SECOND DIVISION CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3140, 19 July 1917, Page 6

SECOND DIVISION CONFERENCE

ADDRESS BY SIR JAMES ALLEN ./ PROBLEMS OP THE NEAR •'-.''• FUTURE. . PAY AND PENSIONS '^, 00nf f r £ nce of SecoDd Division League W»iij3 A - T - irjustroli e:.' President of'tho Wellington League; welcomed the visitant delegates to the city. He said thov ™ ? et to disouss what was undoubtedly the foremost problem in Now Zealand i 1 " -- .■ Dele S a tes had come from the most; distant parts of the Dominion-froni the North Cape to the Bluff, and from the East Coast to the West Coast. There was not a town nor a city th.it was not •represented. Upon the deliberations of the conference would depend the future welfare of a considerable number of the community, particularly the wives and the children. With this as a common bond they could rely on that co-operation .between delegates which would make for the success of the conference. The attendance was a guarantee that the Second Division would answer the call of duty, and also that it would tolorate no injustice to those thoy left behind. Mr. B. A. Armstrong (Wellington) was elected president of the conference, and Mr. C. H. Chapman (Wellington) was appointed conference secretary. Minister Opens the Conference, The conference was" formally opened by the Minister of Defence (the Hon. Sir* James Allen). The Minister said he was glad to meet the delegates, but no doubt he appeared to them more like the devil than a saint. He had no doubt nil were perfectly loyal, and he knew they could be relied on for every assistance. The road ahead was no less difficult than that trodden in the recent past. In regard'to the formation of the league, he looked to the league to he of assistance to the Defence Department in overcoming its 'difficulties. Regarding the First Division the Department would use its best efforts to secure all of them before the Second Division was called on. There were difficulties in doing this, and some ■unfortunate mistakes had been made in the pnblicaiton of defaulters' names. It was the duty of everyone to 'find these men. Then there were the men passed as temporarily unfit. There was a

combing out going on now of these men. There were also the men who' liar] been given leave sine die to follow occupations which were considered to be iii the conn'fay's interest. How .many drafts these, men would produce ho could not say, lint he felt safe in saying one reinforcement, and possibly two. but that was °necitlating.. As to the time the Second Division would be called, the classification cnild not be completed before August. The Department was now asking the members of the division for information up to date._ The Military Service Hoards weTC. in bis opinion, doing their lwst to deal out equal-justice to all. Where there was undue hardship the bonrds were there to protect the reservist. Early Examination of Men. As to early examinations to decide the question of whether men of .the Second Division were likely to be called or rejected, the difficulties of deciding thishad .been pointed out, buit he thought the idea of putting forward the medical examination a month seemed much more reasonable than examining all the division now. The heada of the military branohes had been instructed to work out the suggestion and Teport on it. He had not yet received the report. He understood the feeling; he himself liked to know what he had to face, and he would face it. •The chairman: So will.we, sir. ' Delegates: Hear, hear. • ■:. The Minister said ho was'sure of that. There also was the question of allowances to dependants'. Be did not suppose that the pay of the soldier needed to be increased. One of the difficulties was to find an adjustment between pensions and •pay.. It would be realised that it was impossible to pay according to a man's pre-war earnings. The allownnr.es could not be brought up to too high a standard if they were going to have a uniform basis.

Regarding men- in business, the National Efficiency Board had been considering the question ad had appoited advisers in most of the. big towns, and as the .time for the calling of the Second Division came nearer still more advisers would be appointed to see if it was possible to carry on a man's business while he was away, sn that he could step into it when he returned. There might he an attempt to so increase pensions now while everyone was enthusiastic about the soldiers that it would place a burden on the country ■which it coiuld not bear in years to come. The Government had to loot, to Hip future as well as to the present. He did jiot think our pension scheme was all that could be desired, and he was prepared to submit within a few days suggestions for improvements. The matter would be 'dea.lt with this session. The Minister was thanked by the president for his courtesy in consenting to open the conference. The president snid he gathered from the Minister's remarks that heiaporociated the good intentions of the league. Examinatiton of Reservists. Mr. Monteath (Wellington) moved: "That Government be requested to provide the necessary machinery for completing the medical examination of each class of the Second Division at least one month "'before the ballot of such class is taken." • The president said he thought the conference should affirm the broad principle contained in the motion, and 'hat was that men should be examined n* early as possible and*-given as much lime as possible to wind up affairs. The motion was carried with "the addition: "That all . C 2 men, after being passed as fit nn re-examination, shall not ,be required to go into camp before the .expiry of three months after such re-ex-amination." Liability of the State. Tho following was moved by Wellington:—"That the medical examination be made the deciding factor as to the libiiity of the State, so that if a man is passed as physically fit by the examining medical board the State shall take full responsibility from the moment -of his parading for entry into (amp, and that in the event of his death or disablement by disease or by accident (when on leave included) he and his dependants shall be entitled to the same pensions and allowances as if the death or disablement had occurred on activo service or had resulted from his employment as a member of the Expeditionary Forces." Tho mover, Mr. Monteath, said that in Wellington ns many as seventy men had been turned out of camp in one batch, and he believed it was because of the medical examination not being thorough enough. Tf the responsibility was put on the State, the examination would be more careful. It would cc-an pension by right. Mr. Martin (Canterbury), seconded. ' TT was proposed that the following OhißO remit should be added to tho inotfon:—"That if a soldier breaks down while under military training owing to iiny long standing illness, injury, or oilier ailment which lie has ne«lected to enumerate in his sworn affidavit, 'hen the matter of pensions for himself and his dependants must be left to the discretion of the Pensions Board." Messrs. Dash and Dixon 'FTawer.-O opposed the addition of the Otiiw clause. Many men concealed defects, and the State must be protected against ■such people. The Wellington motion, without the Otngo addition, was adopted. The Cost of Living. Mr. Proctor (Otago) moved: "That fTOvernnient be requested to provide such competent control of the cost of living as wiii ensure the protection of pensions and allowances from being at any future time rendered inadequate by, the operalions of those seeking private profit out «f the necessaries of life." It was then suggested that the fol--

