Page 4 Advertisements Column 7

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3620, 8 May 1886, Page 4

Miscellaneous. PHE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT. LIFE INSURANOE ASSOCIATION. MISLEADING COMPARISON. THE Equitablo Insurance Society of .. the United States haß published a statement :omparing the costs of new buisincsa with the New Pbemiums received. The public are warned againßt accepting ;he comparison as a statement showing "the • -rue cost of tbe business. It is Misleading aecause the New Premiums of the Equitablo vro mostly Annual, while thoso of the Gorernmerit Insurance Association ore chiefly and Monthly. The New Premiums of tho Government for 3884 represent in (£10,387) annual premiums £24,073. * According to tho summary of the busines ' sf Australasian Life Offices, published by the Austbalasian Insubancb and Banking Recobd, in the number for January, 1886 (page 39, fourth column from end), the New Business of the Government Insurance Association was acquired at a Less Cost Than Any Otheb Austbalasian Offiob. A study of the third and fourth columns (from end) of the summary just mentioned will _ speedily expose the Fallacy of the Equitablo method of comparing the cost of the new business. The Equitablo comparison, moreover, doos not allude to tho commission paid for collecting the renewal promiuma. The amount expended by tho Equitablo during 1884 for collecting £1,698,776 of renewals was £100,812, or nearly Six Pbb Cent (Government slightly over Two Peb Cent). Tho method of comparison adopted by the Government Insurance Association is NOT : misleading, because both offices value by a method which makes no allowance for the lieavier cost of new businoss. The Equitable spend nearly Twenty Peb Cent of their total premium income on the Management, whilo the Government expenses aro but Blightlyover sixteen per cent. The Lapsed Policies of the Equitable iluring the year 1884 amounted to nearly One- fifth of the Insurances in force. The Lapsed Policies of the Government Insurance Association for the year 1885 amounted to Less than One-tbnih of tho Insurances ia force. FURTHER FALLACIES EXPOSED. The comparison made by the Equitable of " Sukbendees to New Pbemiums is farfetched and absurd, as even the veriest tyro in Insurance matters is aware. Emanating from tho Equitablo as an offioial production it is inexcusable on tho ground of ignorance. Tho Equitablo ought to be aware that tho cash value of a policy is not merely Onb Instalment of a premium, but that it is a proportion of the Whole of the premiums paid. It would be equally as absurd to compare the Claims with now premiums. Tho amount paid for surrenders represents in Annual Pbemiums on now policies issued during 1884, £4024. The annual premiums on new policies issued during 1884 amounted to £24,073. This is totally difforent to what tho Equitablo would fain make the publio believe. Tho Equitablo have at last been compelled to admit that they have been misleading tho public, and that nearly one-fifth of their so-called New Business for the year may bo designated " bogus," not a sixpenco of premiums having been received, a policy having been issued for every proposal received, whether the premium was paid or not — a method adopted by no Australasian Office. The statement that tho Government Insurance Association substituted an opinion for the real opinion of tho " Australian Insurance 1 and Banking Record" is not true. In tha first place, it wns not An Opinion at all that was quoted ; it was merely a statement of Facts. In the second place, it was believed that such a reputablo journal would not publish such a statement withont being duly satisfied that it was authentic. Tho usual precaution was .taken of showing the authority by printing tlio words " Vide ' Australian Insurance and Banking Record ' for January 1884." Had that course not been adopted, tho Government Insurance Association would have been charged with publishing annonymous attacks. Wo have said it was a statement of facts, and wc repeat that the " The Equitable) has a Tontine, but, stated in Court, in the case of ' Bowley v. the Equitablo,' that all the funds belong to tho stockholders of that Corporation, and that tho policyholders had nothing to say in tho matter of their disposal." Then, as to The Citizen quotation. It was not taken directly from that publication. It was extracted from a pamphlet circulated by the Equitable, and bearing the names of thai Society and of tho manager. The question was merely as to the investments j and tho fact that we stated that The Citizen was generally "favourable to the Equitable," supported this. As relating to the nature of Equitablo Investments, it was deemed advisable to emphasiso tho sentence. The Equitablo accuses the Government of omitting ft part «f the context, and yet in an official advertisement published in the Lyttelton Times of tho 16th February, 1886, tho Equitablo, in correcting the said omission, Themselves Caeefully Left Out a Portion op the Contbxt. Wo now reprint tha sentence, capitalising the words omitted by tho Equitablo : — " The Equitable iteelf admits that on account of the greater difficulty of securing remunerative returns on investments, thoro will not bo so large profits in timo to come, nevertheless, the bonuses are certain to be enormous, and those effecting such policies, And Keeping Them up to the End, will not be disappointed. What hidden meaning in those words, "and keeping them up to the end!" The law suits quoted were against offices that had the same conditions in their policies as the Equitable, notwithstanding all that haa been said, tho fact remains that Death Through Violation of the Law is sufficient to render an Equitable policy void. The Equitablo state that they have never Contested a claim, meaning that they. have never gone to law over a claim, and they desire tho publio to asaume that the Govern- ' ment Hate Done So. The Government have never contested a claim. Doubtless the Equitable, like all other offioeß, have received unjußt claims that have Not been paid. It would bo a misappropriation of tho Policyholders' money for an office to pay every claim, Ibbespectite of Its Legality ob Justice (as for example tho Howard case in Ohristchurch). No reputable office would do such a thing, and it is presumed that this appellation is applicable to the Equitable. FURTHER FACTS. The average rate of interest on investments obtained by the Government during 1884 was higher than that obtained by tho Equitable. The Government rate is Rising, while that of the Equitable is Falling. Tho Actual Results of tho Tontine Sayings Fund of tho Equitable wero achieved in tho days of High Inteeest. Tho Mortality in New Zealand At Each : Aoe of • Life is Lowbe than . any other country, as shown by Frankland's researches, and confirmed by other fellows of the Institute of Actuaries. Tho public of this Colony should secure tho full benefits arising from tho ■ow mortality by insuring in tho Government [nsuranco Association, whose businesß is conSued lo Now Zealand. The public aro requested, before insuring, jo obtain, full information regarding the facts ind figures from Agents of tho Association. D. M. LUCKEB, ' 4-22 664 Manager. MOLLER'S COD LIVER OIL.— Dr Abbotts, M.D., M.R.C.P., late of North London Consumption Hospital, Ao. lays : — " It is produotivo of more immediate jonofit than the other kinds of oil are, and it is the purest and boit kind of ood liver oil tha >ari b§ obt»in»d."