THE Marlborough Express Published Every Evening. THURSDAY, JULY 8,4886. FIRES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXII, Issue 159, 8 July 1886, Page 2

THE Marlborough Express Published Every Evening. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 4886. FIRES.

REAnnns of tho newspapers mnst havi noticed of late what an astonishim crop of dcatriiotivo fires m hotels stores, and dwollinghonaes thoro hai hoen all ovor tho Colony. In a poriot of throo weeks onr telegrams havo ro corded twenly-ono fires, of which nf loss than ten woro m Auckland ane tho suburbs. Owing to tho rnlos of thr Press Association, which do not pormii small fires to bo telegraphed out by its agonfs, theso twenty-ono clo not repre sont by a largo nnmbor tho aetna ravages, of tho "devonring olomont' at tho ond of Juno and tho beginning of July. Nor aro wo m a position tr say what was tho total loss to tho la snranco Companies by theso twenty one fires, but from the moagre talo graphic partionlars wo gather that ii exceeds £14,000. In somo rare casos it is said that thp ownor's loss excood; tho insurance, but the very opposito is probably the fact m other instances, Assuming tho proporty to bo wort! the insuranco all round, it is a terrible thing to reflect that proporty wortli £14,000 has beon utterly destroyed, and as entirely unproductive as thougli the money had boon thrown into the sea. Granted that the communitj gets tho benefit of the labor employed ahd the money circulated m tho rebuilding of tho promise.**. That v something, no doubt, m theso times ol dopression, but tho benefit is merely momentary, and is as really injurious to the Colony m tho lontr run a<* thr rcc >il which inevitably follows extravagant expenditure of borrowed mwy m Public Works. Nor must the lo.is to the Insuranoe C unpanios be forgotten. That loss mnst be met one way or tho other. Either the shareholders must lose their dividends, or decrease thoir reserve funds ; or rise tho companies must snbjoct tho public to a higher tariff and moro onerous conditions. Wo all know that the latter plan is exactly what thp Companies find it nocosaary to pursue Thoy mako tho tradespeople who take go:d caro of their buildings pay for thoso who oither tako no cvro of thoir property, or olso deliberately bu n it down for the s-iko of tho insuranco monej'. It is a mockery of torms to describo many of tho fires that cluster round ovory qnarter day as '' accidental." As woll "describe the : death of a man who deliberately commits suicide as "tho visitation e>f Crod." Arson prevails m tho Colony to a terrible degree. Evwyb.idy knows it, and no one knows how to stop it. Tho mnilm operandi too frequently baffles the ac*itest detective, and juries aro only too ready to give prisoners tho benefit of the tiniest modicum of unreasonable doubh Insurance Companies m their keen competition to do businoss overload buildings with insurance, and effect policies upon goods without ascertaining if they aro roally on the premisos. Tradesmen givo reckless credit to a person, well knowing that if his place is burnt down all debts will bs paid out of the insuranco money. A suspicious firo occurs-— aad nine out of ten fires are suspicious— tbe police mako enquiries, an inquest ia held too long aftir the occurrence to bo of the least nse, tke jury return an "open verdict." the company pays ovor the money, and tho whole thing is a ridiculous farce. So long r,s fire insurance ig m thc hands of privato companies and not, aa it should b.*, of the Municipalities or tho State, the system will bo enveloped m an atmosphere of fraud ; and, so long as business competition and undue credit run hand m haud m time.** of expression, such fraud will bo undUcovorable. All the same, however, tho shocking prevalence of fires— with tho occasional sacrifice of human boing;*, and tho invariable clangor to human lifo— is a blot upon our modorn Bocioty, and ho would bo a wise and prudent statesman who could dnviao somo moan 3of doalin» with it.