FIRE.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1547, 13 February 1861, Page 5

FIRE.

[From the "Auckland Weekly Regiiter,’’ Feb. 11.1 'there is no object of deeper solicitude to a prudent and thoughtful community than the prevention of fire, and the prompt and most effectual means of extinction when fjhat dreaded element breaks out in the streets and lanes of thickly inhabited towns and cities; That object has long and anxiously engaged the attention of the householders and residents of Auckland—various ways and means have been set on fpot—arrangements formed—Are engines purchased—engine houses constructed —subscriptions for their maintenance in good order and repair re-ceived-fire brigades formed and organised—and all this mainly through the energy and liberality of an earnest and indefutagiblo section of the citizens. These efforts, so far as they could go, have been of the most praiseworthy character, but it must be abundantly evident, to every one who will only consider the subject, that Auckland cannot continue to be protected from fire by means of unlimited Voluntary subscriptions, nor yet by a Voluntary Fire, Brigade whose invaluable exertions are curbed and controlled by the, absence of any legal enactment which the majority of their representatives in tlie Provincial Council have on four different occasions refused to listen to. It was otherwise when an Auckland City Council existed. That body whoso interests lay in the City, exerted themselves nobly for the protection of the City notwithstanding all the difficulties and opposition against which they had to contend, and we cannot but regret their arbitrary suppression, were it only for the precautionary laws they enacted in reference to fires. On Wednesday last, Dr. Pollen in Committee of the Provincial Council, moved that the third clause of the City Fire Bill, which had been proceeded with so far, stand part of the bill. To tins Mr. Reynolds moved an amendment that Chairman report progress and ask leave to sit again that day six months. This amendment was carried on a division by thirteen against < eight, and consequently any precautionary | legislatisn to, protect the City against fire was i scouted by our Provincial Councillors. This is really a perilous and most unaccountable determination on the part of the representatives of the Province—we say emphatically of the Province in contradistinction to the City, for if we turn to the thirteen objecting voters, we j shall find nine of the number either residents in i the suburbs or in remote country districts ; whilst | of the eight voters for a fire protective bill four of the number were city residents deeply interest- I ed in obtaining protection as well for their fel- 1 low citizens as for themselves. f And what tire the clauses of this proposed J fc'ire Bill that it should have been so hotly assailed and so summarily rejected? The first t clause empowers the levying of a rate on each [ house, which we are given to understand would a require to Lave been a very moderate one, pro- a bably some 2s. fid. per annum. By this rate all s would have had to contribute their fair proper- 1 tion : the public safety would have been placed « on a sure and permanant footing, instead of de- 1 pending upon the uncertain resources of Voluntary subscriptions and Voluntary Fire Brigades, however active and energetic. A City qFire * 6rigadej Still composed of Volunteers, but pro- t pedy and efficiently equipped by means of the c binds provided by a fire rate would have been formed, trained, and disciplined. The too pre- u valent and perilous occurence of chimnies on fire b would have been guarded against, and one dan- tl gerous source of conflagration in a considerable c degree suppressed. *>l Authority would have been vosted > in proper c hands, empowering the pulling down of any 8 neighbouring house to prevent the spreading of a fire, compensation for such loss being made pa}’able from the public funds of the Province. As ( j the mat,ter now stands—with no law for a pro- t! tector or guide, who will incur the risk of pull- c , ing down or removing any dwelling, even if by so p $?i n S a w fi°l° street were to be saved? u . ■JvUh a fire bill in operation, we should speedily « have had water tanks constructed in commanding a situations, where such reservoirs would have been b of the utmost moment and always readily available. No city has more to apprehend from fire u than Auckland—and no Provincial representatives 1 could have rendered more true and loyal service to Auckland than by the enactment of a careful b and moderate fire bill.. Granted that rates of all g sorts are very distasteful. Is not however a trifling rate much better than running the risk of c facing a sudden and it may be a wide spread and i sweeping conflagration without any of the organ- r ized means to arrest its progress and check its 1 career. We have had such frightful visitations « in the dead and dreary hours of the night. We t have seen and admired the herculean exertions of those who slaved to preserve what appeared to € be our doomed streets and alleys. Is it certain 1 that such devoted exertions will always be crowned with success ? And even supposing it to be so, ought uot the hands of such brave and loyal men to be strengthened by every means and appliance that Law can confer—not impaired and destroyed by a resolution of a Councillor, who according to his own statement has not a shilling to lose, being merely a Lodger , and by the confederated votes of others whose lives and properties are remote from the heart of a wooden and inflammable City. Were destruction to light upon t Auckland, even those men would be made indirectly to suffer by the City’s lossIt has been alleged to be the business of the Fire Insurance Companies to see to the safety of the City. We have little doubt that the Insurance Companies will be perfectly willing to do so; but it will only be “ for a consideration,” and that an enhancement of premium, which is already so exorbitantly high as to he an actual rental cut out of every man’s income. In these premiums, we already pay a fire rate of consuming amount. Fire Laws and Fire Organization could not fail to cut down those premiums to a j rational rate. Jn Great Britain, where protection against fire is a practical fact, the average rate of insurance is 3s 6d per cent, and the ComI tunics coin money at that rate. Here, in Auckand, where there is no legal protection against fire, the rate of insurance ranges between 30s. •and oOs. per cent, and a very large share of the money so paid leaves the Colony annually never to return. Ought we not to stir ourselves to cut ■down such heavy indirect fire rates, and ought not the Provincial mis-representatives be made to know that the City of Auckland must and will obtain a Law to protect its inhabitants, as far as human ability and foresight can, against the ruinous consequences of fire.