THE RAILWAY WAR BONUS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3562, 23 September 1916, Page 5

THE RAILWAY WAR BONUS.

WELLINGTON, September 22

Railwaymon aro not altogether satisfied vyith the way in which their war bonus of a shilling a, day to.the nonclerical division is being paid to them. The "Railway Review" calls attention ti what it describes as a strange Departmental view of the bonus. "Instead of regarding it as' wages, the official view' is thsit it is something unearned—a gift—and thus liable to the receipt duty." It quotes the report of a Wanganui correspondent, who states that in accordance with Departmental instructions, tho men will havo to arm themselves on pay-day with a twopenny receipt stamp, but what happens to the man who is stampless on the day is at present veiled in mystery. Is tho country so badly in need of money, asks its correspondent, that its administrators have to ask men earning £3 a week or less to hand back some of their earnings ?

One way in which the railwayman is countering the increased cost of living is by combining to secure discounts from tradesmen in return for cash trading, and the concentration of i retail custom. Tho Dnnedin Railway Cash' Purchase Association has just closed # successful year's operation, during which nearly £1000 was return-ed-through tho%saociation to the-mem-bers, .as ■discounts granted by retailers, this sum.being in addition to discounts given over tho counter to members of the association.