MOTHERS AND WIVES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2931, 17 November 1916, Page 6

MOTHERS AND WIVES

MILITARY ALLOWANCES

MINISTER AND RELIEF BOARD At yesterday's meeting of the War Relief Advisory Board tho secretary reported having written as follows to the Defence Minister:—"The question ol allowance to widowed mothers was again further considered at the meeting of the Advisory Board, held on November 14. All the correspondence bearing on the subject was placed before the meeting, and I was instructed to express appreciation of the concessions which have been made by your Department. It was, however, decided to make further representations to yoii, as a strict interpretation of the provision 'that the widowed mother must be wholly and solely dependent'" is at times found to work very harshly in some exceedingly deserving cases. There are a number of instances where the widowed mother has only very slight resources ot who is in receipt o'f an old ago pension; in such cases tho Advisory Board considers that the widowed mother should be entitled to an allowance. I shall be glad if you will give this aspect of the question due consideration, and if possible frame regulations which will meet such cases as I have described." The Minister's reply was: "This question has received very careful consideration by me and by the Recruiting Board, and 1 regret that it is not tnought advisable to make any further alterations."'' This is an extract from an Ashburton letter to a the secretary:—"l see that the Advisory Board is pursuing the matter of grants to a widowed mother. We have a case here where one has been refused an allowance owing to her possession of an investment which brings here in ss. per week. She has nothing else, formerly having lived with her only son (niarwiio is now in Trentham. ' Do notleS this matter drop." The Minister attended the' board, and the matter'was mentioned to him. He said that if a son was really, the solo support of his mother, surely the sincerest proof would lie in. the- fact of'his making her an adequate allowance from his pay. _ A member of the hoard: Suppose ho is married? Mr. J. J. Dougall ' (Christehurch) mentioned • tho case of a widow who, having an income of os. a week, was precluded from assistance as of right. The Minister-.Well, I don't know if tho patriotic funds were raised for these purposes, but. if you want the Government to deal with all these individual cases, I don't know what the patriotic funds are for. Mr. Dougall: There is plenty use for patriotic funds. The Minister said there was also plenty use for Government funds. The Government had done a great deal. Ho added- that thisr was a matter for legislation; he could do nothing unloss the law was altered. Replying to the board on the subT ject of allotment of pay to soldiers' wives, the Minister wrote:—"l have to point out that the following' instructions have been included in the instructions of tli9 pay staff for some considerable time: After being dealt with by tho Record, Office, each man should bo interviewed by the Pay Department,; who will 'then explain the nature of I allotments, and give every man the opportunity there and then of making tho sanie. Married men and widowers must be told about married allowance. _ "It has been found, however, in practice exceedingly difficult to follow this out. Tho majority of men when they go into camp havo not considered the question of making allotment of their pay, and aro not prepared to make an assignment/until they are about to -, leave for tho front. Married men particularly state that they prefer to send their money homo themselves. It is only in very rare cases that men aro found not making proper provision for their dependants, and as soon as these are brought to the notice of the Camp Commandant by patriotic societies, or by relatives, then immediate steps aro taken to do whatever possible towards rendering assistance to those in need. I may add that the Department has at present under considerationTlie preparation of a form which is to be signed by all soldiers on enlistment, giving particulars of their dependants, and stating thereon what they intend to do as regards making allotments of pay. "It will probably be necessary to bring in some such arrangement as this, if at any timo married men are 1 called up." The reply was considered to be satisfactory.

Woods' Great Peppermint Care Tor Coughs and Olds, never fails.* J