PARLIAMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10138, 8 November 1910, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF KEPRESBNTATIVES.

(T3y Tele^rapn—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Last Night. The House met at 7.30 p.m. NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND. On the motion of Sir Joseph Ward, that the amendment? made in Committee in the National Provident Fund Hill be agreed to, Mr Massey expressed regret that the ealary limit had not been fixed at £2OB per annum, thus a!'owing a man earning £4 per week to benefit by the provisions of the Bill. He also considered sufficient provision was not made for widows. Another provision open to objection wfa that under which no person could receive benefits until he had contri! uted to the fund for five years. He should aho have desired to see -:he scheme made applicable to unemployed. He hoped the Premier would recommit the Hill with a view to having it amended in the direction? indicate:!. Mr Pcarce favoured increasing the Government subsidy from 25 to 50 percent., and t .e salary limit from £2OO to £250 per annum. Mr Malcolm, while approving of the principle of the Bill, considered it would tend to help the wealthier rather than the poorer classes. Mr Staliwortby considered the Premier • would be wise to resist the proposal! to widen the scope of the Bill. Mr Luke said it would i:e better to find work for the unemployed than to provide for them in the Bill. He hoped .the Premier would see his way clear at some later date to increase the wage-earning limit to £2OB a year. Mr Taylor, Thames, gave high praise to the Hill, which would be looked upon in the future as one of the finest measures ever placed on the Statute Book. Mr Wright said the time would come when it would (e necessary to provide for men earning £4 a week, and alto for u:.employed. On the whole, however, the Bill W as a good one, and a step in the right direction Mr Poole sa ; d the scheme embodied in the Bill was an experimental one, a fact which should not be lost sight of. Sir Joseph Ward said the Leader of the Opposition was on the lookout for votes. The fact should not be lost sight of that the limitation of income was only temporary. Young people of sixteen and upwards could join the fund and secure the benefits, no matter what their future incomes might be. If the benefits payable to widows were increased the contributions would have to be augmented in order to meet the additional tost. The Bill was not intended primarily to benefit widows, but nther parents with large families. There were two reasons for pioviding that the benefits should not be payable until five years after the contributions commenced; firstly, that it was neces- : sary to provide a sound fund, and secondly, it was necessary to provide against persons suffering from consumption and other diseases coming on to the fund. There was no Insurance Company doing business in the Dominion offering , benefits i such as those contained in the Bill. J He would Dave been glad to have i extended the scope of the Bill to per- j sons who earned £4 a week, but ; that would have meant altering the j schedule of the Bill. j The motion was agreed to, and the i Bill passed, OTHER BILLS. The Old Age Pensions Amendment Bity, New Zealand Loans Act Amendment, and Li lel Laws Amendment were read a first time. A long discussion took place on a motion by Sir Joseph Ward that the amendments made in Committee to the Public Revenues Bill be agreed to. Mr Massey moved a3 an amendment that ti.e Bill be re-nommitted, but the motion was lost by 3f to 2G. The Bill eventually passed its third reading.