WOOL FIRES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13240, 21 March 1907, Page 6

WOOL FIRES.

EFFECT OX INSURANCES. STATEMENT* BY TIMAKU FIRMS. A paragraph-published in (i< lei-cut is>Mis ot the " Lytteltoir Times" stated , that "one effect- of the tires, on New. Zealand wool shius - was mi enormous increase . in the insurance premiums on v 00l no>v being shipped Hoiiis. S'unj iu([ uiii^ s were liiade by it 1 ' Herald-' v reporter yesterday -w.it.li a vißw ,s -to'- iifccertaining- tlife- conditions prevailing locally. , Mr"-Hi Eaton; 1 manager for Messrs Dalgety: and Co., said-lliat as. iar as /hiv exi ••perien'es- went, he knew of no. increase in i the rates- of . wool insurance. .He had received no. -advice from London of an, increased' lavift'. and from this. fact. lie concluded i hat there had been-.-, no -rise. He was not .prepared ;,o say what t)u local - were, as all hi-. company*. wool insuiiMice was done.in London on what was known a* an open policy. Declarations of tile -consignments of wool were .sent Home, and the premiums were subsequently deducted from the proceeds of the sales, 'llie fact that no advice had been received from London jva.s sufficient to show- that the 'English companies- had made no important change in their premiums. There was a 1 probability tlmt an increase would be made next season,- but this would rest eiuiiely with the -insiirauce companies and:' underwriters. : ■ ■■:'.

Mr C. : Hf Eraser, secretary to the Chamber of Commerce, when asked his opinion of the report,' i>aid that there was no foundation for.- it- as far as he knew. .'L'htrs had bean• no increase of. any. lcind in the • rates of insurance on wool. In fact at t ha' beginning :..of the season there was a drop of one shilling per: cent. .In hisopinion, next season's rates would -iwi', !)-." increased. Mr iv. 11 ■■-.Guinness-, who happened -i«' ba jxe ent at the'.'time endorsed Mr Eraser's-remarks. .- Mr JI. White,- manager --.of: the '1 imam blanch of the New Zealand .Loan. and - Mercantile Agency Company, said .that he hadreceivecl no intelligence from England,, of increased premiums on .wool shipped: to England,- and lie: did not think that ' there would bs anj- rise .this season. Mr Cuthbert. of National Mortgage and Agency . Company; v also reported unchanged premiums of marine insurance on wool. He'ihought that- tiie rates would be raised next-.season,; as; 'the number of tires -on: wool ships ' would- hardly go uti? : noticed by the insurance companies. He thought that ihe, marine insurance rates would be raised on account of the fires, just as the rates: are higher on property within a district subject to frequent, fires. The head, of the.-insurance- department of the Canterbury<,Farmers' Co-operative Association said that 'as .far as Tiniaru was. concerned there was no truth iii the. reported ".rise •in ..-premium*- on shipments of wool. . He.gave as an illustration, the. case; of the s.s. . Tongariro, which left Tinraru about a fortnight ago with a, large quantity of wool. Tlie insurance rate on the (.(.-nsignineiit was exactly the same .then as on that taken by the vessel from Timaru in the preceding season.' nanjely lis 6d. There had been one case • this season of the pre-' ,xnium being 5s higher than the present ruling rates: This win?, - however, -under exceptional conditions. Ihe wool being parly of the cargo of a sailing vessel, carrying iu addition a quantity of tow. The only branch of the business of wooj. insuranca that..'lie knew ot as showing an enormous increase was the amount of premiums paid, and this, he expected, would r-how an increase lor the colony • of- thousands' of pounds, due mainly to the higher value .of the clips shipped away.: -Under''previous' . conditions shippers of wool had under-in-sured their consignments. but now underthe influence or the "' wool fires scare" they were insuring their wool right up to the hilt. .Regarding the . question of higher Tates on next season's Shipments, h-.; did -not think there was any lili.clihood of an exlraordinan - increase.