Advanced Australia/Chapter 8
Chapter VIII
OLD AGE PENSIONS IN PRACTICE
NEW Zealand has made the first practical effort to solve the problem of "Old Age Pensions," and the Act passed last session has become operative. As the principle of this notable law has been admitted in England, and most of its provisions are being adopted in the Bills which are under consideration in other Australian colonies, it deserves lengthy consideration. The preamble may be quoted.
"An Act to provide for Old- Age Pensions.
"WHEREAS it is equitable that deserving persons who during the prime of life have helped to bear the public burdens of the colony by payment of taxes, and to open up its resources by their labour and skill, should receive from the colony a pension in their old age:
"Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: —"
What follows is mainly contained in the 7th clause, that, "subject to the provisions of this Act," every person of the full age of sixty-five years and upwards, being of our own blood and not guilty of any offence "dishonouring him in the public estimation" (a phrase, by the way, we seem to have heard, somewhere, before!), shall be entitled to a pension of £18 a year. The maximum amount of the pension is thus £18: but for every complete £1 of income above £34 the pensioner has his pension reduced by £1, and a similar amount will be deducted for every complete £15 of the net capital value of all his accumulated property above £50. In making the calculation as to whether a person is entitled to a pension, and also as to the amount of the pension for the first year, the claimant's income for the past year is to be deemed his yearly income, and the same system of computation will be employed in fixing the rate of the pension in succeeding years. Further, in computing the income, deduction will be made of all income derived or received from accumulated property; but the value of board and lodging received, up to £26 a year, will be included in the computation of the income. In the case of husband and wife, each will be credited with half the total of the income, but the rule will not apply when they are living apart pursuant to a decree, order, or deed of separation. During the passing of the measure through Parliament considerable discussion took place as to how the term "income" should be defined. Finally, the following definition was agreed upon, viz.: Any moneys, valuable consideration, or profits derived by any person for his own use or benefit in any year by any means or from any source. Personal earnings will be included, but not pensions paid under the Act, nor sick allowance, nor financial benefit from any registered friendly society. By accumulated property is meant all real and personal property owned by any person, to the extent of his beneficial estate or interest therein. From the capital value of such property will be deducted £50, and also all charges and encumbrances lawfully existing thereon, and the residue then remaining will be the net capital value of all his accumulated property.
To obtain the pension a good many conditions have to be fulfilled. First, a person must be sixty-five years of age or upwards. He must be residing in the colony when he establishes his claim, and must be able to show a continuous residence in the colony of twenty-five years immediately preceding the date on which he establishes his claim. Occasional absence will not be considered as interrupting the continual residence, providing that the terms of absence do not total two years. Some difficulty was experienced in making it possible for seamen to come in under the Act, as it was felt that, if special provision was not made in regard to them, they would, by the very nature of their occupation, be debarred from obtaining a pension. It was eventually enacted that the absence of seamen from the colony would not be considered (providing that they were serving at the time of their absence on board a vessel registered in and trading to the colony) if the claimant proved that during his absence his family or home was in the colony.
But that is not all. No pension is awarded to any person who, during the twelve years immediately prior to sending in his claim, has been imprisoned for four months, or on four occasions, for any offence punishable by imprisonment for twelve months or upwards, and "dishonouring him in the public estimation." No satisfactory explanation was given, in Wellington, of the meaning of the phrase "dishonouring him in the public estimation," except that it was said to be in the Danish Act. The Premier (Mr Seddon) was chaffed about it a good deal during the passing of the Bill; but he seemed to think it of great importance that it should be retained (like the old lady's blessed word "Mesopotamia"); and so it was retained. It is really, of course, as used by Mr Secretary Leyds as well as by Dr Seddon, a revival of the old Roman idea of "infamia."
Further, no one can get a pension who during the past twenty-five years has been imprisoned for a term of five years with or without hard labour for any offence "dishonouring him in the public estimation"; or (if a husband) has for a period of six months deserted his wife; or without just cause neglected to provide her with adequate means of maintenance; or neglected to maintain such of his children as were under fourteen years of age. If the applicant is a woman and a wife, she cannot succeed in her application if she has deserted her husband, or those of her children under fourteen years of age.
