A WISE CONCESSION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3178, 31 August 1917, Page 4

A WISE CONCESSION

A promising indication that the Government intends to deal with war pensions this session in the liberal spirit which the case demands is given in the _ announcement that express provision will bo made that a pension shall not bo reduced because a beneficiary has increased his earning power. . We emphasised the necessity of this amendment yesterday in discussing the problem of restoring men disabled in war to civil life, but at the moment overlooked the reference to the matter made that afternoon by Sir James Allen in the House of Representatives. His statement that one of the classes in the forthcoming Pensions Bill will make it clear that a man will not have his pension reduced because of any money he may earn shows that the Government has fully grasped the necessity and wisdom of encouraging men who return partially disabled from the war to work "heartily for their own benefit and advancement. The amendment contemplated'by the Government will be universally commended, and will in a valuable degree facilitate the fullest possible restoration of disabled men. The measure of justice proposed in regard to pensions should be followed up by untiring and methodical exertions in providing facilities for special training and inducing maimed and crippled soldiers, as they return from overseas, or are discharged from hospital, to make the fullest possible use of them: As matters stand the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department is doing admirable work in keeping track of returned soldiers. and assisting them to settle down in suitable positions in civilian life. But there is. room for specialised activity on behalf of disabled men, and efforts made under this head will be likely to produce much better results than hitherto now that pensioners are assured that successful efforts to increase their earning power| will in no case entail any reduction of the pensions they have gallantly earned.