WAR PENSIONS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 3, 28 September 1917, Page 6

WAR PENSIONS

BILL IN COMMITTEE

THE ALLOWANCES

REGULATIONS TO BE SUBMITTED 1

THE HOUSE

STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS

The War Pensions Amendment Bill was before the House of Representatives again Inst evening, when (no Bill vas considered in. Committee.

Mr. W. A. Veitck (Wanganui) said he understood the Minister of Defenco had promised that evening to consider some proposals nittdo by tlio Second" Division League. If the Government was going to amend the'Bill further it was scarcely worth while to discuss it how. Would the Minister give tlio House some information on the point? Mr. L. M, Isitt (Christclwrch North) said there were cases of hardship among New Zealanders who had v onlisted in the Imperial Forces and were now not receiving the benefit} of the New Zealand pension rates. •

-Mr. It. A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs) said tlio weak point of the financial assistance scheme was that the soldiers got nothing by right. They were able to apply, for assistanco up to .£3 a week for rent, insurance, etc.,. but there was no certainty about the decision of the Financial Assistance Board. Ee suggested that some part of the financial assistance should be by right, so that a married man might be suro bis rent wou'd be paid up to a certain amount. He thought that New Zealanders who had joined the Motor Patrol should be put on the same footing as members of the Expeditionary Force under the fihanc\al assistance scheme.

Mr. J. V. Brown (Napier) complained that the Bill made no provision for the widows soldiers who had committed suicide. The conditions of modern war were likely to disturb a man's mental balance, and the dependants should not he left to suffer. There should he a minimum payment of 255. per week to widowed, mothers. The people of Nw Zealand were willing to provide the money, but. the Government acted as though the Ministers, and not the people, had to provide the money. He believed that the increased pension rates should bo retrospective, or at least should begin at onco. The attempt to schedule in* juries would not be successful. The loss of a lepr might force one man to x learn a new trade, while it would not affect another man's earning capacity at all. Tho reduced purchasing power of the sovereign ought to be taken into consideration in fixing allowances. Needs of the Children. Dr. A. IC. Newman said the Bill was an improvement on tho measure at prosent in operation, but it was very skimpy in some respects. The country could afford to pay more,, especially in the case of separation, allowances. The payment of 21s. a week to a wife was not. large onough. In view of the high cost of living tho Government sho uldincrease the allowances considerably. He was aware that a wife and her children could live on the money provided, but if the woman and the children were to be denied" the good things of' life while they were young, the young people would not grow ■up in the happy, healthy way that was proper for the soldier's children. . A family could not be maintained in comfort on the rates proposed in the Bill. It was rubbish to sav that the country could not afford to pay more. The people were willing to bear extra taxes and find the money. Men who wero going away to light for New Zealand ought to haye better treatmenfythan the Government promised. The l ,House was/willing to vote 'he money required, and the people would gladly provide it, so the Government nee;! not be miserly. There was no evidence that tho cost of living would decline. It was know that children needed tho best of food, clothing, and shelter in their early years. He believed only the Minister stood in the wfty of improved rates. Mr. J. M'Combs (Lyttelton) said an unfortunate note had been stnick by the Minister when he said Parliament should not put the rates so high that posterity would be tempted to repudiate them. The House should trust posterity to do

the right thing. ,-He was sure tho demoicracy of New Zealand would repudiate the payment of interest before it would repudiate its obligations to the soldiers and their dependants. The tables produced by the Minister to show how much a soldier and his dependants could get wero cruelly threading. What man would get the full allowance of ,£3 a week from tha Financial Assistance ■ Board? Only the man who held enough property to carry a big mortgage. Tha Second Division men wero justified in demanding that the allowances 6hould bo by right. Mr. C. J. Parr (Eden) said the Bill represented a good attempt to meet a very grave position. The Ministers had done well, but there were points where the Bill could be improved. The allowance of 7s. Gd. per week for each child was inadequate, and should be increased to 10s. The pension should not stop at the age of .sixteen years in' the case of a girl. The wife's allowance of ■ 21s. & week was too low. The Government expected the soldier to allot his wife at least 3s. a day' from his pay, but the remaining 2s. a day was not enough to meet the needs of the man at the front. The position would be met if the soldier's pay was increased to Bs.'per day. The Financial Assistance Board could do a great deal to smooth over difficulties if it was symoathetically and generously ndministered. f Dr. n.. T. J. Thacker (Christchurch East) said there would have been no need to send Second Division men if the Government had not dispatched too many soldiers from New Zealand. He urged that the allowance rates should be increased.

