The Patea Mail. Published Wednesday and saturdays SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 110, 29 April 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Published Wednesday and saturdays SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1876.

Tim lecture delivered by Mr Clapcott on Tuesday evening last on the Government Life Insurance scheme, introduced a subject for the consideration of all of the utmost importance. Perhaps it is not us easy in the colonies, amidst the. hustle and battling, to grow rich as it is in the old ituild, to Induce people to pause nml think of (lie future. Vet this is what life insurance requires us to doWell would it ho for any people if in snranoo became universal; and it is because we believe that to bring about tin's the masses only require to be made aware of the great advantages to he obtained by insurance that wo gladly give the matter ail the publicity and support ayo can. Nor are avc alone in tiii.s respect, for the press has always aided the cause throughout the colony. It matters little to the general reader to know the actual origin of insurance. That life assurance was practiced in the sixteenth century is placed beyond all doubt. But passing by the history of life assurance, Ave desire to point out Avhat advantages can he secured by the ]>c , sou insuring. These may be stated si oi l Jy as provision for old age and proIc(, Liou for the widoAV and the erphims. The man desirous of securing a sum for his own use in advanced age, or anxious to provide a competency for his Avifo ami children, should lie be taken from them can do this by simply taking out a policy Avitli the Government. The cost of this step is of such a trivial nature as to bear no comparison Avith the benefits gained. There are Icav cases in this country where the father cannot spare a shilling a Avock—yet this is the cost to a person of middle age for every hundred pounds he Avishes to secure for his family at his death, happen Avhen it may. This investment too can be made Avithont fear or distrust lest the money should’be expended in vain, for the insurer, if lie takes out a policy Avith the Government, lias a state guarantee under Act of Parliament, for the due payment of the amount. There arc persons aa’lio think the. Government Avcnt someAvhat out of its way in undertaking the matter of insurances, and that it might have been left to private enterprise. With these we do not agree; for as it Is desirable.that all should insure or provide not only for themselves, but for their wives and children, so it is ol the utmost importance that the monies paid by the insurers shall, Avithont risk of failure, ho not expended in vain. In the words of Mr Clapcott, what avc require is, “ That as surely as we pay our money from time to time to secure tiio payment to ourselves of a large sum at future day, so surely Avili the company to whom avc pay be not only willing, but able, to meet its engagements when that day comes.” Private companies may be, for all we know, in the most satisfactory financial position, but to our minds no company can give security equal to that afforded by the Government in the Assurance and Annuities Act of 1074. Hi nee the Government have placed it Avithin the reach of all to insure, wo would strongly urge those who may not yet have secured their families from the consequences of the

death of the bread-winner, not to procrastinate, but at once to obtain a policy according to tluiir moans or tbeir requirements. In promoting the cause ol insurance, we are all interested, bet b once become universal, and (he demands upon prlvab- charily will not be so frequent as. unfortunately, they are at present; the charitable institutions will not be so urgently required; poverty will be greatly diminished ; its too frequent oil spring, crime, will be lessened ; and the result to the whole community will bo a decrease in taxation. All this 'can be secured without a shilling being taken out of the country, and at such a cost as to be within the reach of all. It this he so, as it must be, why is (here any hesitation about insuring 1 Is it owing to the selfishness of our natures, strong enough at hues to murder the interests of our paved ones ; or is it the fatal hahit ol rocrastiiiatum ? If the hitter he the I hmse, we say why defer to a “ more season” what can and ought to ho done to-day. Why put off till to-morrow what is in onr [tower to do at once. It will be no easier to insure tomorrow than it is to-uay. .Remember the words of the poet— I trust no future, howe'er pleasant, Let the dead past bury its dead ; Act, act in the living present, Heart within, and Hod overhead.