GOVERNMENT LIFE ASSURANCE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 971, 30 March 1870, Page 5 (Supplement)

GOVERNMENT LIFE ASSURANCE.

If we were asked to name an institution which may be said to be born of and peculiar to a high state of civilization, we should name that one which is best calculated to provide its associates against those vicissitudes of fortune which, in our present comparative ignorance of how best to right social evils, seems incident to the progress of civilization. The great struggle of the masses in fully populated countries, is to obtain the necessaries of life. This is difficult enough under ordinary circumstances when the bread winner of the family enjoj-s health and strength sufficient, by daily toil, to earn a daily subsistence for those dependent on him ; but in times of depression of trade, or when sickness assails the head of the family, and the resources and supply of food is thus suddenly cut off, we think the boasted benefit of civilisation is put to a practical test. When the question is asked, what remedy does it provide to relieve such a case as to enable the afflicted family to tide over a season ot difficulty which they are powerless to avert, it must be confessed that civilization shows a feebleness, a selfishness, and a want of human sympathy and organization which sinks it infinitely below that state ofsociety known as bai'barous, which, however deficient in other i*espects, iuvai'iably feeds the hungry and feeble members of its loose community. We are glad to see that the New Zealand Government have taken a step in the right direction, and offer a remedy, which will meet some cases, by enabling industrious and careful persons to lay up a store for their families against one of the most terrible of calamities to which they can be exposed, — that of the death of the bread winner. It is true that in this instance the Government has, in some measure, departed from the established practice, and taken the business out of the bauds of private associations ; andj in doing so, they have acted wisely. It'i3 fearful to coutemplate the terrible misfortunes which have befallen families in consequence of the failures of insurance and benefit societies. The accumulated deposits of industrious and careful men have been swept away in a moment, and an amount of distrust aud un. thrift created calculated to prove very injurious to I/tie well-being of the community. There is something more stable in an established government, and the insured has a much greater certainty of securing to his family the result of his providence, by the Government of the country being the insurer than by any other means. There is also the advantage secured of the insured receiving the full benefit of his annual payments, as the Government will only require to be repaid the cost of management, and do not seek

any profit by the transaction. The cost of management is also reduced to the lowest possible item, as the existing staff of Post Office officials will in most cases be able to conduct the business without any additional expense being incurred. It is therefore evident that by this system, an opportunity is offered to those who are inclined to profit by it, which will give the best possible return for the money invested. A set of preliminary tables have been issued by the Government, by which we see that it is proposed to insure lives or grant immediate or deferred annuities. The annual premium to be paid during the whole of a life for an assurance of £100 varies from £1 7s. 6d. at the age of sixteen to £3 17s. 4d. at the age of fifty ; to secure tho same amount to fa-nity at death, requires in one payment £2G Is. 6d. at the an'e of sixteen, increasing to £Gi 17s. 9d. at the age of sixt3 r ; to secure an annuity, we find that each £100 paid at the a^e of ton, secures an annual payment of £i< 13s. IGd. for life; if paid at 20, £5 Is. lid. ; at 40, £6 7s. 3d. Deferred annuities are also granted — they are of two classes — by the first the money is returnable if required, by the second tho money is not returnable. Of course a higher premium is demanded in the first case, but it; is better calculated to meet the vicissitudes of colonial li%, as ifc 13 very cuivoiiient to find in ca?e of emergency that the accumulated savings of a life ti'ce are not likely to be sacrificed in conseqroneo of the insured being- unable to continue the payments as they become due. We cannot allow the opportunity to pass without giving' tho credit which is jiiritly clue to the gentleman who brought fchh matter before the House of Representatives last session. The Hon. Julius Vocjei, in an able and exhaustive speech, carried tLa House wish him when he insisted that :{, was the duty of the Government to take this important matter in hand. And it is creditable, also, that when ho attained to power, and was in a position to carry out his own suggest hns, that no unnecessary time- wm lost in g'ivinqpractical eitect to them. In thsit one nc« | he has conferred a. solid aud lasting benefit

on the Colony which should not soon be forgotten. It is impossible in the shorLspace allotted to our leader, to do full justice to the system of assurance instituted by the Government, or to give the public a sufficient idea of the benefits to be derived from participating in its advantages. It is the duty of every father of a family to make some provision for the future, aud to such we would earnestly say, peruse the Government tables which are to be seen at each Post Office. And without delay enrol your names among those who in their earnest desire to benefit those dependent on them, have, by the exercise of a little self denial, given a practical proof that they partake of at least one of the leading features of an advanced civilisation, aud are not satisfied to leave a helpless family dependent on the cold charity of the world.