INVERCARGILL CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 13, 20 July 1883, Page 19

INVERCARGILL CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

Invercargill, July 6, 1883. At the meeting of the above Society on Wednesday, June 27, one candidate was duly elected and two others were nominated. The programme consisted entirely of a debate, the subject being " Is Insurance Necessary," — The debate was opened by Mr. Dwyre who commenced with Fire Insurance:— He said such an institution was not only unnecessary, but the cause of a vast amount of evil. He pointed out how unscrupulous persons over-insured their property, and were then guilty of the heinous crime of arson for the sake of the insurance ; and how the people, unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity of such fire-raisers, suffered. If there was no insurance, uninsured property wtuld be far more sscare than it is at present, and those conflagrations that dp such fearful destruction would be almost unheard of, for, as a rule, 3fbe places that are the origin of those disastrous fires, are places of very little value and over-insured, and often cause loss of some thousands of uninsured property. He said that the agents employed, though counting among their number men of great integrity, were not, as a class, men to admire ; — that some of them paid more attention to their commission than to the value or class of property they insured. He next mentioned life insurance, and said that in a healthy climate like New Zealand, persons could not profit by it. As none but those in perfect health could insure, the chance 3 were in favour of their living till they had paid far more than they were insured for, and that in any case, policy-holders must be losers, as the cost of keeping the insurance companies must fall on their shoulders. The best plan of providing for the future, was for people to avail themselves of savings banks, building societies— that would be far more profitable than insurance. Mr. Tansey, in reply to Mr. Dwyre, said :— Before judging any institution we must first find what the objects are it aims -at, and next, if it has realised the objects aimed at. To commence with fire insurance, theobjectof which is to enable persons to provide against risks which often occur, and over which they have no control. No thinking person will deny but such an object is to be highly commended, for it encourages industry and gives a greater sense of security to owners of property than they would otherwise have. As for insurance causing the crime of arson to be more prevalent, that is a poor argument against it ; we might as well say there should be no laws, since it will sometimes happen, that there are dishonest lawyers, as to say there should bo no insurance because there are dishonest agents or policy-holders. The institution that is perfection and the work of human hands has yet to exist. He next pointed out how insurance had fulfilled the object it aimed at here ; if it was not for it, the place where some of our finest buildings now stood, would contain nothing but the charred remains of some former fire, and the present owners would be almost destitute. He next mentioned life insurance by saying it was the bounden duty of persons who had others depeuding on them, to provide, if possible, again3t leaving them in a state of destitution,, and for persons of limited income he knew of nothing that offere'l the same ficility as life insurance. He quoted passages from the Government life insurance pamphlets showing with great force how life insurance provided for a man with a family depending on him, in a manner that no other investment could. As to the business paying the insaier, it did not matter to the insured if he had security for his policy. He then quoted several facts, showing that it paid insurers wben well managed. The following was one of the facts quoted : If a person saved a shilling a day for 50 years it would amount at the end of that time to £912 103.; by investing it from the -first at compound interest it would amount to £3820 125., or, in other words, the interest would be more than three times greater than the principle. It was on this principle of cnmpouud iuterest that such schemes were nearly all carried out. Well-organised institutions, with experience and capital, can invest with greater security and to better advantage, than individuals without experience and with but limited means. He concluded by saying that insurance was one of the best institutions of modern civilisation. Mr. Lawlor next spoke at some length, showing how insurance lessened the risk of fire rather than increased it. On wooden buildings the premium was as high as forty shillings in the £100, whereas in good stone or brick buildiugs it was as low as seven shillings. This made a vast difference to merchants who had a stock worth ten or twelve thousand pounds : the difference in premium soon covered the cost of substantial buildings. Mr. Reid, said that insurance agents were often guilty of misrepresenting facts ; persons about to insure should be very cautions ; hejwould recommend Government insurance as being the best B&iFity in New Zealand. ' After a few more remarks by some of the other members a division was called, and the party in favour of insurance being necessary were in the majority. The meeting closed in due form. At our last meeting, which was held on tbs 4th iust., two members were elected, and oue nominated. The programme consisted of a discussion on sheep and cattle farming, nearly all the members taking part in the discussion. Contrary to the expectations of some, the subject proved very interesting, and details could not have been more, fully gone into if it had been discussed at a Farmers' Club. At our next meeting we intend to have the debate, " Will emigration benefit Ireland at present?" After sides were chosen for the above debate, the meeting closed in due form.