NEW SOUTH WALES POLITICS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19997, 14 January 1927, Page 10

NEW SOUTH WALES POLITICS.

CHILD ENDOWMENT SCHEME. (From Oub Own Cobbesponoent-) SYDNEY, January 6. Although the Government is again pursuing the even tenor of its course, and is safe in recess for a few days, the general opinion among lobbyists is that the Premier (Mr Lang) himself favours an early election in order to clarify the political atmosphere. It is the details of the family endowment scheme, which will have to negotiate both Houses before it can become law, which the public is now awaiting with special interest. Cabinet will be called upon to .consider the adoption of a scheme which will apply to all win v ■ families and who receive up to £SO - year, but it is considered likely that suiiiething in the neighbourhood of £4OO will be maximum adopted. The Government, it is believed, will insist that the money paid out in child endowment shall be paid to the mother, and not to the father. It is probably a wise precaution, although' it will be quite a simple process for mother to pass it over to father. However, the Government is trusting to the honour of the community in the matter. Those among the Government who favour an early election would welcome a really strong issue on which to go to the people. The Legislative Council knows this and has declined to interfere with Labour’s programme since Parliamnet re-assembled. It might feel like amending the child endowment scheme in its incidence, but it is hardly likely to reject it. The Government is building on tb endowment scheme as a strong political card at the next elections, but this is likely to be discounted somewhat by reason of the dissatisfaction to which the scheme will inevitably give rise, as a. consequence of the resultant wage discrimination. Take families with only one child. They will reap little benefit from the scheme,. for while the allowance for that child will probably be 6s, the increased cost of living might easily be well over 4b. s