Applicants must also be of good moral character, and have been leading a sober and reputable life for the past five years; while their net yearly income must be less than £52, and the net capital value of their accumulated property must be not more than £270. Anyone directly or indirectly depriving himself of property or income with the object of entitling him to a pension will by that act be debarred from obtaining one.
Anyone desirous of obtaining a pension is required to fill in a pension claim, the truth of the contents of which he must affirm by statutory declaration. This claim will be forwarded to the deputy-registrar, and will eventually be investigated by the stipendiary magistrate. If necessary the claimant is required to attend to support his claim; but if the magistrate is satisfied that the documentary evidence in support of the claim is sufficient to establish it, or that the applicant's physical condition renders it inconvenient for him to attend, the applicant's personal attendance may be dispensed with.
Evidence given before the magistrate for or against the claim is on oath, and corroboration of the evidence of the claimant is required on all material points. In regard to the question of age, however, the magistrate is not obliged to require corroborative evidence if he is personally satisfied that the claimant is of the required age. Having heard the evidence, the magistrate may admit the pension claim as originally made; or he may modify it in accordance with the evidence called; or he may postpone it for further evidence, or reject it altogether. But, in rejecting it, he is required to specify in writing all the material points which he finds to be proved or disproved. The strict rules of evidence need not be observed in the inquiry, the magistrate being empowered to investigate and determine the matter by such means and in such manner as in equity and good conscience he thinks fit. The magistrate's decision will be held to be final and conclusive in respect of what he finds to be disproved in regard to the claim, but the claimant may at any other time produce fresh evidence on the points which have been found to be "simply unproved" or not sufficiently proved. So that the mere fact of a person failing sufficiently to prove certain points on the first occasion does not necessarily destroy for ever his chances of getting a pension. It is also provided that a claim may be sent in and investigated not more than two years before the date on which it is alleged it will be due, so that everything will be in readiness for the claimant to get his pension, if the claim is established, on the due date.
When the claim is established and the rate of pension fixed, the Stipendiary Magistrate will certify accordingly to the Deputy-Registrar, who will issue a pension certificate to the claimant; and a fresh pension certificate will be issued to him every year thereafter. The pension will be paid, in monthly instalments, at the money order office in the district in which the pensioner resides. The pensioner must personally apply for his pension, and produce his certificate, otherwise he will be unable to obtain the instalment and it will be forfeited; provision, of course, being made for cases in which the pensioner is physically incapable of making a personal appearance.
In cases where the pensioner is maintained in or relieved by any charitable institution, the reasonable cost of such maintenance or relief is payable out of the pension to the governing body of such institution; and any surplus remaining after defraying such cost is paid to the pensioner himself.
Instalments which fall due while the pensioner is in prison or an inmate of a lunatic asylum, or while he is absent from the colony, are absolutely forfeited.
A maximum penalty of six months is provided for any person who obtains, or attempts to obtain, a pension certificate to which he is not justly entitled, or a pension of a larger amount than he can legally claim, by means of any false statement or representation; or if he by any means obtains, or attempts to obtain, payment of any forfeited instalment of his pension, or aids or abets any person to so infringe the law. If a person is convicted of any such offence, the Court is empowered to cancel any pension certificate which is proved to have been wrongfully obtained, or to reduce to its proper amount any pension that has been proved to be too high, or to impose a penalty not exceeding twice the amount of any instalment, the payment of which has been wrongfully obtained. If the defendant in the case is a pensioner, the Court may direct the forfeiture of future instalments of his pension equal in amount to such penalty.
