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Otago Daily Times, Issue 3067, 5 December 1871, Page 3

TO THE EDITOR. Sir—The agents of the various Insurance Offices in LHinedin, with the exception of three, have held a meeting, and have got oft' what to their dull wit no doubt appeared an excellent joke. So far so good ; the public no doubt have laughed, and these gentlemen have made themselves ridiculous. After the public however have laughed, they begin to think, and, thinking, ask themselves—What are the facts of the ease, and what reason had the agents to endeavour to east ridicule upon a respectable body of Bien approaching

them in a respectful manner, and preferring a respectful, and at the<eame time perfectly reasonable, request ? Let us see for a moment how the matter stands. Firstly, a number of gentlemen—all of good repute and fair standing in society—hold a meeting, whereat they debate upon a grievance they suppose themselves to be labouring under, in paying too much for a certain tiling the Insurance Offices have to sell; as a result they pass a resolution appointing a committee to endeavour to get this grievance redressed; this committee, through their Chairman, communicate with the Agents of the various Companies in Dunedin, in a most respectful manner, asking if they would meet them, with a view ot* discussing the matter and obtaining a redaction in the rates being charged ; nothing, surely, wrong in this. And how are they met? Firstly, by a refusal to hold any communication with them. Had they stopped there, although the refusal itself 'would have been sufficiently discourteous, no one «'ould have said they had done more than they were .perfectly entitled to do if they thought iit ; but when they passed the resolution in addition, which, I regret to say, has appeared in your columns, they went altogether beyond their province, added insult to injury, and committed one of the grossest and most gratuitous pieces of insolence that ever disgraced a body of gentlemen, and held themselves up to the almost universal contempt of their fellow-citizens. It strikes me, and I think it must strike others, with a most painful feeling of surprise and regret, that there should have been present at the meeting referred to, and consequently, 1 presume, endorsing the resolution passed, such highly respectable and businesslike men as Messrs Turnbull, Nichols, Brodrick, Fulton, and Webb.

That these should have gone out of their way to select four of their fellow-citizens from out of about forty others, descend to the meanness of mentioning their particular avocations, and wantonly insult them, is to me altogether inexplicable. And for what ? For attempting merely to do that which the lowest amongst us has a right to, viz., trying to get an article he wishes to purchase at the lowest possible rate. Surely these gentlemen must upon, reflection be thoroughly ashamed of their proceedings,, and feel that on more grounds than one they have made a great mistake. I would, in conclusion, desire to point out that four of the Agents, previous to the meeting taking place, had viewed the matter in a different light, and had actually written to the Chairman of the Insurers' Committee, agreeing to meet them. It is true two of those gentlemen were not present at the meeting, and it is only charitable to suppose that had they been there their well-known business intelligence and gentlemanly feelings would have been sufficient to have induced their more rash brethren to refrain from acting as they did. Apologising for trespassing on your space, I am, &c, H.