string truncated by text widget after 50 chars

Any string defined in a script is truncated after 50 chars when displayed in a text widget.

In Script:
var_test="123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 "
var_len = string.len(var_test)

text widget displaying var_test displays the first 50 chars
text widget displaying var_length shows 60