The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1909. FRANCE'S OLD AGE PENSIONS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12405, 29 December 1909, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1909. FRANCE'S OLD AGE PENSIONS.

France has its scheme of old age pensions still on the Parliamentary anvil, [ and it is cnce more the subject of an interesting report. The minuteness and I caution with which the nvhole question lia-5 been, .surveyed by one government after another'furnish a marked con trast to the reckless hurry in which the Government of this Dominion endeavours to give effect to experimental legislation. Indeed-almost the opposite extreme; has been reached in France. Since .1893 there have been five Parliamentary reports on the question, and it has been the subjecst of dozens of Bil?s. The latest report, known as M. Cuvi- | not's, embodies.the views of a committee of the Senate, and bears-immediate-ly upon the Bill now before,.that Chamber. ' One committee after, another has rejected the principle on which the English system is founded, on the ground that it discourages thrift and individual initiative. It- is clear that whet pc» sions are provided in France on a national scale the expenditure will be | met by contributions'from the workman, tho employer and the State. ; This plan was adopted in the Bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies in 1906, and it is reproduced in the proposals now submitted to the Senate. A greater difficulty has arisen in settling the question whether contributions towards the pensions should be compulsory or optional. A Parliamentary report drawn up in 1893 recommended that the workman should bo given entire liberty of choice. The committee expressed the view that it was impossible to make thrift and foresight obligatory, because they were virtues morally and materially,.'and-create institutions which would make them more easy of accomplishment.' It was decided that liberty should be left to the workman to contribute or not to the pension scheme. If he decided to do so, a contribution from the employei would become compulsory. In 1900 the Commission d' Assurance et de Prevoy ance Sociales decided in favour of thft principle of the scheme eventually voted by the Chamber of Deputies. That the principle of obligation is, however, not favorably viewed by the mass of public opinion is clearly proved by the special inquiry instituted in 1907 by the commission. Only 1772 replied, or 18^ per cent., were in favour of compulsory contribution ; while 5744, or 60 per cent., were in favour of optional contribution, officially encouraged by the State. Two hundred and eighty trade unions were in favour of compulsory contribution, both for employees and masters, 469 opposed any contribution at all on the part of the employee^ while 270 were in favour of an optional system. These statistics, which are taken from M. Cuyinot's report, show clearly enough that while the workmen who are re:;dy to contribute towards their own pensions are pretty evenly divided as to the adyisa-, bility of a compulsory or optional system, the weight of opinion among the other interested parties is distinctly | hostile to compulsion. The Bill vote-\ by tho 'Chamber of Deputies in 1906! included proposals to collect the workmen's contributions at the source —that is, collection by the employer from the workman's wage. Tho ■ Senatorial com mittee, influenced by the inquiry of 1907, has modified the Chamber's proposal. The workman will be required: to contribute, but it will only be at tho j end of a year in which he has got' into arrears and paid no attention to a' summons from the Treasury that the' employer will bo required to hold back so much of his wages as may be required to pay his contribxition up to date. Jn j the matter of the amount of the contri-1 bution made respectively by employer j nnd employee, the Bill voted by tho' Chamber of Deptities adopted the pro- j posals of the committee of 189T3. Nevertheless, the Senatorial committee, basing it" opinion on the inquiries of 1901 ■ and IO.F/^ considers that a contribution' oP 2 pet cent, on the employees' wages ! would be an excessive burden, and pro-1 poses that tho obligatory contribution' should bo limited to 6 f. a year. Pre-1 viou's proposals had assumed that theT contribution of employer and employee should bo equal in value. The Bill now I before the Senato proposes that while the workman's obligatory contribution '• should bo 6 f. (the committee believes,

however, that additional voluntary con r tributiona will raise the average to 9 f.),' tho employer should pay 9 f. towardsthe support of his employees in their old age. A point- on which there hasbeen some disagreement is how the-, funds formed by the contributions towards old age pensions should be employed so as to prevent an excessive, accumulation. According to the " Morning Post," the following division of themoney will be proposed to the Senate :

(1) An annuity, which will be ensured: by the immediate distribution of the employer's payments; (2) the pension: properly so called, which will be ensured^ by the capitalisation of the employee's payments, which will be credited to hispersonal account; (3) the contribution ot tho State in the form of majorations, which will increase proportionately both: the annuity and the pension.