PHILANTHROPIC STATESMEN.

Hastings Standard, Issue 12, 9 May 1896, Page 2

PHILANTHROPIC STATESMEN.

There appears to be developing among the statesmen of Australasia a questionable kind of philanthropy. The death of a leading politician or public servant is seized upon for a display of cheap benevolence. The widow of the deceased, if there happens to be one, must be made the recipient of a compassionate allowance, varying in amount according to the position held by the deceased. We fail to see -why the widows of politicians and public servants should be singled out for such special consideration. Those who seek fame in the field of politics and those who labor in the public interest are invariably well paid for their services, and should be able to make provision for those dependent upon them. There may be a case now and again where unforseen circumstances have prevented any provision being made for wife and family, and in such cases a state dole would be excusable; but these compassionate allowances are becoming the rule rather than the exception. It would, perhaps, be better for the country to insist upon members of Parliament assuring their lives for a certain minimum sum, the premiums on which could be paid out

of the honorarium. Such a scheme would be preferable to the indiscriminate State charity that seems so fashionable just now. Y> e are induced to refer to this matter by the fact that the widow and some of the children of the much-married Sir Henry Parkes are to be treated as State paupers.