OLD AGE PENSIONS.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 366, 12 November 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

OLD AGE PENSIONS.

The following synopsis of the Old Age Pensions Act, which has now been finally passed by both Houses of Parliament, has been prepared by Mr \Y, W. Tanner, M.H.R., for Avon, and was published by the Lyttelton Times : 1. The Applicants for the Pension. — The pension may be granted to persons, male or female, residing in the colony, including Maoris, but net to aliens or to naturalised foreigners uule.ss naturalised for five years; and on no occount to Chinese or other Asiatics, whether naturalised or not, Tho applicants must be fully G 5 years of ago and have resided the last 25 years in the colony ; but if any absence or absences from the colony have taken place that must not have exceeded two years. 2. Character.—lf during the last twelve years boforo applying tho applicant has been in prison for four months, or on four occasions, ho is thereby disqualified. And the name fate awaits him if, during his twenty-five years' residence, he has been imprisoned for five years. He must not have been at any time a wife deserh-r for six months, or failed to provide his wife with adeguato means without just cause, or neglected to maintain big young children under fourteen years of age. Tho same applies to a woman deserting her husband or children. Tho applicant must be of good moral character, and have led a sober and roputablo life for five years past. 3. Non-eligible.—An applicant owning property over £270 in value, or in receipt of an income of £52 or more annually, is not eligible. An exemption of £SO in proporty is allowed, so that the actual limit of disqualification is £320. •1. Form of Application.—When a person applies for a pension, he first fills up a printed form specifying all necessary particulars, with a statutory declaration as to their truth, sworn before a Justice of tho Peace, solicitor, postmaster, or Deputy-Registrar of Pensions, which is then numbered and entered in a register book, and may be inspected by anyone on payment of a shilling. Tho claim is sent on to tho Stipendiary Magistrate of the district, the Clerk of the Court notifies tho applicant of a day wren ho can attend for the purpose, and tho caso_ is heard in open court. The Magistrate^investigates with fidl power to examine, grant, postpone, or rejeot the claim ; but if insufficient evidence causes a postponement the case may be heard again later on. when fuller testimony is procurable. If from physical or other good cause the applicant is unable to appear tho Magistrate may dispense with personal attendance. Should persons not quite sixtyfive wish to establitth their claims in advance, in order to lose no time when fully qualified, they may do so at any time within tho last two years, but no certificate can be obtained, or pension received, till all the conditions are fulfilled. b. Amount of Pension.—The highest amouut of pension payable is £lB yearly, but it may be considerably less, as the amount depends on the property possessed, or income received, by the applicant, and it is as well do state here that " property " means all accumulated property, real or personal, except an exemption of £SO allowed to each claimant; and " income " means all wages, earnings, profits, moneys and valuable consideration received by claimant from any source whatever, sick pay and funeral benefit from a friendly society beiug the only exception. If a man has neither income nor property he can obtain the £lB yearly (always provided the other conditions are fulfilled) ; and if he rec?ive< a total iueome of anything up to £34 annually, he can also obtain the full amount. Thus, an old man earning 13s weekly, but destitute of property, is eligible for the pension, and can receive it in its entirely. If the income is over £34, but less than £52 annually, the amount of pension is decreised pound tor pound ; so that an applicant destitute ot property, or under the £SO exemption, but obtaining an income of £-15 per year, would get £7 pension. £4O yearly £l2 pension, and so on, the amount of pension making up the income in all these cases to £52. In the case of a married pair living together, where one is sometimes able to earn or gets an iucomo, the other contributing nothing, the arrangement is that the total income of the pair ahull be considered "Halved, and each half represents the income of the husband and wife

respectively. I will illustrate it thus: An old couple can prove their cliims, the man being unable to earn anything, the home being kept together on all allowance of £45 per year to the wife from relatives. Cinder the Act if these persons were not married, or applied singly, the man would get the full £IS and the wife £7 but as the income of £45 is considered to be divided it becomes two incomes of £22 10s each, and both parties obtain the full £lB, making: them altogether £Bl per annum. In the same way, reversing the eases, if a man earned 20s weekly, and both he and his wife applied for the pension and fulfilled the conditions, the income of £52 would be considered two incomes of £2G, and both would be eligible for the full amount of pension. Whilst all this may seem very satisfactory another factor—property—comes in and seriously disarranges calculations. A claimant owning property (and remember property includes everything) is allowed, as before stated, £SO exemption, but if over that he holds £270 worth " after deducting all charges and encumbrances legally existing," ho is disaualified. If the value of the property is below £270 £1 of the pension is deducted for every £ls of value. Thus a man owning property valued at £240 would only be eligible to a pension of £2, if £IBO, £6 ; and so on till, if all his worldly possessions outside the exemption, amounted to only £45, his pension would be £ls anuualiy. There is no provision in the Bill as to what figures are to be taken in making these valuations, or on what basis household goods are to be valued ; but no person can be allowed to divest himself of property, or deprive himself of income, in order to render himself eligible as a pensioner. In the case of claimants who live with, and obtain board and lodging from others, the board and lodgiug may be estimated in calculating their incomes, but not over £26 a year. And as these persous often have no other means, tbe Ingest estimate (£26) still leaves them under the £34 limit.

6. Payment of Pension.—When everything has been satisfactorily proved bofore a magistrate, the pensioner receives a pension certificate stating the uraount of pension he is to receive during the next year, which is paid in twelve equal monthly instalments, the amount of which may not be varied durinjr the year. The pension begins on the first day of the next month following the issue of the certificate, which must be pruduced at every payment: and unless each monthly inslalmeut is drawn within twcnty-ono days of falling due, it is forfeited. A Stipendiary Magistrate or two Justices of the Peace may however, issue a warrant if applied for withiti foprteun days authorising the payment, if it can be proved the certificate was lost or some other good cause existed for not applying, but even this cannot be done twice in succession for the same petitioner. Payment is made at' a money-order office named on the certificate, and cannot be drawn elsewhere except by permission granted for the purpose. If the pensioner is out of the colony, or in gaol or a lunatic asylum at the time a monthly instalments fall due, it is absolutely forfeited ; and if he is an inmate of a charitable institution, or assisted by such institution, the pension is payable to the governing body, who may deduct the cost of maintenance, and hand the balance to the pensioner. The pension may be drawn for the pensioner's benefit by a cleryinan, Justice of the Peace, or other reputable person, on the strength of a warrant signed by a Stipendiary Magistrate ; but the pension itself is inalienable, and not subject to bankruptcy, assignment, chirging order, or anything to intercept it from the recipient, 7. Renewal of Pension.—At the end of twelve months the certificate expires, and the pensioner aga'n applies to the Stipendiary Mag'strute, producing at the same time a written statement of his income during the past year, together with a statement of his property, and the Magistrate, on examination, renews the certificate, tor the succeeding year, making alterations in the amount liayable if uecessary. The power to pay pensions expires altogether by the Bill, fourteen day after the close of the second session of Parliament after the next general election, probably about three years hence There are stringent regulations in the Bill against any attempts at fraud, and in some cases the pension may be forfeited by order of a court for misconduct; but I need not recapitulate these matters. A copy of the Act when passed must be lodged at every post office for general information.