RETURNED SOLDIERS' WANTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3099, 1 June 1917, Page 6

RETURNED SOLDIERS' WANTS

INTERVIEW WITH DEFENCE MINISTER

PENSIONS AND LAND A SYMPATHETIC HEARING : A' number of questions affecting; returned soldiers were brought under tlie notice of the Defence Minister (Sir James Allen) by a deputation representative of the Returned Soldiers' Conference, which has/been sitting in Duncdiu I'ecently. _-..;"" , Captain Pitt. President of tlie New Zealand Association, outlined the sub- . jects- on which the deputation wished to tajk to the Minister. Mr. J. Melling (Auckland) urged again that u Minister should J>e appointed, specialty to. look after the concerns of returned soldiers. This, he said. •would avoid the delays that occurred owing to these matters being referred to particular departments. The requost was that a Minister should be appointed ■in order that the local associations might be able to approach him and get an expeditious reply on any subject. Mr. WaUdingham spoke of the desire of the returned'soldiers that a returned soldier should be appointed to the PenV sions Board. He said that at present there -were a number of returned medical officers in the country, and the association thought it was a reasonable request that there should be a returned man on the board. One of tho grievances at present •was that men were disqualified from getting a pension because of pre-war disr < ''abilities. Quite a number of cases had come before local associations, and it .was suggested that some more allowance should be made. If a man died at-the . front because of a pre-war disability, the •pension of his widow, was not affected, ' nnd logically, if a man returned he should not be debarred because he had suffered from some disability before he enlisted. Another complaint was that men had had their pensions stopped be- - cause they had, years before they enlisted, committed a crime. Soldiers on the Land. : Mr. Haycock 1 , dealt with the settle- • ment of soldiers on land. He said that the conference had been unanimous in the opinion that the method at present adopted in acquiring land for the settlement of returned' soldiers upon it was not satisfactory. Under tho present system of purchase it was not possible to ■; acquire some of the best lands in the Dominion unless the owners offered it for sale. Many of the delegates had complained that the quality of the land HOW offered to soldiers, and the subdivision of it did not give tho soldier settlers a chance. The conference desired that the Land for.Settlement Act should be put in force, and that an Arbitration Court should be set up to determine what the value of land might be.-and how it ought to be subdivided. This opinion was shared by numbers of pro- ' rninent farmers in tho Dominion. The' v conference had carried unanimously a 'resolution that a board should be eot up consisting of six members of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and six members appointed by the Government to advise the Government regarding the settlement of soldiers on land. He mentioned also the case of the returned men who had dra,wn sections of land. -but who were retained in home service duties. He asked whether it would be possible for these men to hold their blocks until they were free of the Army. _Mr. Aldridge-. made an appeal to the Government to take steps to prevent the u<o of the word Anzac for trade and ether purposes. There were Anzac fishfihops, he helieved there was an Anzac. beer, and that some Racing Clubs had on +hoir programmes Anzac Stakes. Tn pimodin there was an Anzac Club which issued badges to any member, and membership was not limited to returned eol- ■ tliers This sort of thing might very readily lead to abuses.| Alien Enemies. ■ Major Rastrick put before the Minister the views of. the association regarding the treatment of alien enemies in Aew Zealand. It was not fair, he said, 1 that enemy aliens should be allowed to follow their usual occupations while our own men were conscripted for service abroad or for borne service. In the iSorth of Auckland a large' number of these aliens were earning not only good wages, but exceptional wages out of contracts and work of this character. It was a fact that a,' great many of these wen who claimed'to be of Slavonic de: scent were not Slavs at all. It had been 1 stated that if these men were taken for i home.service and put to useful work the Labour Party might object, but he main-1 tained that they were taking a great deal more from .New Zealand than they would be if conscripted and set to work on private soldiers' pay on such works ' as roads and bridges. If theso aliens were really in sympathy with our cause they had as good a right to help our country as tho men of our own -race. Major Rastrick 6aid that be wished all his remarks to apply to aliens interned as well as to those still at large. ..-. .The Minister's Reply. Sir Jame3 Allen said he would reply only briefly to some of the questions raised, because he had already had the opportunity of speaking to the conference on them at Dunedin. With respect , to the demand for tho appointment of a . responsible Minister to look after the interests of returned soldiers, it had al- . ways been the intention of the Gorern- \ meat that Mr. Herdman, as Minister-in-Charge of the Returned Soldiers' Information Department, should be the Minister to look after all the concerns of discharged soldiers. His Department , kept in touch with returned soldiers from the date of their discharge. Sir I James Allen said that he had already pointed out the impracticability of placing in the hands of one Minister all the various Departments . interested in returned 6oldier3. It would not be possible, for instance, to place in Mr. Herdinan's hands the administration of tho Lands Department, or even that portion -of tho administration which dealt with. Teturned soldiers. To attempt to place all these Departments under the control of one Minister would lead to confusion and trouble much worse than existed at present. But he quite agreed with the idea that there should be a Minister Whose special care it should be to look after returned soldiers and to keep iu close touch with his brother Ministers and so securo early replies to all communications from returned soldiers. This scheme was developing now, and it would bo fully developed later. He knew that Mr. Herdman had got into much closer touch lately \with. tho other Departments, and he had occasionally made suggestions to Cabinet concerning .the relations of soldiers with these Departments. The association would find that thore Tas already one Minister who was peculiarly the Minister to look after their interests, and ho was the Jlinister-in-Charge of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department. In reply to tho request that a returned soldier should be placed on the Pensions Board, the Minister said that he would not have the slightest objection to placing a returned soldier on the Iward—(hear, hear)—but at present the board was complete and the Government (lid not want to disturn it. If a vacancy occurred on the board he would have great pleasure in putting a returned soldier ou to fill it. Captain Pitt: We hoped it might be possible to revise the board. . Sir James Allen: Oh. well,, that must '' be a matter for Cabinet. He went on to speak of the question of pre-war disability. He could not say that in every case no account should be taken of prewar disability, because such a policy would open the door very wide. 1o fraud.and the Government must protect the State against fraud. The aim of the Government was to make tlie jien.sion scheme so found that there could never be any attacks upon it in years after the •wnr. If the door wa9 opened to unreasonable demands, the time might come when there would be a demand mado for ..- the alteration of the law. Captain Pitt eaid that the association

