SOLDIERS' PAY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2942, 30 November 1916, Page 2

SOLDIERS' PAY

SOME COMPARISONS.

A- manifesto issued by the Wellington Trades and Labour Council on Saturday, with reference to the pav and pensions of members of the Now Zealand Expeditionary Forces, suggested that tho soldier was poorlv pant in comparison with civilians. Tho actual position of the New Zealand soldier, as far as his pay is concerned, tloes noti appear to be generally understood. The rate of pay is only ss. per day, bnt several factors have to bo taken into account.in comparing this pay' ivith the wages received by men engaged in civilian occupations: _ The-soldier receiving ss. per. dav is m a much better position financially than the civilian who gets 10s. per, day. This fact may be demonstrated by a simple comparison. Tho soldier,is paid for seven days a week and fiftytwo weeks in the year. Ho has no lost time at all. Ho receives, moreover, board, lodging, and clothing in addition to his pay, and at a very moderate estimate theso are worth 20s. per week. Ho certainly could not clothe; feed, and hoard himself on the same scale for 20s. per week in civilian life. It will be seen, therefore, that the soldier at ss. per day receives £91 per year in cash, plus £52 in the form of board, '«fing and clothing, making a total of £143 per year. , A civilian who'is paid 10s. per day works five days and a half in a week, and receives, a weekly wage of 55s'. Statistics show that he is fortunate if he loses no more than six weeks in the year owing to unemployment, - sickness, 'etc. If he works for 46 weeks in the year, his total earnings for tho twelve months, amount to £126 10s., aud out of this he has to pay for his own board, lodging, and clothing. Obviously he is worse off than the soldier. Ho would be no better off than the soldier even if he worked full time every week in the year. . If dependants have to be:taken into consideration, the civilian worker appears still to be in no better position than, the soldier. - A soldier with a wife and two children .will receive 355. per week, with 7s. separation allowl ance lor the wife and ss. 3d. for each of the children, making a total for tho family of 425. 6d. per week. The husband will be fed and clothed without trenching -upon, the money. • If the husband keeps 7s. a week for himself as packet money, the wifo will have 355. 6d. for herself and the two children. She will be in at least as good a posiion as the wife who is receiving her share of a weekly wage of 555. and has to provide for a husband as well as herself and the two children. This comparison does not take into account tho fact that the wife of the soldier would receive a supplementary allowance from the Patriotic Fund if she required it.