SECOND DIVISION MEN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 174, 12 April 1918, Page 8

SECOND DIVISION MEN

COMPLAINTS CONSIDERED BY THE LEAIiUE ALLEGATIONS OF UNJUST . ' TREATMENT An official report which has been supplied of last night's meeting of the Second Division League states that a remarkable justification of the doubt which many reservists have regarding the possible future treatmeut of soldiers and their dependants by tho authorities was disclosed, when a number of letters and statements relating to the present position of the dependants of sailors and soldiers who have been kept in, or brought back to, New Zealand for instructional and other purposes, were dealt with. . In placing tho complaints before the meeting, the president, Mr. R. A. Armstrong, referred 1.0 the fact that during the last session of Parliament the separation allowances for wives, children, and widowed mothers were increased, to take t.ffect from January 1, 1918. As was well known, it was definitely stated ly the Minister of Defence in Parliament that these increases would apply to men on home service as well as the men on active service, and that there would be no differentiation. When the due date arrived, however, the home-service men were dismayed to find that instructions had been issued to pay-masters that the increased rates were not to bo paid to them. Many complaints on this score -had been made to the league, which had approached the Minister of Defence by letter and deputation on several occasions since January with requests to have this injustice remedied. No satisfactory reply had been forthcoming, and as tho fourth month was now well advanced it was felt that renewed representations would have to be made.

Tho executive then proceeded to examine the correspondence and statements, which showed that in addition to the breaking of tho promise that there would bo no differentiation between men on home service and on active service a far worse condition had been created by the classification of a number of active-service men for pay purposes as home service, thereby avoiding payment of the increased rates to their wives and children.

Dealing first with the position of R.N. -reservists mid volunteers, all duly attested and passed for active service. Their pay ranged from 4s. 2d. per day upwards, with certain deferred pay and allowances that could not be drawi) until discharge. A letter .from tho wife of one of 'ho men showed that tho men were participants in a particularly r.ctive form of activo service. Right throughout and up to tho end of 1917 the men had been treated as being on active service. In strict accordance with the regulations they could not be anything elbe. The h'ret intimation they had that there was any doubt in this mattor was when the allotments for January of this year were forwarded to their dependants. It was- then found that they were being paid at tho old rate of Is. per day for a wife, and 9d. per day for each child, instead of the 3s. and Is. respectively. to which they were entitled. Inquiries by the men elicited the astounding fact that for pay purposes they were now classed as "home service." They immediately took their only constitutional method of remedying the matter, and wrote to their commanding officer asking for redress, but the weeks had dragged into mouths and .no reply had been vouchsafed them. Some of the men had begged to be given their dis-

oharge so that they might get back into tho mercantile marine and earn, as they could easily do, sufficient to keop their families in decency and comfort; but the authorities haft Consistently refused to accede to this request. The Minister of Defence, in a letter sent to the wife of one of the men, dated February 8, 1918, said:— "With regard to his medical fitness, I have to inform you that he passed a naval medical officer on joining, and there is no reason to believe ho is other than fit for naval service to-day. I would observe that he signed an agreement on entry to serve for the period of the war, and you will therefore see he is not entitled to claim his discharge. In view of the above I regret I do not see my way to altering my previous decision." In order to keep their homes going the wives of these men had been compelled to apply for charity from the War Belief Society, and had received montlFly doles from time to time. The following was a typical communication from the society to the wife of one of the men:—"The accompanying cheque represents the final, payment of the sum granted you by the Relief Committee. Our lion, lady visitor will call upon you, when a report of your present circumstances will be submitted to the Relief Committee, and you will bo promptly advised of the result." In January* of this year the War Relief Society, acting under the impression that the increased scale of separation allowances' would be payable to the dependants of these men, sent out a further uotico statimr:—"Owing'- to your improved financial condition tho Kelief Committee you should now be able to manage without further aid fron us." - Some of the wives had,

it was understood, renewed their ap-

peals for assistance from the society, and had further temporary grants, but others had given up the struggle, aud, resenting tho position they were placed in as recipients of charitabla doles, were struggling on'as best they could on what their husbands could manage to give them, and were as a consequence getting further into debt every day. A further statement forwarded to tho league bv a number of married instructors in the camp's was reau as follows: —"It is a fact that ]3ase Records Office rule that meinber,s of the Expeditionary Force who hare been returned lor instructional work arc still members of, and are entitled to all privileges which members of thu Force have, while the Army Pay Department rules

that these n.c.o.'s are oil homo service.

'J ho position is this, that by the pay office ruling, all married men Ifre deprived of the extra separation allowances, also by It coords Office ruling that they are Expeditionary .Force, thoy are denied the privileges of lioine-

Rervice men. For instance, n. littlo while ago some of these n.c.o.'s wero going to apply for some lmid; but as Records Office ruled thaf- they were members of the Jixpeditionary Korea

they could not do so These n.c.o.'s are all returned men, and wore returned on duty without any option, and are ■liable to be sent back on active service at any time, also according to Records (Mice, hoiup service is a medical classification. The following are some questions the answering of which would clear up a great deal: (1) Are these men Expeditionary Forco or home service? {'2) What constitutes home snrviee? (3) Why js there such a great difference of opinion between two offices in the Defence Department!' From tiio foregoing it will he seen that these married instructors have not had a fair deal, and that being so. what guarantee is there that the Defence Department may not mete out the same treatment to members of tlip Second Division who may bo returned later in the same way? It must"be remembered that these men were ordered back for this work

During the dismission that followed the members expressed the opinion that It .was, not only in connection with those

w'io might be returned for special purposes that uncertainty as to the future existed; but that in view of the fact that pay was governed by regulation, and the ,upkcep of the homes of soldiers at the discretion of a board, no reservist viewing the disclosures that had been made in connection with the matters under review could leavu New Zealand with any confidence that his own future and the welfare of his dependants was properly provided for. The matter should bo sifted to the bottom, and whoever was responsible for the position should be brought to book. Tim following resolution was carried: —"That this meeting of the national executive of the Second Division League calls tlie attention o"f Parha- , inent to the failure of the Government to fulfil its promise that the men on home service would receive the increased separation allowances, for an immediate remedy of this injustice. Bequests the representatives of the peoplo to take steps as will secure justice for the men of the H.M.S. and other members of the Forces who aro wronflyy classified as "home service" by the Pay Department, and urges that Parliament demands a full and immediate inquiry into the matters I here set out."