MR T. E. TAVLOR, M.P., ON OLD AGE PENSIONS.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12505, 5 April 1909, Page 4

MR T. E. TAVLOR, M.P., ON OLD AGE PENSIONS.

;; A PROPQSFi) ALTERATION. "^(Special +,o i^ Colonist.") krT F -ip April 3.. +i,f« i x J -' Ta y lo r, M.P., speaking at i Sm % J^"^ ATTn ? festivallast nilbt, ?K 1 -ft* a e±t ich horned one ol Vil, alls , :^' Th 6 e » rth is the Lord's, and. the^ fulness thereof," appealed to '+i lm v. -- ■ s^ emed ouly right that when the harvest was gathered.they should oftor jip thanks for the bountifuhiess of _the earth, in New Zealand they had n pt an eqiial distribution of the fidness-of.tiio earth, and the social ana^ecpnonu^ .^conditions should be such that '.mfjn and women possessing: good citiz&nship ■-„ should never be Jifunted by the fear of poverty. ' One cculd not «uo much in a session,, but he going, to see. that there was an aliteration/m the Old Age Pensions Act, or.a dea.l of. business would be blocked m the House. When the Bill was passed ; in the House. One of the mp_st"b urnane .^pieces of legislation Passed by .the Parliament was the Old A'.ge Pensions Act; and he was alway s proud h© was in the House wheiv the Bill was passed, and had:' ahand -in .^making it a workable -the Act Ought to have/been universal inits application. Hfj did not think that the cost of the' npme should be counted against the pension. For instance a maa who had .been thrifty, and had striven all his Me to get a home together, and^owned a cottage worth £300, was; debarred trom the benefit, of a pension,- while his next door neighbour,- who might nave been careless and wasted his S?W) -.grew: the. pension. He (Mr Taylor) did not.thihk -that was right. It # was a serious -dofect, but he was goin&tib agitate 'so persistently that the House would grant, an alteration. One other thing he would like tomen.faq n> _ anjfl. t&at was; that whilst a ; great' deal had been done in regard to the wipation of the land of thecbun-' try, there was not nearly .enough doneyet, and more would probably be heard in. the next year of -two. Where a man had labour, and was willing to use it, the Government should givehim a chance to bring his labour into use, and should provide land so that he could pr'oviae forhis family's maintenance. "If these two things, are .provided for," said Mr Taylor, in con--chision, "every man who has health mil have a full share of the fulness of the earth." ■".. Vu ll^?™"" 15 , *° Mif Taylor's speech, the "LjHitelton Times" says, editbrial?7j—''^ tfae happy little "speech with; which he opened: the harvest tfstival at the Salvation Army Barracks, last night. Mr T." E. "Taylor again alluded to his "intention t»: Urge upon the Government an amendment: Df *ne Old Age. Pensions, Act that will enable old people in -possession of homes of .their own to draw full pensions. It is pleasant to be abl&to.wish t/ie member for. Christchurch North success in his campaign. .Speaking on this subj ect in .the House of ■ Representatives last-year, Sir. Joseph Ward said, that the immediate, cost of the concession would be £19,000 or £20000 a year, and that abolition of the prop&rty disqualification, would inevitably lead to universal pensions. We confess' that^we are not able to fbllow'the' Prime Minister in his argument, but assuming that the cost would f«Jifch the figure_he stated, we believe it would be amply ;, : jxistified -by the re^sults. The advantage of encouraging the workers to provide themselves with homes for their old age' must be obvious, to Greryo"iie, and we cannot' see- that by. paying a full pension. to ■a. man .«rwaing a home wortli £400 or ££•00, the State would place itself under any obligation to; treat the man of independent -means in the_ same way". At present universal pensions are but .of' ths question.- -The3 r would involve the State in an annual liability of considerably over a million a year, and would not improve the position of the people :who' really need assistance. However, Mr Taj-ior is not askingTbr such a sweeping mea.sure. as this, and we believe that he will have the sup-: port of a very substantial, section of the ' House in the reform he is seeking. He, at any rate, had the warm sympathy of the audience he was addressing, last night."