"A PENALTY ON THE THRIFTY"

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2624, 20 November 1915, Page 6

"A PENALTY ON THE THRIFTY"

ADMINISTRATION CONDEMNED BY COMBINED PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES WAS. LEAGUE RECOMMENDATIONS

TKo Wartonsions 'Acfrcamo'.in for some Imore'severe, critioism at a meeting 'of deleRates from - .Patriotic Societies held in Wellington, yesterday.' '7 . Mr. ;j. Ongley (Mayor of Foilding) made Teferenoe to. the'niggardly, administration of the Act, as .'shown by' the fact that very .few .applicants; wei'o,being granted full pensions. Patriotic Societies were' being asked to supplement these inadequate pensions. :

, Mr. W. Ferguson: I am afraid there will. be a tendency 'on the , part, of the authorities to Teply on the patriotic funds to supplement pensions by application to the funds. . > .1' think all onr pensions legislation is entirely, wrong—old oge .pensions, and all the rest. If a pereon; is thrifty we penalise, him for his thrift, and if a person is improvident we pay him for : it. That is entirely -wrong 'in; my'.opinion.-. I think, a person who has been thrifty should be encouraged by getting a little .Teivard for his thrift. Need for Vigilance. Mr.' J. Master (Taranaki) had: sometiling, to say about the conduct of the conference just concluded, at which the Minister -of Internal Affairs had presided. "I think the manner in which ,this conference was conducted to-day was very cute," 1 he said. , , Mr. Ferguson: Hear, hear. We were rushed into agreeing to a lot of resolutions without considering what they involved.

: Mr: Master said it was clear to liim ; that it was the intention of tlie Government" t 0 us 9 tho moneys subscribed for . wounded soldiers for other purposes, and the ■ societies should leave no stone unturned. to prevent this. . Tho ■ Hon. .' J. T. Paid agreed .'that the " societies .would -have to be very vigilant on ' this mat- '.... ter. He also agreed that it waa very , wrong that the' necessities of dependents .'should be taken into consideration' by the board in assessing pensions. ' But for the fear of endangerin? recruiting a very bad case could be made out against the .authorities for their pensions administration. . Mr..Ferguson' said that the law provide ed that the board could take into consideration not only the resources of the ■ : dependents, but the resources of. those liable at law for their maintenance. . This « provision was very wide, fio considered that _ the country,: by ' suclx' a law, ; was . evading its proper responsibilities' to the " dependents of soldiers. : > Mr. L. 0. H: Tripp said that he knew . .a,'.young man who was going ,to the war leaving dependents behind him. Knowing ' the circumstances, he offered to pay fori an insurance policy, but the man replied that this would be no good to him -because if he were killed tho pensions paynblo to his dependents would be reduced ,in proportion to insurance money. Board Not to Blame. Mr. Cray (Timaru) said 'that the Board was not to blame. It was the Act that was in fault.' ; The Board had no , , .latitude to be liberal./,• He thought the meeting should ask tho Minister in charge of pensions to bring down, an amendment of the Act, and to make it retrospective in application. Finally ■ the following resolution, _proposed by Mr. Onglev, was carried That in; the opinion of .this meeting the Peneions Act should be more liberally interpreted by hho Board,, and should be . amended by the alteration of Sub-Section 2 of Section 15, so as to provide that the - dependents of 6ol<liera l . may, get their pensions without their ineans being taken , into consideration. ■ The meeting decided to lav this resolution before the Minister (Mr. Myers), an<L when this desire, was communicated to hinl, Mr. Myers '■ came to the meeting. 3lr. Ferguson' then put the case before . him.

