Page 6 Advertisements Column 4

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15551, 7 March 1914, Page 6

HUMANITARIAN LEGISLATION. Canada lags a long way behind NewZealand in progressive and humanitarian legislation. The Hon. Mr. White, Minister for Finance in the Dominion Cabinet, declares that! public opinion is not ready for old j age pensions, and possibly he is I right. The trades unions of Canada j have been endeavouring for some I years to educate the public on the' New Zealand and Australian Old J Age Pensions Acts, and about a year j ago a strong plea was made by the representatives of organised Labour for the institution of a system of pensions. There is a system of | State annuities, which is calculated! to help the thrifty, but it is not nearly so far-reaching as the old age pensions systems with which New Zealand and Australia are familiar. Compensation to workmen for accidents is generally considered a more burning question in Canada than old age pensions. Most of the provinces have Workers' Compensation Acts, but they are admittedly unsatisfactory. There are no such institutions in Canada as State maternity homes. In no other English-speaking community does the State confine itself so strictly to the role of government, to the exclusion of the humanitarian and industrial effort so intimately associated with the functions of the State in Zealand. |New Zealand.