THE COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 272, 11 August 1920, Page 6

THE COST OF LIVING

INADEQUATE SUPERANNUATION ALLOWANCES FORMER PUBLIC SERVANTS TAKE ACTION In common with other sections of the community, superannuated Public Servants have felt the. burden of the increase in tho cost of living, and in various parte' of the Dominion associations have been formed with a view of urging the Government to bring superannuationallowances more into line with presentday price-levels. For the purpose of forming a Wellington association _of superannuated Public Servants, a meeting'was held in No. 1 Committee Room, Town Hall, yesterday afternoon, and was largely attended. Captain W. M. Barclay was voted to the chair. Mr. H. E. Gilbert stated that the cost of living had gone up on every hand, but. the superannuated Public Servants remained in the same position as they were in before the war. The scale if superannuation was fixed before tho war, and in 1919, 1685 people were receiving aid from the State, the number being made up as follows:—Ex-Publio Servants, 840; widows, 394; children, 451. Jt had been stated that some of the higher officers who drew large salaries—,£3ooo a year, for instance—would retire on an allowance of JE2OOO. The Act was altered a sossion or two ago, and' a regulation was made with regard to tha maximum and minimum number of retiring allowances, but he did not think that affected those who were already entitled to compensation or superannuation at tlio time the amendment was made. It might be said that they were trying to Ret what was not altogether dne to them, but ho was sure everyone would ngrea with him when he 6aid that that was not a fair way to put the matter. They had gone through all the turmoil of previous years, and worked right up till tho time they retired, and if they were not' entitled to some recognition then he did not know who was. He thought they should receive ■ something on a sliding scale. Thoso who were perhaps receiving ,£IOO a year when they retired, received only two-thirds of their salary by wav of superannuation. How could ft man live on a. sum like that? The State ought not to allow that kind of thing to go on, and it was the duty of whatever Government was in power to put afi end to 6uch a state of affairs.

The "No Money" Argument, Captain Barclay said a petition was at present being circulated asking that tho circumstances of retired Public Servants should bo taken into account by tho Government. It was no use sayiDg that there was no money to meet the claims of retired Publio Servants. If New Zealand could find hundreds of millions to go to war, she could find ft few thousand pounds to maintain in decency those who had served in the Public Service in the best years, of their life. Ho believed it was quite true that two-thirds of the Superannuation Fund came out of the pockets of the Civil Sen-ants. It. was not a question of the scalo upon, which a man could live when depending on his pension—what the man had to study was not the price of a thing, but what he could possibly do without in order to struggle along at all. that was the position that ought to be made perfectly clear. There was any quantity of money in tho country—tho thing was to get it moving. -Mr. It. W. S. Ballantyne (Auckland! said the association there comprised all classes of persons who had formerly been employed Tn tho Government sen-ice Similar bodies had been formed in other parts of tho Dominion, and, m Dunedin, the railwaymeii had been glad to get the co-operation of the nesocwbOD. ..oma Publio Servants had been retired on an allowanco of .£l2 per year. A voice: .£3 Js. A "Live" Body Required. Mr Bnllantvne said he did not know how fomo of these people were existing. The association would have to bo a live body in order to eecure recognition from tho Government. One speaker stated that when going round tho city trying to obtain signatures for a petition to Parliament, he had found that there was a gocd dnal of distress among ex-Public Servants. The meeting resolved to farm a branch of the association in Wellington, and the following committee was appomtal: —Captain Barclay, Messrs. Ct. HJignt, J. B. Armit, H. B. Gilbert, G. Wonfold, E, G. Hvde. G. Girling-Butoher, I. Buckler, F. W. Eevell, and W. Mnkin.