SECOND DIVISION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 211, 25 May 1918, Page 8

SECOND DIVISION

J'--.' DOMINION CONFERENCE jV;'v'X\ '.. ENDED . !; < LAND FOR SOLDIERS, L C SEPARATION ALLOWANCE •■■.■ >■,:■■ ''.QUESTION i The Dominion Conference-of tbe Fed- : ■ .crated Second Division Leagues was rei. '■ 6umed. in the Masonic Hull ■ yesterday I': .morning,, the president-(Mr.; $. A. Arm- ! '■ . • ..strong) in the.chair'.,; \. . • . ' 1.-,'' Assistance. ••■■'• ;V A committee set up on the previous '■'. • <day presented the following report:— ! ; i "That this conference, realising that, '■■•'■ .unless and, until the existing system be • . ". altered,, the., present maintenance of sol- ;• ■ ' diers!;- homes and the standard of liv- ]..; , in» of dependants is governed by the |.. .-, ipolicy of the Soldiers' Financial Assistj.. ance Board, again urges as an absolute ['"' and immediate necessity the liberalising • , ,of the board's policy to the extent that : .. grants be made covering such; recurring : 'obligations as will ensure to each wife I a clear net minimum income of £2 2s. i .• •'• per week (or is. 'pur annum) with 11'. . children's allowances extra." ' 1 ' "Note.—The board's prosent policy, as ;'.:.' ' stated by the Minister of Defence, is to provide for a net minimum income of !. .' £% perannum (.£1 14s. Cd. per week), to ;■ meet the bare food and clothing of the j.. ' lyjfe only. The above proposal would , •.,;. mea'n an. increase in tho board's minii: '.','■' mum of i£l9 is. per annum, or'7s. Gd. : ..'■ per week, say, Is. per day extra), to pro- ! ' , • ...Tide for emergencies or comforts..'over : .': and, above the bare living existence us : : allowed for at present." ' • ''.-', The report was adopted, and a small ; ' delegation was instructed to convey it : to the Acting-Prime Minister. ! ; Constitution. ■'..■' ■ ."[-■■"■; A committee presented the following .; - report on the league constitution;— i. ■ "That in order to secure uniformity . .it he a recommendation of the confer- j !•.■'■,■ ,ence that- leagues throughout New' Zeaj land adopt tho following as their. Ob- : x) '']ects:,' ; .': . ... - .-. ' ... .. I'..' ' . (a) To. demonstrate the loyalty of re-

'" i'; ■•-. '.'■. eeryists to His Majesty the, King and i -y his "Government in i\ew 'Zealand - by 'as- ; .'■ eisting in every way possible to carry '.•' '■ ■-• the war to a victorious conclusion. ' ■ • •.. (b) To endeavour to secure by consti- :. ' tutional methods allowances :.■■. •' and pensions ior all soldiers and thuir i ■....: dependants. ' . !;■. ;'■■ (c) To set up in each ceritre 6uch.oi r : ' ganisation and to take such steps as may ■■:■■■.■■. be found necessary to conserve the inI , '-.'. interests of all uoldierd who are away on : . '.active service, .and to act in , an advis- :. . ory capacity, and to assist all,, soldiers • and their dependants in relation to tlio I . securing of pensions. and ' allowances :■■ payable, and other bdnelits to which they : . '■■ may be entitled. ' , ''. ' ■, ■; ' (d) The above objects".being wholly, na- ; ■■ tional, the league shall be strictly noni '~ party. ( .■ ■ ••■ >'.■ .■•'. (2) That all leajjues adjust their rules, :■■;■ . so that the next financial year shall end , i ' on Juuo 30, and on that 'date in ensuing ' ■■' years'. . '" ' , : : (3) That all leagues fix their memberv ■-, ehip subscriptions at a mininlum of :2s. ; ' 6d. per member. ' ■ ■ . : '■■ '..■■■'■■ \{i) That the annual levy for the ,pur- ';' pose of national finance be 6d. per mem- ; . ' ■■■ ber, to be forwarded to the natioh'al seci ' )retary by affiliated leagues in the month ■. ;'■ '.of August in each year. ;. Mo) Tnat all officers of the Kational : . ,■" Federation shall be Second Division re- :::'; r servists. v ■ . ; . i : v. (C) That; in order to give the Welling- ;•.:.;'■ ton executive! constitutional authority ■■•- ;' ':as tho acting executive of the National ■Federation, Clause 12 of the National . •;• Constitution shall' be amended to read: : "The ■ executive shall be the president, > ■■. ,: the two vice-presidents, the honorary . treasurer, and the'executive 1 of the Wei-. lington League," ■ ■.•■■■' ; (7) That in order to 6eciire co-opera- . ■•.. tion amongst the Second Division Leaj. • gues affiliated to the New Zealand fedI eration. each province shall set up pr 0■.;..., ■. ; ..., vincial councils to which all such leagues •■ " shall affiliate; that eaohjprovincial coun- [ . i cil arrange its own finances^ (8) That the annual conference of the .■■":■.• National Federation of . Second Division Leagues shall be held in the month of July in each year, and such other con- ; ferences may be beld'from time to time ■•.'. |. as ,the national executive may decide. At Buch conferences each affiliated league '/ .having fewer than 100 financial mem- • bers shall be entitled to one delegate; ■where the number of-financial members ' is 100 or over, the' league shall be entitled to have two delegates, each, dole- ■ gate to have one Tote.

