The Government of France has been the first to adopt
a clan for granting a State pension to aged workpeople. A scheme was adopted by the Chamber on Tuesday, under which a pension will be granted to workmen who have sub- scribed for ten years to Benefit Societies, raising their allow- ances to a maximum of 365 fr. a year. This is considered the alimentary minimum below which it is useless to allow pensions. The Socialists resisted, maintaining that all labourers were entitled to help in old age, and not merely such labourers as had subscribed to Friendly Societies ; but ultimately they gave way, and the Bill was allowed to pass without a division. The credit voted was only £80,000 a year, which must be below the liability incurred, and the Socialists are in glee at what they consider the admission of their principle. Apart from the figures, which we profoundly dis- trust, the vote seems to us a denial of the Socialist principle, a grant of aid not according to men's needs, but according to their merits in saving money. The vote however, like many others, indicates the direction in which the principle of a redistribution of wealth will ultimately be applied. It is that of regarding worn-out workmen as soldiers of the community.
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