Mr.-Myere said, ho was glad to hear iifhat the conference had to say on the subject. He did not think the statement that members of the Board were -treat--.applications in a niggardly , way was justifiable. Whatever blame that could bo attached to anybody > was attachable to Parliament, which bad passed the Act in its present shane. Clause 2 particularly: stated that the Board should take into consideration the property and tho income from all sources of the dependents applying for pensions, and also of nil persons liable at law for their maintenant. The responsibility for this clause rested with members of Parliament. However,'it was quite clear that there was. throughout the country a strong feeling,., and rightly so, that' those who unfortunately had to apply for a ■■pension shojild be treated liberally. He -thought it was quite evident as a result of experience tliat it would be necessary .Cabinet to reconsider- the position/ I, don't thank for a moment," he said, ■ that it was ever contemplated that because anyone had been ,thrifty -his dependents should be ■ penalised. ' I may" say that I 1 have noticed that aspect of tho business, and T am bringing it upbefore Cabinet'at its'next meeting. I think the matter is 60 urgent that it should be considered, forthwith. It is unfortunate that this position has to be faced, but I think you may be assured of this—that Cabinet will deal with it -at -its next moeting, with what result I am not, of course, in a position .to say." With regard to special cases of hardship hp: would ask 'that they be brought under Jus notice for inquiry. His aim as Minister in Charge of Pensions would be to endeavour to carry out liberally what is tho desire of the people of,this country.

A Case of Hardship. Mr. J. A. Nash (Palmerston) brought luider Mr. Myers's notice the case of two girls in Palmerston who were Tefnsed pensions. Two of their brothers had been killed at the front, one of their brothers who had six children was on a Government leasehold in Taranaki, and thoir only other brother, whose health was indifferent, was on a farm earning >£1 a week, and their father in Auckland-was 65 years of age, and in failing health. They were themselves without means, and as the facts showed, no members of tho family could help them. Their own health, was too uncertain-'to permit oftheir earning their own living at domestic duties. Before the brothers left for the front they gave their sisters 10s. each por week, and when they left they allotted 3s. a day each of their pay. The sisters had kept a private boardinghouse, wilt four boarders, but threo of them had enlisted, and in any case the high cost of food had made tho business unprofitable. And yet their applications for pensions were met by a simple reply "pensions refused." They were not heard by the board as to their circumstances. It was a case of very gross hardship, and • the caso was not singular. . The girls were now left on the mercy of the public, and tho Patriotic Society was providing'for them. He hoped'that something would bo done to ensure that applications for pensions would not be turned down without the'applicants being hoard. Reconsideration Promised. Mr. Myers, in reply, said ho was sure from his knowlcdgo of the members of •tho-board, that they were humane men, and- that they desired to give all applicants the fulleet facilities for putting thoir cases before the board. However, the Pensions Board was a'new .institution, and perhaps was not working .as smoothly yet as it would later: ' The. case cited showed the need for local committees to assist the board in. coming to its conclusions, and the setting up of these committees was now under consideration. Unquestionably, inquiry should have been made in this caso.. ' ' . , Mr. Nash.: This complaint is, general. Tho same sort of things lwa occurred, is mora-than..ojao. case» ' • 'J

Mr. Myers: I can't . conceive,how the Pensions Board,could.turii down an application; without making art' investigation.' He added, 'in replycto" another question,• that he' : thought- it desirable that a reason should- be supplied for the refusal of an application. Mr. ISash: Will it be possible to have this case .reviewed? Mr. Myers: Certainly. A WAR LEAGUE SCHEME INTERESTING RECOMMENDATIONS POSITION OF MARRIEQ MEN Tho War League lias, had the matter of pensions, etc., for.soldiers in hand for some weeks, and last Monday the following report of a sub-oommitteo was adopted by;the executive: The committee has gone into the matters remitted to it, and into matters so intimately connected with them as to demand inquiry and begs to report as follows:— ;

