THE STATES' WAR OBLIGATIONS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2932, 18 November 1916, Page 8

THE STATES' WAR OBLIGATIONS

—_—_$ Prominence has been given in re cent correspondence between th Minister of Defence and the Wa Belief Advisory Board to aquestio) 'which, very urgently demands atten tion—that'of making such reason able provision' as is necessary in thi way'of enabling soldiers to mee their civil liabilities. It is f fact perhaps not sufficiently real ised that, . apart from pro viding 'pay and pensions, w< have relied almost entirely hitherfa upon soldiers being able to nice; such financial liabilities as thej leave behind them by.drawing upor their own resources or by'obtaining some measure of assistance from th< war relief and patriotic societies, Whether this, state of affairs has al any time been justified, in view oi the fact that the Government has from the first accepted as recruits married men and others with similar responsibilities, is a question which it would be hardly profitable to discuss at the/present stage. Bui it must be clear, to. any one who considers the matter that we cannot, without disregarding justice and equity,' proceed any; longer on the same lines. _ Now that the compulsory provisions of the Military Service Act are in force,'the country must do more than provide pay, separation allowances, , and pensions for soldiers and their dependants. 'Even the enlistment of single men very often entails much more than a personal sacrifice; it frequently involves home and financial interests which ought to be safeguarded, and are not safeguarded under existing conditions. Simple examples' falling within this category will; readily occur. A man who enlists may, for. instance, be buying a house or .'furniture by instalments, or ho may have insurance policies to keep alive. In many cases it will be quite impossible for soldiers to meet such liabilities out of pay, or pay and separation allowance, as the case may be, though they were able to do so from the incomes which they sacrificed upon enlisting. The provisions of our Mortgages Extension Act in no way meet cases of this kind. The Act protects a mortgagor against his liability for the capital amount of all mortgages owing by Him, and according to the Minister of Defence the term mortgage in this connection includes all securities over personal property, as well as land, and buildings. Presumably the prbvisons of the Act do not extend to but in any case what the use of protecting a man's capital liability if he can meantime be sued for interest which he is unable to meet out of his pay as a soldier? From the civilian standpoint, the Mortgages Extension Act is a useful 'measure, affording the relief made necessary by war conditions. - But if justice is to be done to the.soldier the Government must, go. well, beyond, a postnonement of his capital liability. It must, within reason, assist him to meet the financial calls of the nature indicated, to which he is immediately liable, and must- meet if home and other interests are to be safeguarded, and by the same act protect him againsb an accumulation of these liabilities 'which he would ultimately be unable to meet. Bare justice demands that when a man goes out to .fieht. for his country his home'should be safeguarded mid his financial sacrifice limited to the practicable minimum. Ifc is from this standpoint.that we must :leal with the matter. As to the lines upn'n which action should proved, a valuable'precedent is afforded in the measures taken by the Imperial .Government some months igo in. dealing with the same prqbem. . When (he'question of assistng. soldiers to meet their continung ciyH liabilities was submitted to ;ho- Minister of Defence recently by ;he War Relief Advisory Board, he ndica-tcd his concurrence in the ,'iew that further concessions would lave to be made, and mentioned that :hc British scheme for assisting sollicrs to meet their civil rcsponsibili;ies had been under his notice for months, and that he had coniiilted with Mr. Myers .(who is in iharge of the Military Service boards), in regard to cases of hardhip. But something more definite s called for than the Minister's fcncral assurance that the subject fill not bo lost sight of. The Britsh measures are certainly, in their irond aspect, admirable, and in esentiak might with every advantage ic copied and adopted' in this ountry. The machinery which was

set in motion in Great Bvitaii about live months ago, enables an; man, single or married, who hai joined the forces since August 4 1914, to apply for grants to enabh him to meet such liabilities as rent mortgage interest, payments in .in stalments on buildings; and furni ture, taxes, rates, insurance pre rniiims, and school fees. The assist ance granted, in no case exceed £104 a year. In operation the Brit ish scheme will entail an annual ex penditure of millions.sterling. Thf measures here outlined are clearlj those for ■ which an urgent and ai yet unsatisfied need exists in Nev Zealand. It is not possible to saj off-hand just how far the' State should go in assisting tho soldiei to meet his civil liabilities, and nc attempt can be made in brief com pass to deal with or delimit the variety of needs and demands to be met. Under the British, procedure comprehensive : general'- regulations nave been framed, and. a maximum fixed, and 'individual claims' and applications are dealt with by barris ter commissioners, appointee! in ' the Dumbers: necessary' to enable the.ns to keep pace. with, the .work. .'A somewhat similar procedure will have to be adopted in this country. As to the broad question, it is'manifesfc that an obligation rests upon the State to assist soldiers' in meeting .their civil liabilities, and New Zealand is well able to. render the assistance on at least as liberal a scale as the Mother Country since, in proportion to its means, this Dominion is bearing very, much lighter war' burdens; ' The matter cannot be allowed to rest,' and does not admit of delay. An irresistible Weight of public_ opinion will siipPifrt the War Relief Advisory Board in its decision to press for relief on similar lines to that granted by the British .Government.