PAYMENT OF PENSIONS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2469, 19 August 1922, Page 1

PAYMENT OF PENSIONS.

FIGURES FOR THE PAST YEAR

An interesting table appears in the Financial Statement presented to the House of Representatives on Tuesday by the Prime Minister showing the gross pension payment* made during the past, year to Intvo been as follows: £ War pensions 1.726,174 Old-age pensions 743,749 Widows’ pensions 186.509 Epidemic pensions 65.505 Maori War pension* . . 37.651 Miners' pensions ... 31,163 Police pensions ’... 433 ' £2,791.184 “From this tola! must, be deducted tiro sum of £33,052. representing £30,744 fiotn national endowments on account of old-age pensions, and £2,308 from gold duty in respect of miners’ pensions. “Tito policy uf onr pension system and its increasing. obligations on the public revenues lias heciY receiving my special attention for some rime. ’1 he expenditure on old-age, widows, and other civil free pensions has, in the last seven years, more than doubled —mainly the result of additional benefit.- and concessions from lime to time. . In reviewing the capacity of the State to meet these charges it is necessary to look tit the proportion to the whole, of those and similar non-revemie-producing charges, which can he termed ‘social services.’ and which are gradually overweighting the ordinary revenue. If we take pensions, education, public health. - special Acts. etc., interest and sinking-fund charges, none of which can be much reduced as things now stand, wo find that the expenditure in 1921-22 amounted to £15.390.776. compared with £4.965.886 in 1914. Expend l l n; o on other services can * be reduced by rigid economy, but the m~i of these social ser.iees can only lie brought to a due proportion of the total by a change in policy Ks|ieeially is this so in dealing with pensions, as the present sys lent of annually amending and extending the Acts, means that by a gradual process the charges imperceptibly increase without a line regard to tin- fundamental principles that should govern their administration. The system, moreover, abounds in anomalies—such. for instance, as the payment of higher widows’ and children’s benefits in the ‘free' schemes than tire obtainable by contributors to the subsidised service funds. .1 propose, therefore, to have an itujuiry made into the whole tpieslion, in order to ascertain in ivhat directions improvements in the administration of those important services tan lie brought about. “The following table indicates the growth of ‘free’ pension expenditure, exclusive of

war pensions: — Pension. 1013-14 192! 22 £ £ Olil-airt? . 416.776 743.749 Wi<l<n\V 27.077 186.509 Militar/ (TVJ n< ni Wii r) 29.477 37,651 Minors’ — 31,163 I'ipidomio — 65.505 Other — 4.700 Totals £473,330 £1,069.277