The Star. FRIDAY, JULY 23,1868.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 62, 25 July 1868, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, JULY 23,1868.

Tiim liulf-yonriy mooting of tho Now Zealand Ineurftnco Company, rocontly I

hold in Auckland, of which tho .report haa now readied m, will bo road with conmdorablo interest by the public of Ohriatohurch'. Tlio ncoounts bhovv that fcho balance placad to fcho orodili of profit and loss amounted to £11,480 fis, representing iv votm'ti ftt tho vato of rafchor more than forty per cent per annum wmm iho capifcni of tho com* puny. Tho amount wna appropriated m follows — J32700 in payment 1 of a dividond ftfc tho rnfco of Un pov cont por annum, £7028 18b sii to reserve fund (making that fund up to £20,000,) ' ami sCJiOOO Otf 7d. It miiHt bo j'bmotnbfij'od that this rofcurn ia fcho re/ml fc of buninooa dono during tho limt half yoar, provioualy to tho ldfo raising of the ratow of iiiaur. mw, XI; iiuihl; bo ivlho borno iv mind, thai) during fcho oijjhi; or nino yotwu which havo olapaod umco tho formation of fcho company, tho half«yoarly roporta havo exhibited ft steady and continual coui'flo of prospority, During that period tho capital of tho original aharolioldorfl lias inoroa«iad to tho oxtont of between 000' and .1000 por cent;. That ifj bo my, bhono wlio paid «#2 for a nharo, can obtain iCIB or JSLO for it! now. And during tho wholo of thafci fcimo tl\o Bhai'oholdcsi'fl havo obtaiuod ton por cont interest upon their contin- ; ually augmenting capital. AVo vory much queotion wholhoi* any private firm in Clirbtchui'ch, or oven m Oantorbury, ( could fihew aa aaliittfaotopy results in return for thoir labour during tho Hatno poriod. And yot wo find Mi 1 Thomas Rubholl, ono of tho dirootorn, defending tho action of tho company in raining their fates, and oapocially alluding to tho cjuho of OlM'ißtimurch. Not HatiHllod with having increased tho capital, out of oaniings, by about 100 l) por cont, and with having paid ton por cont dividond throughout ■ upon that inoroiißod capital, boaidos accumulating ;fi20,000 to moot accidontfl, Mr Huhholl doolaros that tho old ratios woro noli BUlllciont to covgl' tho riska in« currodi (Ah a proof of the truth of his aHnortion ho pointa out that againui .£28,010 received for flro and' marino pi'omiumH, thoro havo boon ;C20,02i3 paid for lohhob on tho «amo account. But boi'oro Mr Rubboll oan oxpoot ub to agroo with him, and accopt \\m concluHioiiH, wo muflfc know uomothing more than thia. In tho flrat placo, it is noccHtmry to Boparato tho flro and and marino accounta, For anything wo know to tho contrary, tho larger proportion of thoeo lobsos may havo boon incurred on soa-rinke, Thou wo fihould require to know how tho lobsoh by flro havo boon incurred} and whore they havo originated, and oapooially I what ban been lost by tho company in Canterbury. It i'h all very woll for Mr Ruafloll to onlargo upon tho propriety of making tho ratcH uniform throughout Now Zealand, and to talk in a looho way about it boing unfair to ohargo 25a in Ohrifltohurch and dSfj in Auckland for tho aamo sort of rinks. In tho fh'Ht nlnco, we are not awavo, noithor do wo ooliovo, that any «uoh diaparity han ovor oxiatod. In tho noxt, wo totally objoet to tho injustico of HO.eallo'd unifbi'in rates. Tho I'ittk of flco vai-iou vory niatorially in tho wovohd towns, and ia modiflod by a varioty of oiroumatanccß. The naturo of tho matorial in common uso for building pur. noHOfl, tho Bi/o of tho variouu blocks of buildingu, tho moana of extinguishing ilroa, tho aupply of water, tho character of tho pooplo, and ovon tho uaturo of their businottfl, nil ontor into account, and aroof matorial importance in the calculation. In many of thowo roHpociw Ohi'iHtchui'oh comparoa vory favourably wit!» Auoklrtnd, moro oapoeially m riinardfl tho mcants fov extinguishing /iron. Wo niaintain, without i'ear of contradiction, that if tho onginoa— OHpocially that worked by Btoain— at the di«ponal of the Brigade aro proporly and promptly worked, it ia noxt to impoutiiblo that a flro can aproad in Ohi'intchureh. In Auckland, thoro in no flro brigade worthy of tho namo, and tho whole town might bo burnt down in Hpito of the boat offortn of tho peoplo. And this npplica to moat of tuo othor towna in Now Zoaland, Tlio dii'oefcoi'fl of tho Now Zonland, Inauranco Company know thia porfoctly woll, but it Biiita thorn to ignore it. By oqualuing tho ratoa, they moan ue to pny for inauring tho proporty of othora oh woll aa our own, and we arc dolfca onough to submit to the injuafcico rather than holp ouraolvcs. ■ '.i