OLD AGE PENSIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 2976, 13 June 1899, Page 3

OLD AGE PENSIONS.

The London Daily Neios, m a recent ■ issue, said :— The preliminary work m ' .connection with the New Zealand Old ' Age Pensions Act has now been done. ' It appears that the number of pensions 1 to be granted during the first year is ' not at all likely to exceed the Govern--1 ment'd estimate, and, therefore, that no " financial difficulty is expected to embarrass the working of the scheme for the present. The most curious result, how- ' ever, of the Act's working so far, is the ' very marked increase iv the measure's | popularity. As a rule, novel experi--1 ments of the kind, so far from exciting ' enthusiasm, reach their maximum of un- " popularity during the first few months 1 after they come into operation. Mistakes 1 are made, discomfort inflicted, flaws disr covered, and friction caused. But m the Old Age Pensions Act the contrary has happened. The public examination of 1 the applicants for the pensions has brought home to the- understanding of [ the people of the colony the tragic meaning of failure m life, and poverty m old 1 age: A very large majority of the applicants have obviously;, been genuine suf- " ferers from life's misfortunes. Many of i of them have been pioneer colonists, who had m early life braved dangers and r hardships m the rough work of settle--1 ment. The recital of their ill-luck and necessities has touched public sentiment m New Zealand m a marked and | unlooked-for manner, and the Old Age 1 Pensions Act has " caught on " to the 1 sympathies and imagination of the colonists m proportion a9 they have come to realise the practical good work that 1 there was for it to do.