ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1132, 4 December 1879, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

; TO THE EDITOIi OF THE OA3IAIU7 MAIL. I Sir, —There are two evils or nuisances which every respectable newspaper ought . to write down as much as possible. The t first is the everlasting collection for somebody who is hurt, or some widow or i children whose breadwinner has been i killed. Nothing encourages or produces i improvidence, extravagance, and drunkeni liess as much as these collections ; for the i men naturally say while they are earning ! good wages, "I may as well live up to i my means and enjoy myself, for if I die s the British public will look after the wife and children. Why should I insure : nij- life } why should I lay by money for a wet day .' why should I join a benefit society ? Look at So-and-so, when her . husband was killed a collection was made, and over L2OO subscribed. Now (accordi ing to age), that would have cost from Lo to L 5 a year premium if his life had been insured, and more if he had put it into the savings bank ; whereas, trusting to the liberal British public, see how much nicer it was to get drunk occasionally, or of having the pleasure of spending it in some other passing dissipation. My word ! these collections take a weight off a man's mind after he has been wasting his money, I tell you." That is the truth, Mr. Editor, and as long as the public allow themselves to be openly robbed in this way, drunkenness and extravagance will increase. The only way is for the public to put their foot down and say no ' for as soon as subscriptions cease, these husbands and fathers will see the necessity of more care, and of either insuring their lives or placing a few shillings monthly in the savings bank or some benefit society. Why, I ask, should hard working, honest men, with wives and families of their own, lie taxed and robbed to support the relicts and offspring of extravagant and improvident men 1 ( The rate of wages in the Colony is so high, that if men only obtain half time they ought to have enough to keep their families respectably and clean, besides laying by a few shillings a month. -And why is it only widows of those who die by accident or suddenly who require subscriptions 1 They have had no long illn,esson which to expend their earnings on doctors, medicine, and necessary luxuries. I consider these collections only a base fraud that ought to be stopped by determined opposition. If a liberal person wishes to subscribe to anything, let it be the Hospital, for there cannot possibly bo a more useful institution if properly officered and attended to. What can bo a worse affliction than long illness or serious accident, especially to a laboring man 1 And insurance does not assist in those cases, although Oddfeilowship does to a , certain extent, and for that reason it is a society that ought to be highly encouraged. Let the laboring man, while blessed with health and good wages, either insure his life or take some means to provide for sickness and death, and not leave his family to the mercy of his already overtaxed survivors. The second evil is the "testimonial furore." No one can move from one place to another without having a testimonial or grand dinner given him. If the receiver is a man in authority, all his subordinates, clerks, or whatever name he may designate thorn by, are obCujal to subscribe, however small their salaries, or however objectionable the honored person may be ; and if they do not, they know what to expect. Outsiders, again, although no compulsion or intimidation is used, look on the subscription as a genteel larceny, and frequently have to go without a new pair of boots or some other necessary in consequence, and, while praising the f§ted individual, in their secret hearts wish him at Hong Kong, or some warmer place. These, Mr. Editor, are two of the crying evils of the Colony, and should be put down with the strong arm of public opinion, than whioh there is no stronger power in existence. Let us hope this hint will call forth its energies, and free society from the thraldom of subscription lists.— I am, &c. A Victim. Oamaru, December 1, 1879.