siderable 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
- ↑ Actually 7500. See Appendix D.
