Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] Being the extended title of the Wairarapa Daily, with which it is identical MONDAY, JULY 18, 1892. NATIONAL THRIFT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4168, 18 July 1892, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] Being the extended title of the Wairarapa Daily, with which it is identical MONDAY, JULY 18, 1892. NATIONAL THRIFT.

Among the mass of papers presented to Parliament,-there is one report which must by no means be overlooked, It is concerned with a very interesting subject; and its pages bear witness to the wide reading, expert knowledge, and independent thought of the Government officer from whom it comes, The Fifteenth ( Annual Eeport of the Registrar of Friendly Societies is a model of condensation, Apart from its elaborate tables of statistics, it sets before us, in the terse and well calculated language of a man who has his subject at heart, the latest views of statesmen and philanthropists who have been applying themselves to find some solution of the problem of poverty m old age. It is much, to get a careful remits of the expressed opinions of leading men on an important question like this; but we are offered something more in this report—the tabulation of other people's views is appropriately followed by a brief statement of the Registrar's owl' conclusions on Ihe subject : and iti ' evident that Mi' Mason is a valuablol Head ot his department, that he it.| capable of doing his own thinking, and that he things very much to the purpose. The Registrar of Friendly tiocieiies has without doubt, exceptional opportunities of loiming aj judgment on the value of Friendl; Societies as factors in the promotioi. of tlnift; and he gives us the benefit of his experience on several points which dceorve the attention of ail colonists.

There is pinch truth in one of Mr Mason's initial observations, and we hope it will be taken to heart jn N,eyv Zealand;—

Members of friendly societies, not only ba citizens but also as subscribers to a mutual benefit fund, are interested in questions relating to the disposal of Bewage, in preventive measures against infection, in the enforcement of atrinc enfc laws against food adulteration, and in all matters affecting health, The economic value of sanitary science is to the wageearner of special importance, Loss of wall's and of savings represents a heavy item, which niij?ht be greatly diminished in most towns by an outlay that would bo comparatively small if regarded as an insurance premium against disease. As centres of population increase in size, the health of the inhabitants can be maintained only by strict observance of hygienic laws,

Proceeding, nexf, jto .deal with the general fjaesffpa fil jrage-earners' insurance! the ftegistfaf sumparizeg for us certain inforiptiop abopt National Insurance legiplfttjon as attempted in Germany:—

Theoretically, the insufficiency of the workmen's contribution is to be supple* mented out of tho poet eta of the employ- 1 ers of labour and out of tho State treasury. With regard to the former, etii|tloypi% if they cannot raise prices sufficiency to' rccoyp thomselveß, will reduce wages. Thus a great part, jf not all of the contribution nominally paid by the employer will come out of the workman's wages, And with regard to the latter, State aid, so far as it is merely a fetyrn of taxation, is a delusion, and so far as it Js a reality, pauperises the reoipienf, It may bo awed tjiat ihe cost of collection of such returned .taxation practically represents a considerable Addition to the expenses of management, StfthatfJje tptal charge to the beneficiary will tjius be lifatjo if'apjr, less than he wojild have to contribute were Jip required to pay the whoje dirept. It Is said that already Gef man manufacturers are asking for an increase of import duties on the ground that they have to contribute to tins inSurance^tax

Both from an economic and from an actuarial point . of view tho inauguration of the soheme is a leap in the dark. In the view of those who regard individual freedom as an essential factor of progress, and who believe that the influence of voluntary thrift upoir&ardcte/ is of greater benefit, to society than th'e mew accumulation of savinps/and'tbat'atiy peouniiry'adyai;. tego derived from treasvured-hp taxes is therefore dearly bought, it is a leap in the daylight, an.din the wrong In consequence of data it not improbable that the fjnajipial basis will have to be rectified, but a far greater danger lies in the possibility that ignfl.ranee of the effect of the measure upon tradoand wages will be followed by a heavy retribution, and that the evil which the Bcheme is devised to remedy will be intensified by its adoption.

Hepasses from Germany to Franoe;

In France'& Bill for the establishment of a National Workman's Pension Fund has been introduced by the Government. Compulsion is not to be exercised, but inducement* aro offered in tho shape of compulsory aid from employers and a supplementary grant from the Btato.Tha terms of the latter are specially liberal to members of authorised, benefit societies. Premiums are to be payable from age twenty-five to age filty-five, at whioh age the pension ii to commence. ■

He hits the blot in the system of Friendly booieties, when he tells us that:—

" According to an English Parliamentary return, 14,803 of the inmates of the workhouses of England aud Waleson the 31st of March last had once been membars of a benefit society. The majority had withdrawn or had been struck off for non-payment, ;eto., i>ti{ in upwards of 4,000 cases mm'oership had km forcibly temimted by the break-up of the socKies with which they had been connected-, Yet hard as the case of these persons may seem, it does not follow that either those - who. bad voluntarily dropped out of their society, or those who»o reliance had born upon a broken reed, would, as old-mon past work, have been saved from pauperism by a continuance of their society and membership j for in all probability there was no provision for a benefit in old age except' during actual sickness. This defect in Friendly• Society finance imperatively demands a remedy." At the same time, tho strength of the system is honestly set forth .'—

"Friendly Societies havo become -jcboulß of morals and of thrift, providence, and business knowledge, Buch as scarcely exist elsewhere. In them the workman has to study the laws of interest and accumulation of money; ho acquires the ait of co-operation. If ever a co-operative organisation of labour is achiev J, its true founders will be tho pioneers of self-help iu Friendly Societies."

The industry whioh has read and digested all tho leading literature of the subject, the acuteness which seizes and groups the salient points, and the independence of thought which draws its own inferences from the data of experience, have combined to furnish the public in this Colony with a report whose merit is not to be measured by its comparative brevity. It is because we are disposed to disagree with some of Mr Mason's own conclusions, that we have allowed ourselves to quote at some length from his valuable paper, We are of opinion that the National Insurance which he seems to deprecate (if we may judge from the quotations he offers us) is as practicable as it is necessary ; and we trust to be able to advance reasons for this opinion,