SIR ROBERT STOUT AND THE POVERTY PROBLEM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9023, 31 October 1892, Page 3

SIR ROBERT STOUT AND THE POVERTY PROBLEM.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—The article by Sir Robert Stout, in your columns a few weeks ago, on old-age pensions and annuities, as a remedy for poverty, should enlist the serious consideration of thoughtful men. I have long advocated in the press and otherwise a system of old-age pensions whereby every citizen upon attaining a certain age should receive a pension sufficient to keep him free from want for the remainder of his life. It is not since Mr. Chamberlain propounded his scheme in Great Britain that this method of vanishing the gaunt spectre of pauperism from the State has received the attention of social reformers. So long ago as 1850 a law was passed in France whereby subscribers had the right to receive annuities from a State fund called "Caisse des Retraces " after the age of 50. In 1886 the law was remodelled, and is now in operation in the French Republic. Not only persons who have attained the required age, but also those disabled by wounds or permanently invalided in consequence of accidents, are entitled to relief. There are at the present time in France 391,006 subscribers to the fund, and there are 167,000 pensioners receiving on an average £7 12s per head per annum. The system is purely voluntary so far, but most of the advanced reformers in France are in favour of making it compulsory. Last year a Bill was introduced in the French Chamber by MM. Constans and Rouvier, Ministers of the Interior and of Finance, which provides for the raising of a national fund, out of which annuities shall be paid to working men with incomes under £120 a year. It appears that the annual charge to insurers under this law is to be £1 Ms 3d. The liability of the State is calculated at £4,600,000 in 30 years, but some actuaries have expressed the opinion that in 70 years the capital in the " Caisse " wilt be as much as £480,000,000. Other continental nations have attempted to grapple with the insurance problem in a more or less tentative and experimental manner. In 1883, the Italian Parliament passed a 'aw by which a so-called national insurance fund, Cassa Nazionale, was established. By this law, a convention was ratified between the Government and a syndicate of banks, whereby the latter provided a national insurance fund against death or disablement. From the evidence given before the Labour Commission, in England, with regard to this fund, I gather that there have been throughout the whole Kingdom of Italy only about ■344,000 operatives insured in this fund since its establishment. The fund insures against fatal and all other accidents, In cases of death or permanent disability, a capital sum not exceeding £400 can be insured. In cases of temporary disability, a daily grant from the fifth day, not exceeding the insurer's wages, and in no case above 4s per diem, is made. The average annual premiums paid were about 13s 4d per centum. A Bill has been introduced in the Italian Chamber of Deputies by Signor Berti, making insurance against accident compulsory, but the Bill says nothing ahout old age. In Germany there is a compulsory Jaw of insurance against accidents whereby trade associations are formed " Berufogenosseuschaften" to provide funds to compensate those injured by accidents. There are now in Germany 112 of these associations with 12,831,246 insured persons. The contributions which supply the necessary funds are entirely furnished by employers. A new Act came into force on January Ist, 1891, in Germany providing for compulsory State insurance against old age or infirmity. This Act includes in its meshes all persons over 16 years of age who work for wages and would be liable to be left destitute by inability to work. The contributions which provide the necessary funds are furnished in equal parts by employers and employed with the addition of a fixed Government grant to each pension. It will thus be seen that we in New Zealand are not by any means the pioneers in proposing a system of compulsory insurance against old age. There is a consensus of opinion throughout the world that in this system is to be found a key to the solution of the poverty problem. I agree very largely with my friends of the Anti-Poverty Society as to the relation that exists between poverty and a bad laud system, but it seems to me that concurrently with the best possible system of land tenure a large mass of poverty must necessarily exist from a variety of causes, and to eradicate this I regard the insurance proposal as the best method yet devised.— am, etc., October 29th, 1892. W. J. Napier. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— difficulties that surround the solution ol this problem are greater the more we consider the question of State Insurance. The average life of a clerk is but 34 years, and this is also the average among teachers. Machinists are outlived by printers, the average of the former being but 38 years, while that of the latter is 39. Musicians live a year longer. The years of life of an editor are 40, and of manufacturers, brokers, painters, shoemakers, and mechanics, 43. Judges live to be 65 years of age on an average, and farmers to be 64. Bank officers also live to be 64 on an average. The duration of life of coopers is 58, of public officers 57, of clergymen 56, of shipwrights 55, of hatters 54, of lawyers and ropemakei'S 54, of blacksmiths 51, of merchants, calico printers, and physicians 51, of butchers 50, of carpenters 59, of masons 48, of traders 46, of tailors and jewellers 44. From this list only three classes have an average life of over 60: judges, bankers, and farmers ! And as to the causes of low averages among the poor, the late Chas. Reade said: " Two-thirds of the distress of the lower orders is owing to this — that they are more madly prodigal than the rich in the worst, lowest, and most dangerous item of all human prodigality." I was once living in a town when a medical gentleman came on a visit. Of course he was much in request for consultation by the poor and needy, and before leaving he assured me that three-fourths of the ailments of the community arose from.insufficiency of food. Their bodies were not able to withstand the inroads of disease from want of nourishment, and charitable aid in that town could only keep body and soul together !—I am, &c., AIiPHA,