To satisfy the demands of the Prohibition party in the House of Representatives, it is provided that if any pensioner is convicted of drunkenness, or of any offence punishable by imprisonment for not less than one month, " and dishonouring him in the public estimation," then, in addition to any other penalty imposed, the Court has the discretion of forfeiting one or more of the pensioner's instalments falling due after the date of the conviction. Further, if the Court is of opinion that any pensioner mis-spends, wastes, or lessens his estate, or greatly injures his health, or endangers or interrupts the peace and happiness of his family, it may direct that the instalment may be paid to any clergyman, justice of the peace, or other reputable person for the pensioner's benefit. It may even go so far as to cancel the pension certificate. And it is bound to cancel the certificate if the pensioner is proved to be a habitual drunkard within the meaning of the Act The certificate must also be cancelled if the pensioner is sentenced to imprisonment for twelve months or upwards for any offence "dishonouring him in the public estimation."
The pension is absolutely inalienable, whether by way of assignment, charge, execution, bankruptcy, or otherwise. The Act does not apply to aboriginal natives who are in receipt of aid from the Civil List, nor to aliens, nor to Chinese, nor other Asiatics, whether naturalised or not, and only to naturalised persons of other countries who have been naturalised for five years.
The Act, which applies, of course, to persons of both sexes, is admitted by the Premier to be merely a tentative measure, and appearances, before it was passed, pointed to the fact that considerable difficulty seemed likely to be experienced in putting it into active operation; that is, if any reasonable amount of care was to be exercised by those conducting inquiries into claims for pensions. A cursory glance at the qualifications necessary for a pension is sufficient to show that a considerable amount of extra work will devolve upon stipendiary magistrates; who, in the more populous districts at any rate, have their hands so full that in more than one instance representations have been made as to the necessity of providing them with assistance. Would-be pensioners, too, must be put to a good deal of trouble to prove their claims, and in many cases will have to call evidence in support of their declarations from places far distant from those in which they at present reside. As to the question of age, the investigating magistrate is allowed to exercise his own power of observation; but it will be by no means an easy or brief task for him to discover from applicants what amount of truth attaches to their statements that they are of sober and reputable habits, of good moral character, or that their income or the amount of their property is sufficiently small to entitle them to receive a pension. Naturally, the police will be called upon to speak as to their knowledge of the applicants, and in view of that contingency it is perhaps just as well that Parliament last session voted money for an increase in the numbers of the police force. In short, to prove what is required to be proved, each applicant is attended by a small army of witnesses, whose evidence needs to be carefully checked by the police authorities, and probably by those who are or have been concerned in the distribution of charitable aid. The official view of the matter appears to be that applicants, generally speaking, are not inclined to depart overmuch from the truth in the statements they make in support of their claims. The majority of the public, however, are inclined to be less charitable in their opinions.
Under the supplementary Regulations, the Deputy-Registrar is required to file all claims sent in, and to forward them to the stipendiary magistrate presiding at the court held at the place nearest to the residence of the claimant, who will be notified of the time and place at which he may attend to support his claim, forms for which are provided. The pension claim, bearing a minute of the magistrate's decision, is filed in the court, and a copy of the minute forwarded to the Deputy-Registrar, who is to enter its purport in the pension claim register. If the magistrate certifies that the pension is rightly claimed, an entry of the amount of the pension to be paid is entered in the register, and a pension certificate will at once be issued.
In order to facilitate the magistrate's investigation of pension claims, he is allowed to authorise the Deputy-Registrar, "or any other fit person," to inquire into the accuracy or otherwise of the matters of fact set forth in the claim; and for that purpose the person so appointed is allowed to have free access to the register of the Lands Transfer and Deeds Registration Office (for the purpose of searching title to land), the records of the Supreme Court (for the purpose of searching mortgages, etc.), and the District Valuation Roll (for the purpose of ascertaining the particulars and valuation of landed property), besides the property real and personal of the claimant, and all books, vouchers, etc., relating to his property or income. These inquiries are, where practicable, to be completed before the magistrate makes his investigation, and are to be reported to him either in writing or by way of evidence at the investigation. Discretion is given to the magistrate as to whether he will accept or reject such testimony; and he is also empowered to receive or accept or reject a statutory declaration made by any clergyman, justice of the peace, postmaster, "or other reputable person," on the subject of the claim. The magistrate, in fact, is given a very free hand; he is not bound by the strict rules of evidence, and may be guided by his own personal observation, or documentary evidence other than that already mentioned, or the sworn spoken evidence of any reputable person who deposes to what, from inquiries made by him, he believes to be true. Government officers and the police are instructed to assist claimants in the preparation and investigation of their pension claims.