The Executive. . . Mr. Dictensbir (Canvastown) withdrew the following remit, ■' which had been , :6ent forward' by Canvastown:— _ "In view .'of the responsibility' of making decisions which' affect thousands, and of formulating a policy for same, members be asked to vote on the following issues: (1) Should the league mould a policy for central executive? or (2) should executive mould a policy 'for, league?" .. , . . . , ' In doing so he said the remit had 1 been born of a belief that there was • apostasy within the league. The position had eince been explained and he wished to make it clear that the remit had not been intended to cast any reflection upon the president. There had 'been mistrust in Canvastown, but this mistrust" had been removed. . The presidont thanked the delegate for the frank statement. "He. assured the ■■ conference, that the. executive had been continuously active and,that it had no intention of relaxing its efforts. Land For Soldiers. , The committee on land settlement presented the following report:— •' "That as a general principle this conference considers that where soldiers are desirous of being settled on the land, improved- land should be utilised." "That only completely-fit men can be settled, on back-block and unininroved land." r ■••' ' ' . "That aggregation of Crown land has taken and is taking place; furthermore, this conference considers that the Government should inquire closely into these i',issues' with a. Hew. to such aggregated .land being made available for soldiers' ' settlement." , j >■ "That with a view to making swamp ;lands, lands requiring irrigation, bush lands, land requiring reclamation, gum lands, etc., available for soldiers' settlement, the' Public Works Department, the Lands Department, and the proposed Ee-' patriation Department co-operate in utilising the labour of returned soldiers for j this purpose." -The report was adopted.

; Equality of Sacrifice. The Hev. C. P. Tocker (Geraidme) moved, and Mr. A. J. Stallworthy (Dargaville) seconded: "That in the opinion' of conference the Government is' heaping up injustice and dissatisfaction by its failure to facb the question of equality of sacrifice,. and the conference cnlls upon it, even at this late hour, to face the task of organising thoroughly the total resources of the Dominion." There was opposition to this remit on the ground that it involved the conscription of labour. Other delegates nrgued that national organisation was the logical corollary to the conscription of men. The remit was. adopted with the addition of the words "for national purposes." Names of Appellants. ' A proposal from Helensville—"That the names of all appellants be posted up in district post offices at least one week before the appeal is set down fqr hearing" —was rejected after discussion. Delegates argued that it would be unfair to attach a stigma to the names of appellants. Soldiers' Farms. ' Mr. J. Clark (New Plymouth) moved: "That it be a recommendation to the Government to purchase the lnnd where suitable of farmers called up for service, and that 6uch land be used for the repatriation of returned soldiers, thus eliminating the ground of appeal-that a H cannot sell his farm." He said this jras a common-sense arrangement that

should commend itself to everybody. It would get at the case of the exempted man on the small farm.---The-Govern-ment should not allow it to be a ground for appeal that a balloted man could >u>t sell his farm.

Mr. Btallworthy supported the remit. He said that there had been cases of balloted farmers being forced to sell their farms on a falling market This va3 most unfair, and cften meant the aggregation of land. It conferred a benefit on men who wero not going to the war. The remit was added to a Wanganui vomit, and adopted in the- followine form:- I. .

"That Jtbe'Government be requested to spued up. the purchase of land for returned soldiers, and that endeavour be made to settle men in the districts to which, .'hey belonged; that conference urges that only'land suitable for close settlement and imme'diato production he purchased for soldiers, nnd suggests that the farms , of men called up for military service be secured when suitable. This plan will at the same time remedy the hardship caused to many soldiers by. tho sale of their properties at a loss." . • In Committee. Tho conference went into committee to discuss matters connected with the re- ! quests made to Ministers.' fraternity Allowance, The following remit from Featherstun 1 was adopted:— . ' "That this conference reaffirms the im- ' perial .significance of a universal or nwni- ■ universal maternity benefit scheme, and ; in addition strongly urges that for a ' period of three months prior to a child, birth, tho'wife of,a soldier (subject to ! the production of a medical certificate) j shall receive an allowance of 10s. 6d. per j week." - '■■ j "Wives of members of friendly societies I receive a maternity benefit of .114 from J the State." A Presentation. Mr, M'Leod, on behalf of the conference, made a presentation to the chairman of the conference. . He said that the i members of the conference felt that they owned a deep debt of gratitude to Mr, Armstrong for his labours on behalf of Oie league. The president had done ah enormous amount 'of work with' the utmost ability and tact, and be had endeared himself , to the members of the league. The conference wished- to make it small presentation also to Mr. Chapman, the secretary of the. conference. ,' .Mr. Armstrong '.thanked' the delegates warmly.. He"said that it had been a pleasure to work jn a', cause that lie knew to be just; He felt sure that .'the league had only to go before the public in qrder to,have the support, nf'public opinion. 'Che war would bring the labour of the Second Division League to a-< lose. Hut. he hoped that the friendships formwl among Second Division men tvonld en•lure, and he believed that, the efforts of the league were going to bring about a permanent awakening of the public conscience and to draw together classes that had been at arms'-lengtii. 'Conference Closed, After dealing'with some other business the conference decided that, the question of calling anotntr conference to consider the replies of .Ministers to the league's, requests, should bo left in the hands of + .ho executive. . , The pi'oceedings.closod with the. National inthein. i , .-..' ,'•.-.