thought that borne consideration should bo shown to tue mail who nad actually none to the front and fought there before Hreating down because of a pre-war disability. Sir James Allen said he thought it would bo possible lor the Government to deal with cases of this kind under one of the new regulations. Tho Dcoartincnt had now directed that the medical officer should make a specific direct report in cases where there seemed to be some doubt. The medical officer would now be asked to say whether the illness was contracted in camp or in the field, or whether il was aggravated by training in the camps or by service abroad. If the report was that the' illness'' was contracted in camp or on active service,' (he man was entitled' to a pension. If the medical officer reported: "I am of opinion that this illness was aggravated by service at'' the front." thi.a was "suffi--ciont ground for the Pension Board to consider the application favourably. Mr. Haycock asked whether this regulation would be retrospective in its operation. Sir James Allen said that a man who had been refused a pension because of the fact thai- he ] m d been incapacitated by soma hurt or ailment contracted before he enlisted, but aggravated by active service, would be given an opportunity of having his case reconsidered bv the Pensions Board. Mr. Haycock:. I think that is very fair. The Land Question. .Kef erring to the laud questions raised Sir .lames Allen said that he was not an juit with all the points raised, but he would' submit them to Sir i'nuicis Uell, and also to 31 r. llassey o'n his return. It had been suggested that the Uoverument was purchasing only inferior laud, but .the truth was that the Government was prepared to purchase any land, good, bad, or indifferent, so long as it suited the soldier. The .Minister of Lauds was of the opinion that uuiiu-' proved land was better for' the soldiers, because it offered to them more prospect of big profit. Hut if it was found that tho soldiers wanted improved land the 'Uovcrument would buy it. The other question about the status of the returned soldier hold for home service who had drawn a section, he would like to refer to Sir I'rancis Bell. He was in entire sympathy with all that the deputation hud said about the misuse of the word Anzac. A regulation had been made dealing with the matter, and he thought the regulation was strong enough. Mr. Haycock said they had had advice from the lute Dr. il'Nob that the regulation did not prohibit tho use.of the word so long as it was not registered. All that the regulation did was to prohibit the registration of the term. Sir James Allen: I thought at the time that we were prohibiting the use of the word altogether, and 1 think it should be done. .. Captain - Pitt: That is what we want. Sir James Allen: I entirely agree with you. The Minister spoke next of the questions raised regarding enemy aliens. The Government, had ecido after many discussions to utilise the men interned on Somes Island on road work in the North Island, but owing to the near approach of winter it was not thought advisable to put them to the work at this season. Captain Pitt: It might do them a lot of good; Sir James Allen: Personally, 1 don't thint it would do them any harm. He added that he ought to tell the deputation that it was not proposed that the men should be compelled to work, but only that they should be allowed to volunteer. The general question of the employment of enemy aliens was a difficult one. New Zealand had to consult the Mother' Country always, lest something should be done here which would lead to the Germans taking retaliatory measures against the British prisoners in their hands. \ Captain Pitt: They could not do any worse than they are doing now. Sir James'Allen: Perhaps not. I may tell you that I have no sympathy with enemy aliens myself. However, the matter is one for Cabinet, and T shall be pleased to bring it before my colleagues.