WOULD-BE PENSIONERS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3047, 18 November 1908, Page 3

WOULD-BE PENSIONERS.

Mr Asquith claimed in the House of Commons that many of those entitled to old age pensions would probably not claim them for some time after the establishment of the system. This was not borne out by the scenes at the post offices throughout ,the country on the day on which j -•iorms of claim were issued, the num- ' "bers of applicants indicating that ?the applications for pensions will exceed the estimate. In London alone 50,000 old people applied for forms. , The London "Daily Mall" reports j that, on the whole, the loafer class was absent. Some applicants brought their family Bibles to show the record of their ages, and many others did not know how old they were ~- only they were sure they were over 70. "Between 70 and 80" was a frequent reply. An applicant at one «of the London offices wanted his 5s at once, and when told that he would have to wait, until January for it, be- ■ came abusive, and said be might be dead before then. Another, an old woman, wanted to kn«>w when si e would get "the arrears" She was 77 ilast birthday, she said, and she had been confidently reckoning that a lump sum would be paid her to covr the ,odd seven years. It took the postal clerk a quarter of an hour to convince her that there was no such provision in the Act, "Have you lived in the United Kingdom for twenty years?" asked the post- • master of a man at Stratford. "No," was ihe reply, "1 have lived at - Stratford." "We have beenlockirg for an old woman who made an application last week," said an official. "It was Saturday. She was told she must apply to-day (Thursday). She went to leave and fell fainting on the floor. The ambulance had to be fetched for her. She was seventyfour. She had had no food for twenty-four hours, and was exhausted for want of nourishment We have been wondering if she has recovered sufficiently to come." What the pension means to some people is illustrated by the case of an old man of 85 who told a journalist that with the .pension, his allow- . ance from the Dunmow Society, and what he could earn, he would have 18s a week, more than he had ever had before. Having married on ten shillings a and brought up a family on twelve shillings, he was overjoyed at the prospect of :. getting eighteen.