THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Morning. Nelson, Monday, May ?, 1906. A NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11620, 7 May 1906, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily — Morning. Nelson, Monday, May ?, 1906.

A NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME.

On the occasion of opening an Old Men's Home at Masterton recently, the Premier made reference to his scheme of national pensions. After stating that the amount paid in pensions last year was £25-4,367* he said he wished New Zealand to take the lead in the British Ehipire in providing national annuities. His scheme was that anyone should be able to deposit a certain sum ' monthly, say at the Post Ofiice, and I that the amount wonld be subaiI dised by the Government in prropor- | tion to the means of the depositor. A 1 poor person's deposit he proposed j should be subsidised to the extent of 123 per cent, and the subsidy would be decreased to 10 per cent in proporton to the means of the depositor. Interest and compound interest would be paid on the deposit, and the whole amount would provide an annuity for old age. If the husband paid in something he would not be allowed to touch it without tbo conBent of his wife, and a^wii'e making a deposit would not be allowed to touch it without the consent of her husband. He believed that 90 per cent of the people would take advantage of this ruethod'of providing for their old age. If such a scheme were established, he said, there would be lobs required for old age pensions, nnd for charitable aid, and after all the public purse was tho '; purse of the people, and he hoped I the scheme would be participated in | by 'all classes of the community. ! young and old, married and single. All his spare moments were being devoted to an elaboration of the j scheme, so as to make the legislation i as perfect as possible. As the Premier indicated, systems jof insurance exist in Germany and jin Belgium, but we believe these ! only apply to working men, and that : the funds aro provided by workers * and employers, the latter contribufc- : iug two-thirds. Compulsory insuranco against acei- ! dent and sickness, as well as to j make provision in old age, is no new ! suggestion, and until Mr Seddon '.s ! scheme is definitely formulated it j cannot, of course.be fully criticised. 'The great "difficulty in respect to compulsory insurance is that a man after paying his contributions for a time may find it impossible to continue to do so- either through sickness, disablement, or want of employment—but in the scheme that has been outlined this appears, to a certain extent to be got over. Many practical difficulties however, are likely to present themselves, for current calls on the pocket are likely to lead to deposits being deferred, and it is evident that unless the deposits, together with the Governl ment subsidy, are sufficient to secure an annuity that will provide something like comfort the object of the scheme will not be attained. How the amount of the Government, subsidy is to be apportioned we are not told, but we fear that the suggested method will occasion no end of dissatisfaction, for how can any officer apportion equitably, in accordance with a man's means and the calls he may have upon him, a subsidy ranging from ten to twenty-live per cent on the amount of his contrbutions. The probabilities are that it will be found|necessary to fix a subsidy applicable to all so as to avoid that difficulty. At the age of 65 an annuity of about £11 a year may be purchased for £100, so that to be of practical service a man would need to deposit before he attained that age sufficient, with interest, to have j accumulated £400, which, with a j subsidy of 25 per cent, would give enough to buy an annuity of say £55 a year. Probably there are many who appreciate the vicissitudes of life who would make some provision in this way, and if the scheme induces thrift it will certainly be advantageous, but we are afraid that there will be many who. try a they may, will find it difficult to make adequate provision for old age. Nevertheless, if the scheme benefits a large nnmber, seeing that the old age pension will be within reach of those who cannot gain an annuity I sufficiently large to place them out jof reach of such pension, there J should be cause for satisfaction. I ■ -i ■ IIIHI