Fire Extinction.

Southland Times, Issue 13287, 14 August 1895, Page 3

Fire Extinction.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Your correspondent “ Pro Bono Publico ” has revived an old and very common fallacy — that insurance companies should contribute to the support and maintenance of fire brigades. I think that a little further consideration of the matter in all its bearings will lead him to alter his conviction and to the conclusion that the imperative duty of maintaining fire extinguishing appliances in an effi .-lent condition rests entirely with the dorporation. Fire insurance companies, like life and marine insurance companies, have to calculate correctly what amount they should charge as a premium for the risk they take, and there their business ends. Marine insurance companies do not interest themselves about, or provide lighthouses for the safe guidance of ships, but the less lighthouses and the more dangers there are, the higher the premiums they charge to cover the greater risks. Life insurance companies do not provide doctors to watch their clients, but simply on a doctor’s report and in tables of;mortality charge a premium to cover their risk. The business of fire in’ surance companies is to ascertain the nature of the property insured, the means of extinguishing and preventing the spread of a fire and charging such a premium as will, in their opinion, cover the risk. They are an organisation to pay the value of property destroyed by fire, not to prevent fires; if they could prevent them their occupation would be gone. The better the appliances the town provides for fire prevention the lower the premiums will be, and the reverse. Compptition amongst the companies will ensure this. A fire is a public calamity, the cost of which the people have to pay. The shareholders in insurance coqjpapies qo not pay for reinstatements ; the mqney is collected to pay for rebuilding through increased premiums, If insurance companies paid all the costs, primarily, of fire extinction and prevention they would charge it in increased premiums. It would be manifestly unjust to compel insurance com-

panics to maintain fire brigades, as insured and uninsured would equally receive the benefit ; the insured would pay double and the uninsured nothing. If my contention is right there is a plain duty and a large responsibility resting with the Corporation to protect lifo and property, and in view, of the considerable decrease we have nad in fire premiums, and the large amount of property that has been saved since the initiation of our present water supply, they should make all their arrangements to have an organisation as perfect as possible and provide the money with no niggard hand.—l am, &c., Citizen.