lowing Southland remit should be added to the motion:—"The Government to take suoh action as will result in the reduction of the cost of living, and that allowances to wives and all dependants inorease in the same ratio as the cost of living.'' Delegates spoke of what they termed the failure, of the Government to control the cost of living. Exceptions were taken to the way in which the prices of necessities of life had been allowed to rise. They said the Government hud already made some attempts to reduce prices, but on the whole had not been, successful. The Otago motion, with the Southland addition, was carried. The Franchise in the Trenches. • Wellington proposed:—"That provision be made by Government for the recording of the votes of all soldiers at home or abroad at all general elections and referenda and on all national questions submitted to the people for decision by popular vote." There was a little opposition to this on tho ground that when a man joined the Army he should be a soldier and a soldier only.. Also, it was asked, how were the men in the trenches to know of the issues or the candidates? Delegates replied that in the first place New Zealnnders were citizens, and that they should safeguard their citizen rights and surrender none of them. The motion was carried. !' State Should Provide Lawyers. On behalf of Wellington, the president moved:—"That the State should provide a legal representative to conduct tho cases of appellants before the Military Service Boards." After discussion, it was resolved:— "That the State should provide a legal representative in each town where the board sits, whose services shall be available to appellants before tlie Military Service Board free of cost to the appellants." . Medical and Dental Care. The conference discussed the question of the State providing free medical and dental'attendance for the dependants of soldiers on service, and finally tho matter was referred to a committee to report on to-day. Several delegates expressed the opinion that the State should organise the medical, dental, nursing, and kindred services for the benefit of the

State during the war. It was-resolved:—"That the register of all classes of reservists be immediately completed by the authorities and steps taken to enforce the penal provisions of the Act." This motion came from the Featherston League. It was decided to meet representatives of the Returned Soldiers' Association in conference to-morrow evening. The conference resumes this morning. MEDICAL EXAMINATION. COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS' REQUEST. At a meeting of the members of the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association held yesterday the following resolution wiis passed:—'That this meeting of the Wellington Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association pledges itself to assist the Government in every way in its war work, and with that end in view strongly urges upon the Government tho necessity for the immediate medical examination 6T the Second Division as being of vital necessity to tho well-being of tho Dominion." A copy of the resolution was dispatched to the Prime Minister at the' termination of the meeting.

On the above question a well-known commercial man said that the Defence Minister would have to readjust his views. He would have to remember that ho was now dealing with the solid class of business men who were the backbone of the country. Many of them had growing businesses of their own, which, though sorely hampered by their stall's being called up by the ballot and through volunteering, had struggled to keep the business together, so that it could remain a means of livelihood both to the "proprietors and to those employed. But now the Government was demanding the life-blood of these businesses (he heads of departments, leading salesmen, and commercial travellers, on whose efforts the life of the business absolutely depended. All they asked was that the medical inspection of such should take place at once, so that employers and employees of the Second Division shall know where they stand. Surely that was a reasonable request! What was the use of training an ineligible understudy when it is found, after all, that the man understudied is not fit jto go to (amp at nil. Why should business men bo put to such trouble and expense needlessly. The proportion of the different classes in the Second Division in each city and town was surely not so large that, by commencing,right now, they could not be got, through three months before the first of them were likely to be called on to go into camp. Few people could understand the stand taken up by the Defence Minister on this point.