SOME VIEWS ON THE PENSIONS BILL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11126, 19 January 1899, Page 3

SOME VIEWS ON THE PENSIONS BILL.

OHAEITY OE EIGHT ? [danevirke correspondent.] The wisdom of those who were instrumental in introducing the old age pension scheme is beginning to be very much questioned in this district. The method of ascertaining whether an applicant is eligible for a pension has quite opened the eyes of a very large number, and the system rendered necessary by the law of the land is being- decried as an insult to the deserving poor, and the heaping upon applicants of unwarrantable indignities. The fact of the matter is that the system at the first outset has proved to be the failure it was predicted it would be. The preamble of the Act says very plausibly that when a person has contributed to the colony's revenue for 25 or 30 years through the medium of the colony's taxation, and has moreover contributed to the development of the resources of the colony by the exercise of his energy and skill, "it is only equitable and just that he should receive a pension." That as it stands is well enough ; bnfc is the Act being administered in that way? The experience of thoso who have attended any of the sittings of the Investigation Courts goes to prove the opposite. Who, for example, has done the colony more good than the settler who has husbanded his resources, who has been thrifty and provident ? Is it a sign that because a man may be poor as the proverbial church mouse that he has succumbed to the heat and burden of the day, and that his contribution to the revenue, and the assistance he has rendered in developing the country's resources are responsible for this state of things. Without wishing to reflect in any way upon those who are or may be applicants for the relief in this way offered, it must be admitted that in the majority of instances their position proves that they have done nothing of the sort. The condition of only too many of the applicants must be attributed to their endeavors to carry out impossibilities, to burn the candle at both ends, or in other words to eat the cake and retain it at the same time. There are, it is true, cases in which the position of the applicants is entirely due to circumstances beyond their control, but, broadly speaking, are these cases not the exception, and not the rule. The chief claim to a pension seems to lie in the consideration that the applicant has nothing, or very close to it ; that the earning power of tho applicant is just a shade above the starvation point, and one or two minor facts concerning residence and character. In what other way, then, can the pension be construed than as a charity? But, someone objects, it is nothing of the kind, because from the reading of the preamble it is claimed as a matter of right. But if that be so, who has more right to this thing than the person who, during his sojourn here, has made the most of his opportunities in the direction of increasing the wealth of the colony? And that being so, how ia it that snoh a one ia debarred from applying for the " pension "? The very fact of a distinction being made stamps it as a charity, and 'for that reason it wore bettor ■ that the scheme came out iv its true colors. Do we say that the aged poor should not be granted help ? Not at all; but let the system be an honest one. The indiscriminate and promiscuous nature of our distribution of charity has, as has often been pointed out, done more to retard our progress as a oolony than any other agency iye cqulcl name. People go through life in the most careless and improvident manner, and arrive at old age with nothing to show for the blessings and opportunities which conic more or less in the way of all. They cannot then b 3 left starve, and as ,7 result they beoome a tax on the thrifty and provident, who are thus taxed in a double way. Is this an encouragement to thrift ? Will such a method not rathei tend to greatly increase the number oi those qualifying for a pension ? It is all very well to point out that in the future all will pay into the pension fund. The effect of this will be quite the same. The improvident will have nothing to pay in, and if they had they have riot the inclination, as the experience of so many pf our friendly societies so amply proves. The burden of tho affair will still devolve upon the industrious and saving, and because they have saved they will t)e debarred from any privileges attaching to the system. Does it not seem reasonable to suppose that the prospect of a pension will save many the trouble of preparing for fche necessities of pld age? And with the spread of sucl). feelings, the source of the revenue necessary pa th.c conduct pf large philanthropic enterprises begin to be rather dim and hazy. Under our present sysfcen) it cannot be questioned that insufficient encouragement is given to those inclined to be independent and every inducement is held out to thoso "born tired" to expeot that in their old age they will bo looked after somehow. Creditable as this may be to the motives animating those in authority, and satisfactory as it may be in theory, practice shows it to be utterly unworkable. Eecently the question of the superiority of the Scot has been widely discussed. His success none can doubt, and tho reason of it must be admitted to be duo as largely to his sturdy independence and hip jndoir.itible perseverance as to his native atld proverbial eaiinineso. To do anything calculated to sap the independenco aDd self-reliance of any people is about the worst thing that one could do for them ; to foster it and stimulate it, the greatest service. This the scheme, under notice wllf net 'cZo. .straws sjiovr the direction 'of the current, 4^4 short as has been tfre time flnving which the system might be really tested, there are already unmiatakeable indications that the lazy, the parasitical growth on any community, will serenely take from the hand of kind providence whatever it has to offer, and thank God that they are not as other men who have to toil hard for all they get, and are thereby dabarred from the enjoyments of the pleasyraa y/hjeh £0 to the way of the eaay-goingr " '•-'•'