SPIRITS of the PRESS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 691, 29 May 1885, Page 17

SPIRITS of the PRESS.

It may at first sight appear somewhat strange that the Central Board of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Association should have furnished a report for the year ended the 31st December, 1881, seeing that the Association itself did not come into existence until the Ist January of the present year. An inspection of the Act shows, however, that the course pursued was perfectly in order, and, indeed, that no other course was open to the Directors. The old Department ceased 1 to exist, and simultaneously the business was taken up by the Association, and to the Board of the latter body was assigned the duty of furnishing the report relating to the last annual period during which the former body was in existence. The matter in itself is really not of the smallest practical importance, and we should not have alluded to it, but that the furnishing of this report has been made a special ground of attack on the Association. What the public is interested in knowing is the condition of the business, and the information on that point is eminently satisfactory. With the exception of some of the tables, we published the report in full last week, and shall now refer only to one paragraph relating to the business, namely, that under the heading “ Accumulated Funds.” The Directors express the belief that the rapid increase of the accumulations is without parallel in the history of any life office in the British dominions. Whether that be or not, the increase is certainly very remarkable. On the 30th June, 1875, the accumulations amounted to £109,967 12s Id, and in every subsequent year there has been a considerable augmentation of the fund. In some years the increase has been greater than in others, but, on the whole, the rise has been pretty regular, and on the 31st December, 1884, the accumulations amounted to £972,775 14s Bd. A note to the paragraph states that at the date of the report (May 19th, 1885,) “the Accumulated Fund at the credit of the Association exceeds one million sterling.” It is a noteworthy fact that the claims through death have been considerably within the expectation of mortality upon which the tables are based. Whatever may be the opinion with regard to the advisability of the State having anything to do with insurance business, there can be no doubt that iu New Zealand the venture has been financially a very great success, and there seems good reason for hoping that under the new management insurance in the Government office will become more popular than ever. In expressing that opinion we do not intend any reflection on the manner in which the affairs of the old Department were conducted. But the insuring public wished to have a share in the management, and, as the desired change has been carried out, it may be expected to operate in the direction of attracting a far larger amount of business. From time to time ridicule and censure have been cast on the Department because it adopted methods freely used by other insurance organisations, but which methods the critics considered altogether beneath the dignity of an institution in close connection with the Government. That connection still exists in full force, though the Department has disappeared and the Association occupies its place. If canvassing and bidding keenly for business ought to have been beneath the dignity of the old management, they will be equally out of place with the new. But the question is—Can they be dispensed with in view of the competition to which the Government Insurance scheme has to submit ? In our humble judgment they cannot, nor do we see anything objectionable in making widely known the benefits which the Association is in a position to offer. If the Government (or the Association) engages in business, and it is to be successful, there is, we fear, no escaping from the beaten track. There is no royal road to such results as those shown in the statement of the Accumulated Funds of the Government Department for the past ten years. At the same time it is notorious thar, especially during one period of its history, the Department, through some of its agents, adopted methods of procedure which, it is to be hoped, have been permanently cast aside. The business can be pushed without recourse being had to disreputable dodges. On the other hand, if the new management stands too much on its dignity, and declines to court patronage by all legitimate means, the story of the

next ten years will be less satisfactory than that which has already been told.