Examination of the Tates of' pensions opd pay to members of the Expeditionary Force discloses certain weaknesses and anomalies that must Ijb removed if recruiting is not to be prejudicially affected. 'i'ho following points were considered, and the sub-committee suggests that tho accompanying recommendations should be adopted and the whole question laid before the Government. , Certainty of Amount of' Pensions for Dependents. Under the present Act and subject to tho maximum Kites fixed therein) the amount of . pension in every case is determined by a board whose decision is subject to approval of the Minister (War •Pensions Act, 1915, Section 4, Sub-section 8 (c)). It is impossible, therefore, for any man with dependents to know what pension they will receive, and under a voluntary system of enlistment this deters many from coming forward to enlist. Recommendation.—'That the amount of pension (or at least tho minimum amount) should bo absolutely fixed by 6tatute. Deductions From Pensions. The pension of the disabled soldier is subject to no reduction because of the possession of private property or other private sources of income (Section 15 (1)), but the board, when determining, the amount of pension of wife, children, or other dependents must take into consideration any other property or source of. income • possessed by the applicant, > and by all persons liable at law for the maintenance of the applicant.- (Section 15 (2)). ■ Bccommendation.—That the pension should b'e a matter of right and should not be subject ..to any deduction, whatever. Restriction of Pensions. For some time pensions' were payable only in the case of soldiers who had actually left New Zealand. (Section 3 (1)). An amendment of .the Defence Act has now made the pensions, payable in reilpsci of. all soldiers who may. not have left New Zealand,' but in. the oase of both disabled men and dependents tho board is to take into consideration, the' fact that disablement or death occurred in New Zealand. (Defence Amendment Act, Section 2.)

Recommendation.—The right to the pension should arise immediately a man reports at a Defenoe Office to begin his iourney to camp Maximum • Payments; For som_e reason there have been inserted, in the schedule "maxima", that affcct the pensions of soldiers with, many dependents. ■ Recommendation.—All sucli "maxima" should bo deleted from the schedules. Pensions Payable Only to Bona-fide Citizens of N.Z, The Pensions Act provides that the pensions shall be payable only while pensioners are resident in New Zealand: (Section 14.) This means serious and unnecessary hardships in the case of a dependent, all of whose relatives live elsewhere, e.g., Australia or England. Recommendation.—'Tho pensions should be payable -whether the dependents live in New Zealand or not.' Anomajies in Rates of Pensions. (a). A widow without children draws a pension of .£65; a widow with, say, four children draws a- pension- of wßll7 per annum. The former may help to support herself; the latter cannot,, and must in addition educate .her children. As the : allowance for ; children stops at 16 years of age'' (Section '2) the education of tho children must stop at this early age,' -unless some further provision is made. • : . , ■ Recommendation.—The allowances for children should be increased and continued beyond the age of 16 for educational purposes. Pensions for Totally Disabled N.C.O.'s and Officers. (b). At _ the last moment Parliament made an increase in the pensions for totally disabled privates and N.C.O.'s, and this has introduced anomalies in ,-the scale of pensions for" those totally disabled. . Recommendation.—The scale should be re-graded according to Tank. Pensions and Pay. Comparison of rates of pay and of pension for the same rank discloses serious anomalies. The rates of pensions for wife and children must be looked upon as tho'least amount on which they can be supported. But the pay of a married officer, N.C.0., or maD, if ho has two or more children, is in several cases not sufficient to allow him to.allot to his wife

already in force or "by taking out new policies for them. Mr. James Macintosh lias prepared a memorandum on the question, and it is attached to this Tcport. Ecconnnendation.— I limit the Government be asked to cousider tho advisability of undertaking an insurance scheme of tho kind,suggested by Mr. Macintosh. Officer's Outfit Allowance. In England this'is .£so';, in New Zealand c£2o. It is necessary for the welfare of tho men that the officers should be fully, equipped. Kecommendation.—That the allowance in New Zealand should bo INSURING SOLDIERS' LIVES SOME SUGGESTIONS TO HELP THE MARRIED MEN The memorandum of Mr. Macintosh, referred to by the sub-committee is as Tinder '

