this and other colonies in favour of State insurance, the Underwriters’ Associations would have hesitated to invite a conflict between themselves and public opinion on the subject of rates. But, as of old, those doomed to destruction have a tendency to rush upon the fate which their sounder judgment would cause them to avoid. The unwarrantably great increase in the fire and marine insurance rates will inevitably strength en the demand for State interference for the protection of the public. There might have been some slight ground for objection to the Government entering upon a fresh business venture ao long as the insurance rates were kept at a reasonable level by. the rival companies competing with each other; but the most obstinate Conservative nowadays admits that State interference is a pressing duty when or three men at the head of a combination set aside the principle of competition upon which our commercial svstem rests, and presume to dictate to the public what price they shall pay for any commodity or service. It will he necessary, apparently, for the Government, of this colony either to legislate to restrain the insurance companies or to eater into the business of insurance itself. There is a growing feeling in.favour pf the latter step, and the increases in the marine rates will certainly emphasise the need for reform. .