Mr. H. Poland (Ohinemuri) said he took exception to the pension for total incapacity. The K/cond Division 1.-eague had expressed itself as satisfied, but he .was looking at. it from the point nf view of a single man. The totally disabled single man was to receive ,£2 a week, which might be increased up to .£3 at the discretion of n board if the pre-war earnings hod exceeded .£2. Men of this class should not be required to appeal to hoards.. The senarntion allowances of 7s. fid. for a child and 21s. for a wife were too low. and no consideration of finance, justified such pnltry provision. The Government, was a bojns to Civil Servants, hut it said it epuM not afford to uay decent allowances to soldiers' wives and children. - • The Defence Minister. The Minister of Defence (Sir .lames Allen) said that certain points raised by the Second Division League in connection with'tho schedules of the Bill v.ould be considered by Cabinet. He did not think that the Government was called upon to sunplement Imperial pensions in tho cases of men who had loft New Zealand in order to join the Imperial Forces Provision was being made ill the Bill for men who had enlisted in New Zealand for Imperial units and for British reservists who had been called lo I lie colours while resident in New Zealand. He was considering the question of allowing motor patrol men lo come under the operation of the financial assistance scheme. Financial Assistance Scheme. "I do not think that members realise how much is done for the soldier bv means of the Financial Assistance Board.' said the Minister. "Tho Board has made grants alreadv to the amount of i«imething like JIGO.OfIO a year. TCent is being paid'in many cases. The board goes on the nrincinle of allowing.for the •-vife receiving a fair allotment from.her husband's pay, and then making up the wife's-income, by way nf grants f or rent.. insurance, and other things, within the limits of the maximum allowance (now .£.l ner week) to ai amount equivalent to what she had before her husband went away, after deducting the cost of his maintenance. I think that the soldiers will find in the financial Assistance Board a very ready rcoaiis of help. With regard to insurHnc.c-, the hoard will pnv the whole of tho premium on polici' taken out before the war. In the case of policies taken,

( P u t during the war the board is pay- ) nig premiums in soino cases. A sjidiei who onlists now may tako out insurunco up to a limited umouut. Tho limit is about ,£300." Tho widowed niotiiWE were already provided for. They could get up to ;iOi. per week. Dr. Thacker: "I know of two widowed mothers who are getting only 10a. a week. They are solely dependent." The Minister: "I do not know of any such caaes." High routs were met by tho Financial Assistance Board, which I aimed at maintaining the homes until ' the men carao Back again. The Financial Assistanco Board was already paying ,£2 a week in some cases. Provision iiad been mads for the extension of the pension period to seventeen years of ago in the caso of girls. He did nut think that nn Appeal Board was needed for the pension scheme. The Pensions , Board was doing excellent work. Air. Parr: "They sometimes go wrong." j Sir James Allou: "Every man may go wrong." [ Mr. Parr: "Then who suffers?" I Sir .Tames Allen said it was not a fact . that the men needed considerable sums j- of money while on service. There were ; reasons why they were better without ; much money. They needed money while ; on furlough, and plans were being coni sidered for retaining a part of their pay 1 in England in order that it might be available wlien tliey needed it. : Mr. Wilford: "Out of their two shili lings per day?", • . The Minister added that a suggestion had been made that workers could not obtain commissions in Now. Zealand. There was no country where the avenues of promotion were opened more widely. The late Brigadier-General Brown had come from the mines of Hie AVest Coast. Mr. J. V. Brown*. "What a"bout tho thirty-one officers who are coming, out from Oxford and- Cambridge?" Sir .Taines Allen: "They aro our own men, taken from our own forces, given training at Cambridge and brought back to command our own reinforcements." Mr. Massey: I saw them in training at Cambridge and there were two Maoris among them. Mr. WilforA (Hutt) said that if .the Government would place the regulations regarding allowances on the table, in order ,that members might know exactly what was going to be done, the debate would be very much shortened. Members did not want the soldiers to be at the mcrcy of Departmental drafting later on. They were ajraid that if they " let tho Bills pass they would not see tho regulations before the end of the session, and would have no chance to discuss them; |