- "Of those who have enlisted up to trie present, the proportion of married men, so far as I nave seen it stated, is estimated at from 10 to 15. per cent. Bsaot .information can, of course, be obtained. It would be helpful'also to know the exact number of single men. and married men between the ages of 20 in the Dominion. It will, I think, be . admitted that the presence of at least this proportion of married men in our forces is desirable for obvious reasons; "As far as single men are concerned, their case, as a whole, may bo taken to be met by the Pensions Act, bu.t there is a feeling that something more should be done for the married man in order that he should feel himself conscientiously as free to go as the single man. It is the duty of tho community remaining at borne to see that no man goes away with any just misgivings in lus mind as to whether ho has done his duty to those dependent upon him.. The points I havo in my mind aTe two —first, that it is the duty of every, able-bodied .man to fighit in defence of his country; and, second, that it is the duty of those remaining behind to see that no suffering falls upon the dependents of the soldier. It is the plain duty of everyone whether at the iront or. at homo to serve, and that to the very utmost of his or her power. "A married man feels that, if killed, his loss to his widow is not compensated for by the pension. There is a loss of capital as it were for which there should i be an equivalent. . "To meet this the married man who is already insured is all right, provided his policy is for, say, <£250. His. policy, I understand, is. not loaded with extra premium bv reason of his going v on active service. " But the man not insured has to find not only tho ordinary premium, but an additional. £1 10s. per centum war risk'. Thus, for a .£250 policy, ho would have to find .£lB 15s. per annum. Now, this war rato 'of '*£7 10s. per centum is not of course puo ' arrived at from statistics as aTe the ordinary rates, but is a guessed one, fixed with a view to safety by the insuring companies. It also covers agents' and canvassers' commissions and othir ex, penses incidental to the securing of the business.' It may be remembered by way of illustration that on the outbreak of war, and for some little time after, .the marine 1 insurance companies fixed the marine war risk at £5 per cent., tho BritisJh Government subsequently taking the risk- for Is. per rentum. ' Now to put tho married man, so far as material circumstances are concerned, on .as near as possiblo, an,equally free footing to offer',himself for active service as the singlo man, it is proposed that Ms life be insured for <£250, the amount in tho event of death to be held by the Public Trustee for the benefit of the Widow, as directed by the insured. Taking our commitments .in men at 2500 each month, and putting the proportion of married men as high as 20 per cent., .this would mean the insurance of 500 lives a month. Now for the cost.

As the riien would all- be sound and healthy, and of an average age of thirtythree years, the deaths from natural causes would be small, and • that - risk may be left out of our calculations. The policy intended to be taken, out is only for the period from enlistment for tho war until return, and the war risk should cover that. Now, if the life insurance companies with a very ■ proper regard to the :safety of their funds, consider £7 10s. per centum per annum a sufficient rate to not only cover the risk, but also the expenditure incidental to. getting tho, business and other etoeteras, one would not be very far out in taking £5 per centum per annum as a rate to figure on. . Plainly , put, this assumes that one man in twenty would be killed outright or die during the year.

On this basis, then, ,£l2 103. a . year would have to be found for each man.

Five hundred men a month at .£l2 10s. —,£6250—0r on amiual expenditure of ,£75,000—0r Is. Gd. a head of tho population.

The' proposal is that the Government take the risk at 5 por cent, per annum, and do the whole business, recouping themselves by a special rate (as in the case of hospitals), or that they announce that they will accept tho risk and leavii it to the publio (or tie individual himself) to : find tho money. The various patriotic societies might very, well take' the matter in hand, or the newly-formed War League sanctioned by the Govera'ment.. The idea would appeal to the public.

Not only would a disability as far as married men be thus removed, but there would bo reflex beneficial effects.

1. The real shirker would be more fully unmasked.

. 2. The single man hesitating would be impelled forward, and, finally, there' would be less difficulty in recruiting. As against the public being asked to find the money is tho feeling that this might well •be a charge on property as above. The rate on property would be so very small that no objection would be raised, and the Government would bo protected against any los 3. : The above suggestion is made with a view of removing one obstacle in the way of willing married . men offering themselves f or service. • There may be others, but they do not occur to me as, at any rate, very pressing or vory genoral, and there may be others affecting single men. Any such could be inquired into as they were presented and, to this end, a notification to that effect wuld bo made in the Pres. It would be intimated that any case could bo stated 'to tho nearest Magistrate who would 'report with a recommendation for or against to the proper authorities. In this way all grounds for neglect to offer for enlistment would be removed. When the National Register is complete I would suggest that a further notification be made in the Press to tho effect that on a certain specified date a .list of those eligible for service, but who had not offered up to that date would be compiled, and that if by a certain specified later date sufficient good cause could) not be 6hown to the contrary such of those names as were then upon any of the electoral rolls of the Dominion would bo removed therefrom,