LIMITING HELP

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3825, 23 October 1936, Page 10

LIMITING HELP

ASSISTANCE ONLY TO THOSE IN NEED. “All assistance is given or should be given only to those who are in need,” said Sir John Simon, in a recent speech in the House of Commons. “That is not merely what is in the Statute of 1934; it is the groundwork, the basis, upon which relief to persons who cannot otherwise maintain themselves, is given. No one would suggest that public money should be distributed without regard to means, the principle of ‘to each according to his need.’ “In the case of the non - contributory old age pension I am an old enough Member of this House to remember when the scheme was introduced, and it has always been the case, under all Governments, that the pension is paid only where the means of the applicant do not exceed certain limits fixed by Statute. “Nobody ever suggested tfiat noncontributory old age pensions should be distributed broadcast without any reference to means. “The Labour Government’s Bill dealing with the School Leaving Age provided for the raising of the school age with maintenance allowances. That Bill— Sir Charles Trevelyan’s Bill—made provision, not that those allowances should be given to every parent whose child was kept on at school but that they should be given only to those parents who satisfied a means test, and a schedule to the Bill gave the form of claim for those allowances. “It was not merely the case under that Bill that before the maintenance allowance was granted, it was necessary to be satisfied that the father of the child had not the resources necessary. It was also necessary to be satisfied on the same point as regards the mother of the child. “All I am saying, and I claim to have proved it, is not in the idea of a test of means, when you are dealing with social legislation giving relief, something which in its nature requires it to be condemned offhand as an evil thing. It is a question of degree, of method and of reason. “A man who has lost his job may be the owner of cottages which are paying to him a small weekly revenue in the form of rent. Another man may have an investment in some form or other. The first thing I would ask hon. Members to consider is whether they really take the view that, as regards personal resources it is to be laid down that no means test should be applied? I should have thought that that was an impossible contention. “I am asking the House to take the view that in giving public money to meet the needs of people who have no contractual right to receive a particular sum, it is surely right to take their personal resources into account.