SOLDIERS PAY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2875, 13 September 1916, Page 6

SOLDIERS PAY

QUESTION OF ALLOTMENT TO DEPENDANTS. Following up a previous recommendation by the Patriotic Societies' Advisory Board that married! men oil being attested should bo compelled to make an adoquate allotment to their dependants from the date of the attestation, the Defence Minister lias been pressed for a definite reply on the point. Acceding to tlio request, the Defonce Minister has replied:— "With reference to your letter of the sth instant, I regret that I have no power to compel any soldier to make an allotment order in favour of his dependant's at any time. Section 31, however, of the. Expeditionary Forces Act, 1915, gives me power to make compulsory deductions from "soldiers' pay in. favour of dependants, and if there is any reason to suppose that aiiy man in camp has relatives dependent upon him for whom he is not making proper provision, then the deduction can bo made from his pay for their support. I am afraid that if the Defence Department were to insist on every soldier making an allotment when he is atte-sted considerable dissatisfaction would be caused, as tho large majority of men make regular payments to their families and prefer keeping their domestic affairs in their oivn liandk so long as they remain in New Zealand."