MILITARY PENSIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1684, 26 February 1913, Page 8

MILITARY PENSIONS.

TALK WITH HON. F. M.B. FISHES,. ' (By Telegraph.—Precs'.Association.) ' Auckland, February 25. Latest information regarding the oper« atiou of the Military Pensions Act of'last ■. session has been given ton "licruld" representative by the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher. "The scheme has been eminently t-uc- , cossful," • Mr. Fisher remarked. "The total number, of pansions granted under '' tho Act to date is 512, involving .in'annual liability of X17.3G0. There have been 815. inquiries regarding pensions; anil '.' seventy of these havo reached the pensions office in completed form. Of tloso , applications, on which "pensions havo ndt : been •granted, 79 havo been rejected; prin- ' cipally on tho grounds that tho claimants • wero -'disqualified by the posE&sion of in-. comc or property in excess of statutory al- ' lowanoes. Seventy-four havo bein dt-ier-red owing' to lack of evidence of tho issue of a war medal, and' thirty-three are un- " tier investigation." Tho iiossession of tho'New Zealand'war medal is'an essential qualification, lor , pension, and .(said Mr. i'isher) tho veterans do not 'sbem to comprehend that. This medal ivns. issued by the imperial 1 Government'oll conditions which'aro not:', subject to alteration by tho New Zealand Government. Thero ate miiny men alive , to-day who . undertook most' hazardous 1 ' duties during the Maori wars, but, owing V to conditions prescribed by the Imperihl Government that medal could be awarded ionly to nien who were actually under lire. " iLMany men ; wero thus deprived of receiving decorations, and that difficulty c;iuld not be overcome by tho New Zealand Government until the War Office agreed to alter the conditions upon which tho medals were granted. It was proposed to nmko representations to tho Imperial authorities, urging that tho medal sliruld bo granted to thoso who underwent hard-' ships of tho campaign though they were not actually under fire". Another regrettable disability was mentioned by Mr. Fisher. Ho said that a claimant for a w'ai'. medal .was required to produce a certifi-jato that he had been, under firo signed by the officer commanding the forces in .Vhich, he had served. Owing to the death l of so large a number of tho officers engaged in the war, (he survivors havo tho utmost difficulty in establishing their qualification for the medal, though they were apparently boralido claimants. 'It was a matter of sincere regret to me," said Mr. Fisher, "that wo are unable to overcome this difficulty, Nevertheless, it is gratifying' that, after a long period of delay,' 512 veterans aro to-day receiving bpnelits uuder tho Act."