SOLDERS' DEPENDANTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 210, 24 May 1918, Page 5

SOLDERS' DEPENDANTS

ALLOWANCES & FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SIR JAMES ALLEN EXPLAINS ' THE SINE DIE CASES

Tho delegates to the conference of tho (Federated Second Division Leagues yesterday interviewed the Acting-Prime Minister (Sir James Allen), in order to place ibeforo him tho resolutions of the conference The lions. A. SI. Myers, Sir Francis Bell, Sir William Fraser, W. B. Hemes, G. W. Russell. AY'. D. S. ffdacDonald, and D. Guthrie woro also iprcgent. Tho viows of tho conference jwere stated by tho president (Mr. R. A. Armstrong) and tho Rev. J. Tocker fGeraldine). The speakers emphasised tho loyalty of tho Second Division men, jpressctl for improved conditions for tho dependants, end handed the Acting Prims Minister copies of tho resolutions and of the repatriation scheme then unifier consideralion by the conference. Sir James Allon said that personally h-.-would have been prepared to give a definite answer at once to tho demands that had been made by the conference. But it Tvn3 proper that a meeting or Cabinet should bo hold before the. answer was given on the main questions, which involved expenditure of public jnoney. Cabinet would mcot as soon as possible, and he would then send the league a reply, which would be clear and definite. He was glad that the league acknowledged tho work tho Government iad done already. The Government had Uofle its best to mako tho pension schenio satisfactory. (Hear, hear.) Ho was glad also xo ji'ave tEff assurance of tho league'i loyalty to tho Military Service Act. It ■would have been impossible for the Government to have administered the con Bcription law effectively but for tho loyalty of the people of New Zealand. Nobody could be more proud of Nov Zealand's consistent loyalty than he 'was. (There had been a few disloyalists in tho country, but tho great bulk of public Opinion had overwhelmed them.

I. Separation Allowances. , The question of separation allowances '(was a matter for Cabinet consideration. 'Be believed that the efforts of the leagno iwould be much more to thg, benefit of the soldiers and thoir dependants, if the league turned its attention, as he believed it would, to the problem of repatriation. The extra 3s. a day for (.the wife would cover only a short period, 'Whereas a repatriation schenio would .mean much. He had collected informu[iion regarding what other countries had i idone to prepare lor the day of rupatnal.tion, and it did not appear that any 'Country nad really tackled the problem. 'I'rance, Canada, and Australia nad made (efforts, but hod not proceeded far. Ho that Government money would .be much moTe usofully devoted to a suit'able repatriation scheme than to the /■payment oi extra separation allowance jio wives. A repatriation schemo would Require money, and probably it would jjalso Tequlre some regrouping of Government Departments. France had tried j,tho experiment of setting up a commitjjtee of Ministers to deal with the question, but the venture did not appear to jiavo been a success. Here in New Zealand several Ministers were concerned ywith repatriation, and ho believed they Jiwere worting together better than Miniiisters In similar positions In any' other part 'of the world.

j;- Repatriation. The Government had given very much jthought to thD problem of repatriation, •and he would like the league to ]oin |with him in. grateful recognition ot what general Richardson had done in England ia the way of preparing partially invcapacitated men to resume civilian occu'pations. Tie Uovernmont in New Zealand was prepared to provide employment for 13.000 labourers when the period '■'iji demobilisation came. But thero were jnen who would not bo covered by this •provision, and he asked for the assistance of the Second Division League in idrafting a. scheme that would meet all the needs. It was. tho duly of the Government to arranee to help the .discharged soldier over the timo of difficulty before he got back into civilian employment. He did not say that the Ministers had any complete schenio for doing this, although they had all beep, thinking about tho matter and trying to demise a scheme. Ho wished the loaguo success in dealing with the problem. The Government would give sympathetic consideration to scheme that was brought sfprward by the league. He would say again that Government money would lie better spent on a repatriation schenio .than on providing the "nest-egg" by means of increased separation allowances. Some of the returned soldiers would not be able to Teauine their old occupations. It was ,the duty' of the Government to train these men in order that thoy might earn their living in new occupations. General Piohardson had begum the training of some of these men in England, and the Government in New Zealand had provided facilities for training in various .ways. It. was. unfortunate that the returned soldiers did not use these faciliiKes more freely..

Stoppage of Allowance. Sir Janies Allen defended tho rules flnder which the allowances of dependants in New Zealand may be stopped on account of the misconduct of the soldier in the .field. Ho said that the allowances wore stopped only when the soldier's offence was of a serious nature, and ■ it was necessary, in his opinion,' •that the fear of consequences should be letained as a means of enforcing discipline in tho forces. Minor offences did Bot involve tho stoppage of allowances,' though they might involve the stoppage of tho soldier's net pay. If a man com-' mitted an offence involving ■ imprisonment in civil life his dependants would suffer. Delegates:-It is not right. I Sir Jamos Allen: Well, I ask vou to. Hhink it over and see whether the fear ■bt consequences should not bo there to porovent men making fools of themsolves. Financial Assistance. Turning to tho question of financial .(assistance, the Minister asked if tho league proposed that tho net income of J!i 2s. a week for the wifo should bo a fixed sum, maximum and minimum. Delegates: It is tho minimum only. Sir James Allen: Then I do not think Jt is reasonable. The Financial Assistance Board has worked on the principle of allowing tho wife ililO a year clear for food and clothing. Everything elso is provided for. Mr. Armstrong: No. That is all she ihas got. Sir James Allen: If she wants to have luxuries then sho must find it out of her '.£9O a year. Mr. Armstrong: People must have some pleasure in life. Sir James Allen: I get a great deal of pleasure out of life and I do not go to .the picture shows. The Minister proceeded to say that it iwas necessary to fix some standard in connection with the financial assistance scheme, and the standard taken had been that of tho working man in a reasonably good position. Tho board built up on that standard. ITo thought that the Financial Assistanco Board in allowing tho wile a not income of Jlflb a year after paying rent and other fixed charge? was doing; justice. Sho would not havo as much money as in civil life in tho majority of cases. A case had just come under his notico of a woman applying for financial assistanco on account of her husband having left her with four children.' She had Bs. a day from her husband, 3s. a day separation allowance, and also separation allowance for four children, making a total inconio of 12s. a day, or ,£2l a year. Her husband's total income before onlistment had been at tho rate of .£16!) a year. Delegates: That is an extreme ease. Sir James Allen: It is a definite c:isc, and there are hundreds of similar cases. Mr. Armstrong: There are hundreds of different cases. Sir James Allen: In most rases wo are groriaing for the working man's family.

