RETURNED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 204, 17 May 1918, Page 5

RETURNED SOLDIERS

A GENERAL MEETING

'retrospective SEPARATION

ALLOWANCES

A DEPARfflBtr OF BEPAIBATION

/ Matters of interest to returned sol- ■ Hiers wero discussed at a special meeting of the Beturnod Soldiers' Association last night. Mr. J. D. Harper presided, and explained that the meeting Jiad been called to elect delegates to the national conference of tho- association, to bo held shortly at Auokland.

The first business vas tho election Jof delegates to tho conference. A ballot Resulted in the selection of Messrs. J. T. (Fox, G. W. Clinkard, A. Curtayne, TV. B. Munro, and W. A. Higgle.

i Hemits Discussed, Tho chairman said that the committee Jhad prepared the following remits' for |the conference-.—

(1) Seeing that married teturned solHiers who volunteered lor ictive service would have been called up in due course (uudor tho Second Division scheme, the jconference be naked to urge the Govern* pient to see that allowances for wives bnd children of those volunteers be made yestrospoctive according to existing scale. ■ (2) That a Minister of Hepatization be Appointed, whoso chief duty would bo to fcreate a Department, and, control such U'or the purpose of bringing back our (manhood to normal civilian conditions.

(3) This association is of opinion that Bholl-shock, neurasthenic, and mental cases should not bo discharged until ithey have been cured of their disability, iand, furthermore, institutions of n specSal nature be established in the country for that purposd. (4) That this association ia of opinion that the settlement of returned soldiers ion the land be inquired into, and a Commission set up for tho purpose of determining the mode o° the purchaso of land, housing, and other problems connected with it.

|5) That, seeing the Government asks Soldiers. and soldiers' relatives to bear ,tho cost of duplicates when decorations ore lost in transit, the Government bo requested to pay the cost of all duplisato decorations.

Retrospective Allowances. Mr. ICurtayne supported the first remit. He pointed out that many married men had joined the forces at the outbreak of war. They had deemed.it their duty to' offer their services at once, and had done their duty immediately in the true spirit of patriotism. No separation allowance at all had been paid until ' June, 1915, and 1 then the rate had been only Is. a day for a wife ahd 9d. a day for a child until the presont year. Now the Second Division men were gefting 3s. a day for a wife and Is. 6d. a day for a child, and were asking for more.' Yet the married men who had joined up at the beginning and had since come back had received no concession. In justice to the married men who had gone .first tho present high- rates of separation _ allowance should bo made retrospective, in order that some part of the loss incurred by Second Division men of the .Main Body and early reinforcements might be recouped. Many of these men had suffered financiaJli. Two unmarried members protested that the single returned men ought to get the •benefit of any retrospective concessions. Another suggestion was that the allowance -to widowed mothers should also be made retrospective.

, Repatriation. Referring to the proposal to establish a Ministry of Repatriation, speakers stated that the present arrangements were Eot satisfactory. There was need of a distinct Department, headed by a responsible Minister, to deal with the question of repatriation. A suggestion that met with tho approval of the meeting was that a soldiers' organisation should handle repatriation. A "civilian Government" oould not understand the soldier, and could not restore tens of thousands of soldiers to civilian life. "What I want to know is 'whether the returned soldier is regarded cs an undesirable immigrant or- a hero," said one speaker, who proceeded to complain that the Government did not properly protect the interests of returned soldiers. Mr. Fox said that about 100,009 men ■would come back from the front. They had gone to fight, and later they would bo called upon to help pay the cost of tho war. That meant that tho country would need their productive capacity. A proper Repatriation Department was needed, and it should be staffed by men ■who had taken part in the fighting. How many returned soldiers were employed in tho Discharged Soldiors' Information De- ' partment? The soldiers had been promised many, things. They were entitled to demand that the promises should be redeemed. Colonel Samuel supported the remit. He said a Repatriation Department staffed by returned soldieiv would give th& men sympathetic treatment. The men comd not get that treatment under present conditions. He hoped the conference would make a strong point of the request outlined in the remit.

Neurasthenic Soldiers. Mr. Gough argued in support of the demand for imm-oved treatment for neurasthenic soldiers. It was _ot right to ■nut these- men in the ordinary mental hospitals. The whole body of soldiers lad been ' living during their term, of. service . under orderly socialised conditions. . They were brought back and turned loose in ordinary society, where the conditions .were disordered and chaotic. The chango was a severe one, and involved strain. ' Mr. Harper said that (ho provision made by tho Government for the treatment of mental cases was good. Tho men were not mixed with ordinary men-tally-afflicted people, and many cures ■were being effected. On tho other hand ';very little was being done for shellshock and neurastnenic cases. The treatment offered was voluntary, but the men did not know what ailed them, and compulsion would be necessary. Discipline must be maintained among theso Mr J. Seal said returned soldiers liad been put into the ordinary mental hospitals without adequate ause There should be somo half-way house for soldiers- who had come hack mentally shaken • Mr. Harper: There is. Another member said that too treatment of returned soldiers at Porirua iwns not satisfactory. He hod been teftl that tho treatment some of cho men had received was an absolute disgrace. He could supply names to the olhcers ot the association. Mr F G. Butler said he had been strong and healthy before the war. Ho had gone away early, and 1 nd been discharged "on two sticks" m 191G, without, any pension. Since then.he had been suffering from nervous trouble due to active service, and' he had been comTiell'd to spend a great deal of money on treatment, the Government declining responsibility.

, r Land for Soldiers. Mr Fox, dealing with the third remit, said that an improved system.of acquiring land for settlement by returned soldiors would have to be devised. Suitable land ought to bo taker, compulsory At pre-war prices, not at the present, inflated prices. With regard to housing, Government architects should design suitable dwellings and see that proper houses were built. Tho houses should bo built at fixed maximum prices. Ineii provision would have to bo made for the training of returned men who wished to go upon the land but had not had previous training. It was no use putting untrained men on the land, and it was foolish from a national point of view to deny any willing worker acces3 to tho land. He hoped tho conference would devise a scheme of land settlement suited to tho needs of the returned Boldicis. "The old law that possession of the land must be got by fighting tor it still holds good to-uay," said Mr. Gough, who fiaid that tho presont settlement scheme was benefiting only tho man who had money. It would pay tho Government to give sottlers trade union rates of. wages while they woro breaking in their secMr! Butler said the men who wont on the land under present conditions were in a very unsatisfactory condition owing

to fcho bad tenure and the small amount of cash provided. The Government madean advance of for stock, implements, etc., but covered itself with a very binding bill of sale. Tho result was that tho soldier could give no security to private firms, and'so could not get any croait. Tho soldicr-sottler really would be better off if he got no Government advance at all; sinco then he would be ablo to raise money on his goodwill and finance his operations through the usual channels. Tho Government should cither nuance tho settlors fully to cover buildings, stock, and everything else, or it should give thorn tho ordinary leasehold tenure, on which they could iinauco themselves. The following remit was adopted on the motion of Mr. D. J. B. Seymour: "That if, a soldier marries after his return his wife bo eligible for a war pension, irre* spective of evidence of. pre-enlistment engagement or time limit/'

AH the remits were approved. Bernits forwarded by other associations wcro referred to tho delegates for consideration.