LABOUR CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 100, 21 January 1908, Page 7

LABOUR CONFERENCE

OLD ACE PENSIONS. UNIVERSAL AND NON-CONTRIBUTORY. HIGHER INCOME TAXES.' DY TELEOIIAriI—piIESS. ASSOCIATION—COPTRIGnT. London, January 19. The special conference of Labour, and Socialist delegates decidcd that any. old ago pension scheme would bo unsatisfactory unless it was non-discriminatory and non-contn-butory, and affirmed , tho principle of, tho right of overybody of sixty-five years of.age, or those physically unfit before that age, to draw a pension, tho money to come from the highor taxation of incomes. A section of tho delegates complaincd,that tho party wore weakening, sinco tho Trado Union Congress fixed tho ago at sixty years. Mr. A. Henderson, Labour member of tho Houso of Commons for Barnard Castlo division of Durham,-' replying, said tho presont doniand was a. fairly boldj step. ' It would cost twonty-three millions annually, but, when once started, there was no reason why tHby should not attempt to reduce the ago limit. THE LABOUR STANDPOINT. . TAXATION SCHEME. In an article dealing with the demands of the-Labour party, Mr. J. Ramsay Macdonald, Labour memoer of tho House .of Commons for Leicester, refers as follows to old age pensions: " We may assume that something will be done by . Mr. Asquith.' But what? - The Labour party's programme, is a pension of .ss. per week for every man and aliens, etc., excluded—rof the age of ■ sixty-five. NUMBER OF PERSONS CLAIMING. " In the United Kingdom there are just over 2,000,000 such:persons; but a certain proportion of these would not claim a pension, and others are already receiving adequate pensions from the public. . Mr. .-Charles Booth estimates that 15 per cent, should thus be discounted; tho late Archbishop of Canterbury believed that not more than three-fourths would claim; Mr. Barnes, M.P., going upon the experience of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, thinks that 23 per cent, .would waive their rights. If we estimate- that pensions will have to ba provided for 80 per cent, of the total number entitled to claim upon an ago qualification, a sum of over ,£20,000,000 will have to .bo provided. The details, must be left to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, however, ought not to find his task very difficult, seeing that during the ten vears ending 190G a sum of .£220,000,000 was added to tho. total wealth assessed for income tax—a sum equal to'an increase of 30 per cent. , HOW TO TAX INCOMES! "A pamphlet by Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P., written for the Independent Labour- Party, contains a proposal by which tho greater part of the money can .bo; raised. Ho would "impose no super tax until .incomes -reach JEIiOOO -per annum. Tho following table shoys the proposal and its elfcctp.at a glance:—.! . / Total Super - Income ' 'aggregate of'tax in Revenue from, such incomes, tho £ derived. £ ' £ • £ s. d. £ 5,000 to 8,000 ' 35,000,000 0 G 050,000 6,000 to 10.000 . '10.000,000 10. 2,000,000 10,000 to 20,000 45,000,000 ,1 6 3,375,000 20,000 to 40.000' 30,000,000 2 0 3,000,000 Over 40,000 - ,30,000,000 3 0 1,500,000 Total revenue'... ...- £13,825,000 "The raising of the further £0,000,000 or £7,000,000 would present no difficulties. . By economic administration it could be saved in our great spending i departments."'