SOLDIERS AND-FREE TRAVELLING.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16429, 24 January 1919, Page 5

SOLDIERS AND-FREE TRAVELLING.

N■ 4 - RAILWAY DEPARTMENT'S PRECAUTIONS. (rnESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, January 23. The "Railway Department has had t* lake slops to protect the returned soldiers' privilege of four weeks' free travelling, by insisting that precautions against its use by those not entitled t'-> it shall ho strictly observed. As a result, a number oF soldiers who were travelling without a certificate of discharge are hold up in various parts <n New Zealand. "The privilege has been abused somewhat, because thp precautions laid down in the returned soldiers handbook, repeated on the warrant for the ticket, and again on the ticket itself, aro not being goncrally earned °ut. f. .• i When the privilege was first introduced it was available only during the period of leave prior to discharge, so that a soldier was in uniform, when travelling, and there was little chance . of tho ticket being used by any unau- ■ thorised person. Now, the privilege is available for r.nv 28-day period within ' three months of a soldier's return, thus enabling men to spend some time at their homes l>cforo commencing to travel. The. extension of the period 4 carries it beyond the date of discharge, so that a soldier lean travel in mufti.

Under-these circumstances, as experience in actual eases of impersonation lias shown, the Railway Department, finds it necessary to 6trictly enforce the condition printed on the ticket, that a returned soldier's certificate of discharge must bo exhibited to the guard or ticket-collector when travelling, or, if a soldier lias not been discharged, his leave certificate must be carried and shown. Officers' who receive tio certificate of discharge, are required to produce their notice of having been struck off the strength of tho Expeditionary Forces. Base Records a soldier's discharge to tho address he has notified before the actual date of discharge,-so as to avoid any difficulty "in using the railway privilege, but men are ovidontly travelling while their 1 discharges are awaiting; them at home, and making no arrangements to have these necessary documents forwarded on. To try to overcome this difficulty, Base Records will in future post discharges riot less than 10 days prior to the date of discharge. =_ As a result of representations by tho Defence Department, the General Manager of Railways (Mr E. H. Hiley) has , agreed to return impounded tickets on the production, where possible, of a soldier's certificate of discharge, or,, where this is impossible, the Department will accept a telegram from Base Records, giving a description of „ tho soldier, and a copv of his discharge, and the Railway Department will'.refund any fare charged a soldier for journeys taken plior to impounding. It will, however, strictly enforce the conditions in future. 1