more liberally than lie could do before enlistment.. A High Standard. Tlfo Government had sot its standard fairly high, added Sir James Allen, and from that standard it was trying to build up tho allowances so as to make some provision tor tho recognition of pre-war conditions of living. Tho financial assistance scheme had been devised, and was boing used, and would, ho hoped, bu increasingly used, not merely to provide tho minimum not income, but to provido that the ivifo could continue in Jicr home. Tho board had been increasing the minimum to .£llß a year and more, lie would" liko to go further, but it was a question how far tho State could stand tho burden. (Laughter.) It wag not a matter for laughter, lien wlio were holding responsible positions had to look to tho finance of tho present and the future.

Mr. Armstrong: We have to look at tho lives of the people.

Sir James Alien: Wo look at tho lives too. But tho Government has to face the question of whether or not the people can reasonably bo asked to bear heavier burdens than they are bearing to-day. Regarding the allotment from the husband's pay, ho considered it fair that the man should make u contribution towards the support of his family, just as ho would do in civil life. The sum of Is. 6d. a day was sufficient to cover the legitimate needs of tho men while on activo service. All the necessaries of lifo were provided by tho State, and the soldier's money was simply for personal expenditure. Three Months' Leave. He had already given an assurance that as far as possible Iho threo mouths' leave between medical examination, and mobilisation would bo continued. But if tho Defence Department could not get from the Second Division sufficient volunteers to meet requirements, it might he necessary for balloted men to come in earlier. Ho did not want to ask that. Mr. Armstrong: Wc suggest that yon keep the ballots speeded up. Sir James Allen replied that it was a question of medical .examination. The examinations were proceeding as rapidly as possible, and there would be no pause in the work of the medical boards. But the shortage of doctors made it impossible for the examinations to proceed as rapidly as ho would wish. Sine Dio Exemptions. A suggestion, had been made that medical fitness should bo tho sole test of liability for service. This was impracticable. Some exemptions of fit men had to be made in order that industries might be maintained. The total number of sine' dio cases in the First Division was 8771, Tho military service boards had weeded out 91)0, and they were still weeding out. But they had asked the Government for a decision on the points of policy involved, and he did not think that they could go much further.

The First Division sine die men included 167G farmers. It would be im- . possible to weed out many of them. Tho boards had asked tho Government to say if it wanted farms closed down, and he believed the reply would have to bo in the negative. He had full confidence in the work of the military service boardfji and he thought there should lie no suggestion of lack of confidence in them. The proposal to conscript men over military age to work on the farmb raised a question that the Government would have to face, but it could not be discussed usefully that day. Then there were 1118 men ot the mercantile marine in tho sine die class. They must all be retained in their present employment. There were 869 coalminers. New Zealand was suffering" from a -shortage of coal and could not afford to increase the trouble. Soma of tho truckers might bo taken, but they wero the miners of the future, and the Government thought it' sound policy to leave them at their present work. "Undue hardship" accounted for 496 of the sino die cases. This included only surviving sons. It would bo hard to tell tho boards that all these men must enter camp, and he did not think tho Second Division men generally would want anything of tho kind done. (Hear, hear.) The 'number of sine die First Division men among the Civil Servants—policemen, prison warders, railwaymen, etc.— was 332. Then thero were i! 37 skilled artisans, 212 clergy (including theological 6tudentsau'd 15 Jlarjst Brothers), 101! gold and scheelite miners, and soino smaller groups. Ho had asked the Imperial Government if gold and scheelito mining still ranked among the most essential industries. Tho 'deputation would .see that there were not many recruits to bo got among the sino die cases. Mr. Armstrong: It is only a question of principle, to remove existing dissatisfaction.

Sir James Allen: I hare given this information in order to allay dissatisfaction. I know that the unnecessary exemption of one man creates dissatisfaction over a wide area. But we realise that there are industries that must bo kept going. ■ ' The Aliens.

In conclusion Sir James Allen referred to the alien question. Ho said that the Dalmatians and Austrians were being put to work at soldiers' pay if they were tit and of military age. If they would not undertake the work they would be interned. The number of other aliens was very small. The policy that was being applied to the Dalmatians might bo extended if it proved effectivb. Tho various Consuls had lists of citizens of their countries resident in New Zealand, and tho Government would assist to .send these men to fight in their own armies if. desired to do so. But it must not, ba imagined that auy great difference was going to be made by measures of this kind.