The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1907. TEACHERS' SUPERANNUATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13288, 17 May 1907, Page 4

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1907. TEACHERS' SUPERANNUATION.

We hope that time will not falsify Mr Valentine's prediction that the teachers' superannuation fund will never become a charge upon the general taxpayer, though we must confess that his arguments do not appear to be particlarly convincing m the point. In the first place Mr Fowlds did not require Ministerial experience to give him an idea of the probable condition in which a fund started upon an unsound basis would'find itself after the lapse of a few yeans. When he was a private member, the present Minister for Education was convinced that the Government 'was shirking its responsibilities in regard to the fund, and unfortunately he has not been able to change his opinion that a State, subvention will be required to meet all tlie demands which will be made upon the fund. We feel tolerably safe in saying that Mr Fowlds has not neglected to look into this question since he joined the Cabinet—at any rate, if lie has not ' done so, it is not for want of reminders about Ms searching criticism of the scheme when it was being passed through the House-of Representatives. Mr Valentine is, therefore, trusting probably to a broken reed in presuming that the Ministers comparative inexperience is responsible for his continuous distrust of the fund's ability to nieet the drain of the future. As a matter of fact, Mr Fowlds has been in charge of the Education Department for the same length of time as Mr Hall-Jones lias held the portfolio ! of Railways, and as long ago as March ab least, Mr Hall-Jones had realised the weakness of the railway superannuation fund, and vre sea no reason to suppose that Mr Fowlds woidd 1 e slower than his colleague to acquaint himself with the detailia of matters coming under liis control. However, we shall not argue that point. We shall be only too pleased, as no doubt Mr Fowlds himself will be, "to find that the teachers' I fund is iself-supporting, and that Mr Valentine has not looked at its position through rose-coloured spectacles. We should not ■ advise anyone, however, to place too ready a reliance upon the optimism of 'Sir Joseph Ward in preference to the calculations of the somewhat discredited actuaries. Mr Valentine quotes the experience of an English railway company in support of the prevalent idea that actuaries are inclined to demand unnecessary securities for (superannuation funds, but we fancy the instance is a rather unhappy one. There was some talk of that very company in Parliament last session, and tho Government were asked to produce the latest actuarial report upon the position of the fund, but the request wara never acceded to. But leaving the rather unsatisfactory region of theory, it is interesting to compare the benefits offered by the teachers' superannuation fund with similar benefits offered to the public by insurance companies which are ready to sell annuities on a sort of instalment system. A teacher joining the fund at the age of 30 is required to pay in six per cent, of his salary, so. that if he is in continuous receipt of £2OO a year till he is 60, he will pay £l2 a year and on retiring at 60 will receive an annuity of £IOO. According to a prospectus' just issued by one of the insurance companies, a man 30 years of age who desireß to secure at 60 an annuity of £IOO, is required to pay a premium of £2l 15s 10d a year. We ' recognise, of course, that the insurance, company has a proiit and expenses which the teachers' fund is not obliged to .support, but making allowance for that, there is still a big difference between the teacher's premium of £l2 and the private individual's premium of nearly £22. Either the insurance company isseeking a huge profit, or the superannuation fund is running a. big risk of insolvenev.