THE SUPERANNUATION SCHEME

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22375, 12 April 1938, Page 15

THE SUPERANNUATION SCHEME

I TO THB B9ITOB OB THB FBBM. I Sir, —The Prime Minister's statement to Mr A. O. Heany, in. reply to hfs questionnaire on the "Social Security Scheme," "That he thought he should congratulate Mr Heany on an excellent political manifesto and leave it at that, ,f made many Labour supporters draw a deep breath. Those of us who had thought that he and Mr Nash had a good deal of financial ability and business acumen have been let down! badly. Their peevish replies will not blind anybody, but must be taken, rather, as indisputable evidence of amateurism, and the greenness which has been a distinguishing feature of the Government's administration up to date. I think everyone will give them credit for good intentions, but their efforts are very crude indeed, which may be due to there being such a big proportion of new members in the Parliamentary Labour Party, who are sadly lacking in experience. Working men realise that the money for everything must come from production. A family man receives one wage only, but increased prices apply to all that is purchased and used by every member of the family. The larger the family the greater the burden, and the family men, who deserve the most help, will be hit the hardest by the Government's precious contributory scheme, which has caused such a storm of protest from all sections of the community. If this scheme was to be the sheet anchor of the Government at the coming General Election, the sooner it cuts the cable the better. —Yours, etc., HIRAM HUNTER. April 11, 1938.

TO THI EDITOB OF THI PBESB.

Sir, —With reference to the correspondence on the national superannuation scheme in your paper lately, I shall be glad if you will grant me space to say that this proposal was placed before the Cust-West Eyreton branch of the Farmers' Union in the. form of a remit and passed unanimously by this large branch, after having first been submitted to the Economics Department of Canterbury College. I may state here that the original wording was redrafted by Professor Tocker and Mr George Lawn. Both these gentlemen considered such a scheme workable, and desirable. The remit was then placed before the provincial and later the Dominion executiye of the New Zealand Farmers' Union and by them referred to the Government for favourable consideration, during the winter of 1932. It has been submitted to the Government in power every year since. The feeling of farmers and others almost unanimously has been enthusiastically in favour of such a scheme. The late Coates-Forbes administration had three , years to place such a scheme on the Statute Book, but perhaps allowed itself to be dominated by powerful financial interests, with the result that national superannuation and other progressive • legislation were v carefully sidestepped* The result of such apathy was the political landslide of 1935. Evidently Messrs Coates and Forbes had not yet learned the lesson that no government is likely to stay in power unless it is prepared to foster social legislation, and thus advance with the times.

In passing, it may be of interest to note that English social legislation has been much in. advance ox ours until

t recent Labour legislation brought us ' more or less into line with both Eng--1 land and Australia. This probably accounts for the fact of a Conservative Government staying in power in those countries, with one or two exceptions, such as Queensland. I am not writing for the Farmers* , Union, but like most farmers and ; others am very disappointed at the ' lack of a comprehensive superannua- " tion scheme for all being included in ' the Prime Minister's proposals for the 1 coming session of Parliament, and hope * that the Government will still substi--1 tute such a measure for the proposed " old age pensions extension scheme now J mooted. 1 In case you should care to publish r it, I am enclosing a copy of the orig- ' inal remit,as submitted to the Governl ment in 1932, by the Farmers' Union.— 1 Yours, etc., L R. G. WOLFF. 3 The following remit from the Custi West Eyreton branch, moved by Mr E. 3 A. Woodfield at the provincial branch of f the New Zealand Farmers' Union, and > carried unanimously:—"That in view of * the fact that present times have demon- * strated the risk of loss of ordinary in- ■ vestments or of equity in property, and r in view of the inability of most indi--3 viduals, including many farmers, to pro- > vide against their old age—since in many * cases insurance policies and other life--1 time savings have been hypothecated and " lost—this conference recommends the l Government to establish a national scheme \ of compulsory superannuation, such I scheme to displace in time the old age and perhaps other pension schemes, the ' benefits to be paid, if possible, from the 1 age of 60 (or incapacity), and the con--5 trlbutor's interest in the fund to be absor lutely unassailable and inconvertible for j any purpose whatsoever." ) "