OLD AGE PENSIONS.

Evening Star, Issue 9688, 4 May 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

OLD AGE PENSIONS.

PROM A WOMAN’S SI ’’ANDPOINT.

The following paper wai i read by Mrs Trainor (one of the Exeout. ive) at the last meeting of the Women’s Franc hise League Old age pensions have long ' been a recog. nised institution in almost e\ iery civilised community, but the system of t administering pensions is altogether unjust and wholly inadequate to supply the necei isities of any save a favored few, who, after thirty years of service in any Government billet at salaries varying from £3OO to £I,OOO, are eligible to be pensioned by the i State for the remainder of their life. The rea son for this provision being made is that, at i they have given the best years of their life to the servic of the State, it is the duty of thelatte rto provide for them in their declining years, altogether ignoring the fact that during th« dr term of service they were handsomely rt munerated —certainly not handicapped in tile struggle of life by the harassing thought that nothing was laid aside for old age. Now, it is a fact that is beginning gradually to dawn on the obscure intelligc nee of our statesmen and philanthropists that eveiy one who is engaged in any occupation of whatever description tending to ti .c production or development of auy I .ranch of industry, whether of hand or b rain, contributes to the well-being of l he State equally with tho Government emp loyc, and unsolaccd by the comfortable assurance that in old age he will ho amply provided for. Docs not the farmer, by lh. i sweat of his brow and the labor of his hand convert the forests into fields waving wi th "oldc u grain, and fragrant with the pi ;rfnme c( sweet scented hay? Docs not tl ic d’>., er who prospects ami fossicks for th e precious minerals among most uncongenial surround, ings, and often under almost insun nonnlahlo difficulties ? Does not the nmnufaet uror, who invests his capital in building warehouses and employing a number of people to conduct his business ? And so 1 might go on indefinitely. All those, and ir. altitudes more, spend their lives in the service of the State as surely as those in the Civil Service. That being so, it is the bounden di ity of the State to inaugurate a scheme of pensions that all (without distinction of sex, creed, or position) shall be eligible to share in when they are unfit to engage in auy rein unerativc employment. Assuming that such a responsibility rests on the State, and tho t it will in the near future have to be faced and reduced to practice, the next questi on is

WHERE ARE THE FUNDS TO COMB FROM ? That, I admit, is a difficult question to answer. The Consolidated Revenue ought to form the basis of the fund, and it should be supplemented from a multitude c-f sources Some suggestions in that direction I will briefly summarise. The death duties ought to be increased from 5 to 10 per cent, graduating them according to the value of the estate, Those in receipt of pensions and now living out of the colony ought to he taxed 50 per cent. Absentee landlords should be taxed 30 per cent. ; single men iu receipt of £IOO and upwards, with no one depending on them, should pay Id in the S and spinsters likewise. Widowers aiu*. widows without encumbrance should he similarly taxed. All incomes of £2OO and under, where there is a family, should he exempted from taxation; over £2OO Id iu the £ and upwards, according to income. The demands on the chari table aid boards will then be considerably reduced, and from that source alone there should accrue an annual income of several thousands tf pounds. All spirituous liquors should W taxed Id in the £.

THE NEXT Hm-TCUETV would be in getting reliable informationas to the incomes of families and individuals. In the promotion of a scheme tint will benefit all without pauperism; any the tendency to shirk payment should be almost nil, Vv hat age should be fixed oa which to receive the pension ? , I would answer fifty-five years for women and sidy for men, it being generally admitted that women are not physically so robust as ixea But no hard and fast rules should bo down in this direction. If either womenor men wish to continue working after the ik above mentioned they should be allowed (o do so, it being understood that they are tit eligible to receive a pension until they lm ceased to earn anything. No one shoil receive a pension who had not been i resident in the colony for twenty yeqn. Neither should anyone be eligible who Jw been before the Court for drunkenness ot any other offence twice during the preceding five years. Should the adoption of old age pensions ever become an accomplished faetand public opinion is trending slowly but surely in that direction—there are a host of details and figures to be considered which, in a brief paper, cannot be attempted. The fact that a petition cleat mg with this subject has been for two successive years discussed iu the British begialature is a hopeful sign of its ultimate accomplishment. Although the Bill was thrown out, it will yet be championed successfully through the House, and its pro, moters aud supporters will receive counties! benedictions from present aud future gene, rations.

. WJIAT SHAL, ‘ TIIK I'EN'SrOV hr? various have been the sums mentioned that each pensioner shall receive. Twelve shillings per week for one and £1 for two would probably be a sum that would meet with general approval. Eight shillings haa been the sum suggested by some who have been discussing this subject, and even as little as 4s or 5s per week ; but this latter is a sum utterly inadequate to provide the most common necessaries of life. Closely allied "’llll the duty of providing tor our aged and infirm is the equally responsiblu duty of providing for young ciiiddrex who are left orphans. Our charitable aid boards will, as heretofore, have the supervision of these and other incidental cases that are of frequent occurrence, such as wife desertion, prolonged sickness, etc. The next question is: How will this contemplated taxation, which is to be derived from such a multitude of sources, be collected ? Having to pay a large stall of collectors would of necessity involve a large expenditure, and that idea may be dismissed at once. It might, in the case of those who have large incomes, be collected along with the Income Tax. Numbers, how. ever, who do not contribute to that tax would have to do so to the pension fund. I therefore suggest that when employes receive their salary they should leave with their employer a receipt stamp for every penny they have to pay. Such proposals as the two I have mentioned have at least the recommendation of costing nothing. Fortunately we live in an age when everyone ia not only entitled to the benefit of their own opinion, but when every facility is also given for the free expression and discussion of our opinions. We also live in what may be emphatically termed the woman’s era, 1 repudiate any connection with the New Woman, as portrayed by certain writers, but 1 am propd to ulaim kiudred with all women who not only endeavor to cultivate and bring out all that is best in themselves, but who strenuously endeavor to bring about a like result in ethers. During all the past centuries our laws have been made exclusively’ by men—pardou me, but I think, from a woman’s standpoint, almost entirely for men. A good many of our laws should be wiped off the Statute Book altogether, and others want amending in many directions. Now that woman’s political disability is removed, it is clearly the duty of all who can do so to express their views on all questions that are brought forward for the welfare of the community as a whole, whether these questions are of a social, industrial, or political nature. Women should take these questions up and discuss them, and disseminate their own views all over the colony. For this reason and many others I have placed before you in this short paper a few of my own opinions re the old age pension scheme. Crude and faulty many of my suggestions doubtless are, but I trust that many more capable than I will give this contemplated reform a vigorous push along, and that the future historian will be able to epitomise its successful accomplishment among the archives of New Zealand history*