16 JANUARY 1909, Page 15

OLD-AGE PENSIONS.

[To TIM EDITOR OF THU "SPROTATOR.°

BIE,—Our local charities were brought under the control of one body of trustees by a scheme of the Charity Commis- sioners in 1868. The present income is 22,250, and the bember of recipients ninety-five,—thirty-two men and sixty- three women. The trustees possess three groups of old almshouses containing eleven houses for men and fourteen for women. The men receive a pension of 78. and one hundred- weight of coals per week, gas, water, bedding, clothing, and medical attendance and nursing. The women receive 6s. and the same other benefits. 'With the remainder of the income the trustees pay 12s. per week to ten outdoor pensioners, and to sixty pensioners sums varying in amount from 6s. to 88. We are considering what effect old-age pensions will have on our scheme. The Old-Age Pensions Committee have valued the benefits received by the men in the almshouses at 12s., and have granted to those over seventy—and nearly all are over seventy --a pension of is., and to the wife of one man the full 5s. We find that a majority of the men who apply for our Pensions owe the poverty of their old age to intemperance, and that when money is plentiful several of the almsmen return to their intemperate habits. Increased pensions are

therefore, desirable. The applications for out-pensions are much more numerous than for almshouses. In a very large number of cases the applicant is a parent living with a eliild and desiring a small sum for personal expenses. For this purpose an old-age pension of 5s. in addition to our raion of 68. seems unnecessarily large. The average age or the past twenty years of our out-pensioners at the time of their appointment was seventy-four years. In the future we shall probably give a larger number of pensions to aPplicants under seventy ; but unless there is an increase rPoverty at an early age, it is difficult to see how our ,!bds are to be employed for the benefit of the poor. A standard of living will no doubt be established amongst iae poor and the class immediately above, and if it is estab- ;abed on lines of temperance and moderation it will be good. a day mention another effect of giving pensions. Two years go IM old man applied to us, stating he could no longer 0".0rk owing to an accident which had resulted in a loss of 1,10t- We ascertained that he had been insured, and was in _eesipt of an allowance of lls, per week, and so declined his ZPPlication. Last month he again came before us, stating he ci commuted his allowance for a sum of 2100, bad spent the a_°°eY, and was to receive an old-age pension, but would have Other income. We did not give him a pension.—I am, Zancaster. ecc., A TRUSTEE FOR TWENTY YEARS.