Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28th., 1919. OLD AGE PENSIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1919, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28th., 1919. OLD AGE PENSIONS.

'The Libera) party during its long reign of office stretching pver the premierships of John Ballance, R. J, Sp()dpn, and Sir Joseph W ai ’d, has a vppy ppeditnfile record of public services well done, to its credit. Casting the memory back to 1891, the new political pra for New Zealand, one thinks readily of 'Jand for settlement legislation, of enactments for the benefits of the workers, of the cheap money schemes, of the State industries established, of the postal reforms, of the financial management of the country’s affairs, not forgetting that great stroke of saving New Zealand from national disaster by reason of the banking legislation; and a long list of other legislative acts which lifted New Zealand to the forefront and? made jit the envy of tlie other countries for its social advancement, social well-being, npr) gocial contentment. Yet there is one act which stands out as the shining light of modem Liberalism, testifying as it does the humanitarian side of the legislation for which New Zealand has become justly famous, —that piece of legislation i s the OM Age Pensions Act of , 1898 which brought comfort and seeur- j ity to the aged. The act is now in the | twenty-first year of its utility, and it i is as strikingly useful to-day as when it was enacted. There are two special

features about the old age pensions which make it absolutely secure to the j recipients; the first is that tile pension is absolutely inalienable, and the second ( is (a point not generally known) that j a pensioner needing medical aid may d enter any medical or charitable institution without further-warrant than his or I her pension certificate, and cannot be { ye fused admission. The care of the ' aged is no less a call upon our human- f i„y than the care of tne young, and hmeiaL legislation faced this response 1 biiity determinedly. The action at 1 tne time was severely criticised, the clntios toared the financial responsiibility, tne destruction of the spirit 1 of thrift, and what not. But have the experiences of twenty one years of the working of the law suggested that the critics were right and the Liberal legislators wrong? The verdict is with tie Liberal party unquestionably, and instead of curtailment, there has been an expansion of the scheme, thus fully justifying' the boldness of the action in 1898 in placing the law on the statute book. It did not reach there without a fight, but once established it has more than justified its high purpose. Think buck over tile score of years the pension has been current, and conjure up in the mind the thousands of people who have benefited by the provisions of the act. Conjecture the comfort it has brought to the homes of the aged, whose fading days have been warmed and brightened by the generosity of the State willingly given as a right. The principle established by the Liberal party with the Old Age Pensions Act, has been expanded in other directions, thus emphasising the soundness of its enactment, and the wisdom of its ad T ministration. And so has come to pass a great national reform which will be a benefit to humanity for all time.