The Wanganui Herald. FRIDAY, JUNE 14. 1901. INCENDIARISM.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10365, 14 June 1901, Page 2

The Wanganui Herald. FRIDAY, JUNE 14. 1901. INCENDIARISM.

The increasing number, of suspicious fires in this colony cannot be looked upon ns other than a proof of great carelessness on the part of the insurance agents, who often accept risks for amounts largely in excess of the value of the property insured. This is, in many instances, a strong incentive .to the insured to burn the property bo over-insured, as an easy out of their financial difficulties, or of realising for the said property a sum far in excess of its market value. The risk of being detcctf d in an act of incendiarism is very email, as there axe many ways of starting a fire without being near it whon the flames break oub and the firo bell olangs its warning. As an instance of this, it was more than suspected that a firo which broke out in this town late at night, was put in train earlier in the day by th»> person most interested in the destruction of the building, who was asleep in bed at an hotel, thirty miles away, when the fire bell rang! He was greatly indignant at being closely questioned by the police as to his movements on. that day, contending that he had proved an alibi which incontestibly cleared him of having had any hand in the affair. Many persons suspected of having set fire to their premises and stock, which wore over insured, have been / placed upon their trial, but without success, as "a rule, for the reason that jurymen have a rooted disinclination to convict on purely circumstantial evidence, because occasionally such evidence turns out afterwards to have been insufficient to prove the guilt of the accused,- whose 1 innocence was made manifest later on. No doubt juries should weigh circumstantial evidence carefully and never convict on it alone, without it is so strong and so connected as 'to leave no loophole for any other conclusion than that, the acoused has committed the crime for which he has been arraigned. If juries were to refuse to convict on strong and -completely connected circumstantial evidence-,- few charges of incendiarism would be sheeted home to those committing that class of crime,

and the glare of burning burnings would be of even more -frequent occurrence than at present f without, indeedi the insurance companies doidg business in the colony exercised far greater cAre than at present ia accenting psfe^, And Saw to it that the {iaAy insured was not a person of straightened circumstance, or of known indifferent character or unsatisfactory antecedents. In short the "moral risk" ought to be weighed quite as carefully, as the monetary, and. no insurance policy' iMtted for more than thrfee-feurtilß of ttt» value of the property insufedi or to a person of doufetfuil probity. Even frSaler care than this is necessary, as it does not follow that a heavily insured stock U going to bo kept up to its value at time of insurance; indeed, is too often quite otherwise, aa it is often allowed to run down very low, by means of "slaughter sales" and other well-known devices for raising the wind quickly, or is replaced by much cheaper goods just before a fire. It is therefore that such glaring instances of incendiarism as those so common in this country are growing in number, seeing "how strong are the incentives held out by careless insurance agents to Impecunious and dishonest traders and others, who are seldom convicted, if charged, with the Offence. True, an occasional conviction is secured, when the circumstantial evidence w Very strong, BncT tho case very clearly put before an intelligent jury with a proper respect for their oaths. A few such convictions do much good as they warn others from risking their liberty for the sake of defrauding the insurance companies, with which the general public have little or no sympathy, sifting that it is largely the fault of the companies that tho said Crimea occur. Tnese fires have been very rare inWanganui f orunately, and it is still more fortunate that the latest case has been sheeted home to its author, who will no doubt have plenty of time given him to ' realise ' the gravity of his offence and the truth of the axiom that "Honesty is the" Best policy."