The Hawera Star. THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1926, FAMILY ALLOWNANCES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 19 August 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1926, FAMILY ALLOWNANCES.

Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, N'otiiianby, Okuiawa, Eltluun, Mangatold. Kaponga, Alton, ITurleyvitle, Patea, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamara, Oliangai, Heremere, Eraser Road and' Ararat*!.

The House of Representatives sat until. an early hour tliis morning to pass the second reading of a. measure which will do something to win. back for New Zealand her lost distinction of leading tho world in social and humanitarian legislation. The principle of the Family Allowances Bill, while it has been applied sectionally in other countries as a part of industrial organisation, has not hitherto been embodied in legislation as a national policy; and the experiment in the Dominion. will bo followed with keen interest by political students in many lands. Significant of the feeling of the Legislature oil this question is the fact that the one. line of criticism of the Bill has been that its proposals are not. sufficiently generous. Government and) Opposition are united in support of the principle; and Sir Joseph Ward, veteran of the old-time (Liberal Administration which gave New Zealand its first beneficent pensions legislation, adds bis blessing to the latest extension of that beginning. That the proposals will meet with some hostile criticism from extreme Conservatives in the country is not improbable. There are those still who look upon the old age pension as an unjust burYten on the taxpayer. But these diehards are few and far between; so that, in general, the readiness of Parr Lament to accept the principle of assistance to families may be taken as typical of the mind of the electorate. It is not proposed to squander money. The allowance itself is as small! as it could be without reducing the scheme to an absurdity, it does not operate unless there are more than, two children under the ago of fifteen years, and it ceases when the total income of the family touches £4 a week. That will not encourage waste. Indeed, it is to be hoped that the Government will see its way before long to increase the allowance per capita, although it. is hotter to err on the low side, both in that respect and in fixing the income limit, at which payments shall cease. There is a. certain justice in the Opposition’s criticism that the two shillings does little more than affirm the principle; but if t-he Labour Party were given full scope, it might easily wreck tho scheme by so liberalising it as to undermine the independence of beneficiaries. With the growing tendency towards State interference in social land economic conditions, the community must be constantly on its guard agaiußt any weakening of that spirit of thrift and enterprise which enables men to rise superior to their environment and to make the most of life. Under the present. Bill, however, this spirit is not in any immediate danger. The Government has wisely stipulated that the allowances must be paid to mothers and expended exclusively for the benefit of the children. While the position of parents who are 'honestly struggling to rear a family on an average weekly income of less than £4 should command the sympathy of everyone more favourably circumstanced', it cannot be denied that many men whose earnings are below that mark are paid no more than their worth. In the crowded countries of tho Old World, failure to make headway may bo due almost entirely to misfortune and lack of opportunity. In favoured New Zealand, where opportunity knocks almost continuously, it is more often due to weak character, spendthrift habits, or pare laziness. Not all the soap-box oratory, nor all the political tears in the world, will alter that fact. The man who loafs, or squanders his time and substance in purposeless and profitless living, has no right to expect symi>athy from his fellows nor assistance from the ■State. But the unfortunate, part of it is that such men frequently are found with wives and families; .and the ease of these women and children, is in a different. category. The woman, who marries a “waster” has made a mistake, the consequences of which she must endure often to the end of her days* But because hers 5«, a. mistake which cannot, bo rectified —probably which was not realised until- too late —her plight ex-, cites tho sympathy of those about her; and this sympathy is strengthened end turned to more tangible shape by the arrival of children. The mother may have been foolish or blind in her marriage; but the children are innocent of blame. Their condition is not of llieir own making or choosing; and, the obligation of the community to help tlitful is not circumscribed by any fear that it is endowing shiftlessness and indolence. It is a blot on tho record of civilisation that, the world may be robbed of a great scientist or a great musician because of tUe poverty of his home. But any scheme of aid devised to obviate, this possibility must be, so

hedged about with restrictions as to ensure that the deserving- children, and not the good-for-nothing father, shall benefit. These restrictions are provided in the Bill now before Parliament. If the amount of relief bo small, it is yet not sOi small as to be negligible to the recipients—the annual allowance per child is more than the amount of Australia’s baby bonus —and increases may be expected to follow once the scheme has proved' itself in operation. Meanwhile, many a New Zealand mother will have cause to give thanks for extra, pairs, of boots, or warm winter clothes for her little ones, made available by the new legislation. Wc are the healthiest people in the world and one of tho wealthiest. What a consummation if our legislation were to proclaim us to the. heavens as the kindliest, and by 'its application to make even the least fortunate amongst us some, of the happiest!