In all this there is abundant evidence that several new offices will have to be created if the Act is to be administered with any degree of care; while, on the other hand, it is equally certain that if every care is not exercised in the investigation of claims many undeserving people will be awarded pensions. At the same time, it must be remembered that, once a pension has been granted, any departure from the paths of virtue on the part of the recipient will probably be quickly noted, and the pensioner will be penalised to the extent of the whole or some part of his pension, according to the magnitude of his offence.
In introducing the measure to the House of Representatives, the Premier urged that it would result in a considerable saving in the cost of charitable aid. This was at the time disputed by the opponents of the scheme, but appears to be borne out by later developments. In the Benevolent Home at Wellington at the present time, there are no less than thirty-six inmates who are entitled to the full amount of the pension; and the trustees of the Home deduct from the pension the reasonable cost of their maintenance. No figures have yet come to hand regarding similar institutions in other parts of the colony, but it may be safely assumed (and the assumption is borne out by people who are in a position to know) that the case of the Wellington Home is not an isolated one; and the Charitable Aid Vote should show a considerable decrease next session. Altogether, it is computed that about 10,000 people in the colony may perhaps ultimately be found to be entitled to the pension, considering that it is granted to males and females alike. But it is not a matter to be settled in a day, and, judging by the results so far, 10,000 seems likely to be an overestimate.[1]
As to the effect of the Act on the Friendly Societies, it is expected to be very small. The majority of members of these societies over sixty-five years of age receive sufficient to preclude them from obtaining the pension.
A determined attempt was made during the passage of the measure through the Lower House to put the pension on a contributory basis, its opponents arguing that in the form in which it eventually passed it was neither more nor less than an extension of the present system of charitable aid. That, of course, would have prevented any immediate benefit being derived from the measure, and the proposed amendment was successfully resisted. Then considerable difficulty was experienced in coming to an agreement as to how the money should be provided. All sorts of suggestions were made. Some wanted the land tax increased, others proposed a tax on amusements; but all these were rejected as impracticable. The money, it was decided, should come out of the Consolidated Fund, that being considered the simplest way of dealing with the matter, more especially as of late years there has been a considerable surplus of revenue over expenditure, and there appears to be every probability that that surplus will be sufficient to provide the amount required without increasing the burden of taxation. The best account so far published of the way in which the experiment is working was given some months ago in the Australian edition of the Review of Reviews. So far, 9015 claims had been registered, and only 2875 granted; and it is clear that the colony will easily bear the cost of the pension scheme out of its ordinary revenue, especially as Mr Seddon—always lucky in his finance—expects this year to have a surplus of £500,000. The task of deciding on applications for pensions greatly adds to the labours of the stipendiary magistrates of the colony, and not seldom tries their sensibilities. A procession of white-headed, semi-blind, tottering men and women passes before them—made up of applicants for a pension of £18 per year, or for some fraction of it. The magistrate has to inquire sternly into the moral character of the applicants; to ask some saintly old woman if she has ever been in gaol; to demand of some decent white-haired veteran how often he has been drunk, and whether he ever deserted his wife. The process of securing a pension, in brief, is a sort of secular and human version of the Day of Judgment. In some parts of New Zealand the daily papers draw a veil of kindly silence over the proceedings, and do not report the names of the applicants. The effect of the Bill, however, has been to bring to the surface all the poverty-smitten old age of the colony; all the human wrecks—friendless and penniless—who find themselves in need of charity. The feelings of compassion kindled by the spectacle certainly tell in favour of the scheme, and Mr Seddon, it is said, when the general election comes, will probably reap a political harvest from the Bill.
Note.—See Appendix D; and compare New South Wales proposals, Appendix E.
- ↑ Actually 7500. See Appendix D.