Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] Being the extended title of the Wairarapa Daily, with which it is identical THURSDAY JULY 21, 1892. COMPULSORY INSURANCE.
Nothing, it seems to us, short of a National Insurance scheme can be guaranteed to bo indefectible. The State can pay; and if tbo Stato contracts, it will fulfil its engagements. But the scheme must not taa volun. tary one, or it'will effect nothing, There are plenty of voluntary Government annuitants already, and they are not at all tho persons whort it is sought to reach. A voluntary scheme for giving State aid to pensionaries would, of course, -have this to recommend it—that it would de-; privo people of the excuse that they, had no security of contract; it would, doubtless, inducoagood many to make' some.little provision against positive want in old age. But here it ,wou|d halt, ineffectual in the most " vital point. It is essential, then, that in tho long run any such soheme as we have been considering should bp compulsory. ' •'! And it can be compulsory. A well-, informed writer on this point has told us that—- " With the establishment eventually of a National Compulsory Stateaided Fund, an objection otherwise insurmountable would he got over, The' actuarial difficulty ' would disappear. A pension insurance inolud-| ing the whole nation would be based on the mortality-tables of the whole nation, which basis would be jnfal-j lible; whereas calculations on the mortality of chance volunteers for pension would he always bubject to uncertainties. Such a national soheme could also meet, even year by year, any alteration in rates of interest on accumulations, by requiring each year, not the original first fixed aunj, butthß.'Sum,found, by experience- to be the trap amount required, to It; paid by all new entrants. A voluntary scheme could not raise its scale from year to year.without disconrag-: ing many from joining; a national one, requiring' all to join, could run* no possible risk of such ii kind, as its Bcope, insuring the membership of each individual, would also insure, a? is only just sad fair, that each individual should contribute his true actuarial.share of tho fund, which the State funflß would largely augment, to make him independent of poorratds in old age." !
We venture to submit these re-, flections to our readers, believing ; them to be eminently timely, 'what-j ever may be thought of their ecOriomio"- volu6. ; VVe have quofrcf English statistics and English thinkers only;< but of New- Zealand it maj be said, "Di te fabvla narrator." ■ If each a plan can bo conceived to be practicable, with the stupendous poverty of the masses at Home, a fortiori a similar scheme could be adopted' with comparative ease in this Colony,. Of our present Colonial Treasurer we are glad to be able to say'that he seems honestly desirous of teaching some solution of the great problem of pension-pro-vision, 'His proposals as yet are limited in th«r eoopejj bat.;the : age, the Colony, and net least the Ministry, may be described as tending towards some development of the Socialistic idea'; and we believe that to the Socialistic mind Compulsory Insurance is an attractive thought. For ourselves, we have never beeii'' able to see in it anything approaching to Socialism as currently defined! It was eothusiastioally/advocatedby Sir Harry Atkinson, as everyone knows, And we are confident that Mr Balance is Buffioiently large-minded to. be willing to promote s great measure bringing potential benefit to . the 1 population of this, country, wenthough it rri&y fira't have taken sbapo • ia the mind,of apredecesso'r politically. opposed to him....
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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4171, 21 July 1892, Page 2
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590Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] Being the extended title of the Wairarapa Daily, with which it is identical THURSDAY JULY 21, 1892. COMPULSORY INSURANCE. Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4171, 21 July 1892, Page 2
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