THE HIGH COST OF DYING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22020, 1 August 1933, Page 6

THE HIGH COST OF DYING

The scale of cemetery charges has been a sore point for some years past. From the report which is to be presented by the Reserves Committee at the meeting of the City Council this week, it will be seen that fresh remonstrances have been made concerning it. On the face of things the charges may seem to be somewhat high and to be likely to press hardly upon the resources of the poorer class of people. But, unless the Corporation is to supply burial allotments at a loss to itself, there is no escape from the conclusion that a reduction in the charges is not practicable. The two older cemeteries are now full in the sense that there are no burial allotments for disposal in them, and the expenditure on the upkeep of them is year by year increasing a debit balance which already exists—to the extent of nearly & 5000—in that portion of the Cemeteries Account which covers the transactions relative to them, and this debit is only barely covered by the amount to which the Anderson's Bay cemetery account is in credit. This credit will, however, disappear as the cost of maintenance outstrips the revenue from the sale of allotments. The policy which the Council will then adopt with reference to burial fees must, in the meantime, remain a matter for conjecture. It may become necessary, though it will be a matter for regret if it is necessary, to increase the charges. In present circumstances, however, the Reserves Committee's disinclination to recommend any reduction in the scale of charges is perfectly intelligible. It will probably be found, on investigation, that this scale is not more illiberal than that charged in other centres. Yet the view that the cost of burials is somewhat burdensome in many cases is one with which a good deal of sympathy may be expressed. It is partly because of this that, from time to time, a reform in respect of burial rites is advocated. Funeral ceremonies have, within the memory of living people, been stripped of some of the more mournful insignia that were at one time regarded as essential expressions of respect for the dead. Weepers have been banished and nodding black plumes have been discarded, and there is no one who can regret their disappearance. But the cost of funerals is still a matter that reasonably gives cause for concern. It is however, not clear that much, if anything, can be achieved by the reduction of burial charges.