COMPULSORY THRIFT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1971, 24 February 1885, Page 2

COMPULSORY THRIFT.

Whkther or no charity should take- the form of public subiciiption f»i permanent provision, m the ease (if accidents to operatives, incurred in the pursuit of their daily business, is a m.ittcr admitting of much discussion. There can be no doubt, hovvevei, that if the needful assistance could be assured without spasmodic public action it would be infinitely piefeiuble. There is but one way in which this c.in be done, viz., by i lsiirance. The post-office and other institutions offer means to the working mxn by which, for a small payment, he can secure pn>\ wion fin hi* family and also foi hmiiclf (luting tempoiaty disablement. But tie little woid "tan" makes nil the difference. The- voluutuy acceptance of the advantages of uisuiance implies an amount of piudeuce, and thought, and thrift which me tlm characteristic*, not of the majority, but of the minority of men. The men who voluntarily insure .'gainst death and accidents are pi obibly tho-e who, in the absence of the facilities offered, would lay by something eveiy week against <t lainy day. It is to pimide for the nnprovident and thoughtless that these largo pubbo subscriptions are so often needed. Mo.ice lias arisen one of the great questions of the day : Should the lehef of improvidence be voluntary i.i compulsory ' It is admitted that we cannot make men sol>er by act of Parliament. Is it possible to niiko them thnfty by act of Parliament? The Germans, at any rate, scini to think it is. Tney are going to try it, and there are some points about the Workman's Insurance Bill, which ban lately passed the Ruchstag, which merit our cvref nl consideration. It hn been found that in Geunaii} only 121 per cent, of the workpeople joined voluntary benefit societies. Theiefore a sy.st6!n of ompnlbory insurance has been instituted, and is to be introduced into all branches of industry, except in agriculture, where the existing provisions are believed to bo adequate. The law will apply to all pens.ms paid by salary or wages in mining, shipping, or niaiiufaeturinjjf, and mechanical operations \uth ceitiin limitations hi the ci.sj of managers, clerks, and persons temp >rai ily employed. The funds of existing benefit societies are n t to be interfered with, but the (Joveminent will fix tho uiiiiiiinim, and iua\imum4 assistance to be given. Kmplojcrs of^ libmir are to contnbute the funds, twothiuls of which they will collect from the men in deductions from wages, and the rjni lining thud they will provide themselves. Both the contiibutions and the a-si-t.mcj are to be giuged in pu>]>ortion t» the wagi's |>aid, and tlie assistance for m idic vl attend ino and maintenance while a mm is unable to follow his calling will lv at V) per cdnt. of his usual wages, jkginnni£ fioin the thiixl day after hw illiu'ss, ami continuing, if necessary, for thnti>"n weekh. The act is ,v jirovi^ion U>th ag.uust and .iccideut. The funds, although under Government control, are not to bo centralised, but each tiade may organise its own fund, or >eu>nl trades may join. In the ca.se <if such organisation^, the trades may tix the amounts of eontiibutions by the member*, but theso must not, to begin with, exceed 2 percent, of the wages, nor ever excred 3 pel cent, of the wage*. Nor must the assistance granted ever be i educed below q tho minimum fixed by Government. The | Government charges itself with the custody and investment of the funds, and the State is thus the insurer. No operative, however improvident, can avoid saving so much as mil guard him from de«titution, and the, receipt of assistance from the funds w ill not ' interfere with his civil rights as would the leceipt of Poor Law relief. Another expeiiment in compulsory thrift has been begun in Australia (') The scheme in this case is that every male meml)er of the community shall be compelled to pay, in his youth or on attaining his majority , a sum proportioned to his circumstances^ but not less than ten pounds, w hich shall bo approA priated and invested by the State, m - order to secure him against destitution during (.ickness for tho reraaindei of his life. Neither the German nor the Australian hcheme is novel in conception. Both have • been frequently proposed for thi-> country, and have been discussed by economists and in Parliament. But in both instances the schemes are for the first time going to bo put to a practical test, and the i3«iie will be watched with the deepest interest It has been argued that because it is incumbent on a State to compel every paient to educate his child, therefore it is also incumbent on a State to compel every person to make provision for the future. There is, however, no analogy between compulsory education and compuhoiy thrift. The State must recognise the evident duty of every man to provide for his offspring, and it is proper that it should interfere to compel him. It is propei for a State to insist on the nieinbeis of a community supporting its fuetidleos paupers.— All tho Year Round. »

Twkntv medical pra-titionei shave died in Naples out of KM who were engaged in attending uliolei a patients during th« letent epidemic. Sim'E 1574 thp agerecrate amount of deposits in the Post oftiee >Sa\ings Jfosks in England and the number of deptjmors hate nearly doubled. I It is said that the Astors alone offj 3600 houses in New Yotk, all of stonP and iion The lowest rental they get is £300 per annum, and the highest about £10,000, which some of their enormous down town buildings bring. The powerful nature of the poison that a rattlesnake ejects was shown recently in Pninam County, Flarida, when a cow that was bitten died almost immediately, and si \ bu/?arda that fed on the carca?s wore soon afterwards found lying about dead,