MINISTERS INTERVIEWED

ANOTHER DEPUTATION. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME. After the close of the conference a deputation representing the. delegates, headed by tlio Dominion president, Air. E. A. Armstrong, had a further interview with the Acting-Prime .Minister (Sir James Allen) aud other members of the Ministry, The deputation placed before the ilinisters the more important of the remits adopted by the conference during the day, and iusked that Cabinet should give them careful and .sympathetic consideration. .. ;

Mr. Armstrong said that he wished to lay speoial stress upon the request of the conference that, the Financial Assistance Board should be directed to adopt the principle of a net minimum income for the wife of £%■ 2s.- -a week, free of all the obligations covered by the financial- assistance scheme, and with children's allowances extra. The. board had /adopted ,£9O a year, or, roughly, <£1 14s. a week, as the net minimum income for a wife alone.. The members of the conference' felt strongly that' the amount was too small. The Government had a clear duty to perform in seeing that the homes of .Second- Division reservists' were maintained during the absence of the men on active service, and he did not think it could properly be a'Tgued that «... wife could provide herself with food, clothing and other necessaries, as well as the email comforts she was entitled t receive, on a net income of £1 14s. 6d. a, week. The conference had been informed that this standard net income was based upon tho earnings of the average worker. Tie delegates did not consider that such a standard was fair and reasonable when applied to the whole mass of Second Division reservists, and they did not admit that it was a just standard even when applied to the wife of a labouring man. Thb sacrifice that the women were making-when their husbands went to the war was not to be measured in cash, and the conference felt that the Government ought not to begrudgo them something more than a bare living income. He hoped that the Government would take this matter into its very, careful consideration/and givo the delegates a reply that they could take to the branches of the league throughout the country without creating very keen disappointment. Mr.. Armstrong emphasised the loyalty of the Second Division men and the desire of the league to support the Government in the effective operation of the Military Service Act and the success, ful prosecution 'of New Zealand's share of tho war. Mr. Armstrong montioned also tho resolution of the conference on the subject of Gl ieservists sent into the preparatory camp. It was not dceirablo that these men should be put in tho position of having to sell or close down their businesses before they were finally drafted into the Expeditionary Force, and the conference felt that it would be an important reform if the men were granted the period of leave proposeu after being transferred to the fit A class, in order that they might close up their affairs. Land for Soldiers. I

Mr. J. M'Leod (New Plymouth) cornmended to the close attention of Ministers the proposals that the conference had adopted with regard' to the settle- . ment of returned soldiers on the land. IHe said tho delegates felt it was not' desirable, in the majority 'of cases, that , returned soldiers should bo placed on unimproved, and back-block land, and there was need of a more energetic scheme of settlement than had yet been adopted. An importaut suggestion was that the Government should undertake to buy' the farms of men called for service, and place these farms at tho disposal of returned men. This would protect reservists from having to sell, their farms hurriedly on a bad market when they were entering camp, would check aggregation and the purchase of soldiers' farms by aliens, and would provide suitable holdings for returned men.

Soldiers' Businesses, Mr. M. J. Doyle (Timaru) presented to the Ministers the echenie adopted by the conference for the conservation of the businesses of balloted men. He pointed out that under present conditions many small business men lost practically their all when they entered camp, since they had no means of maintaining their businesses and .preserving their trade con mictions when they joined the Army. They suffpred severe loss, while competitors in the same line of business who had not been found fit for service or who wero not cf military age reaped the benefit. This was not a fair position, and the conference had adopted a schemethat was intended to securo the principlo of ('quality of sacrifice. The scheme vaa subject to amendment, and some of the details would require very careful consideration. Regulations would require to be framed to inak?'the scheme workable in, nil its details. But he believed that the basis proposed was a sound one, and that the pooling arrangement proposed would bo a very great

help to many small business men, while it could not impose any real hardship upon the meu who were fortunate enough to be left at home. ■ Sir Janus Allen. Sir James Allen, m reply, assured the deputation of the (iovernineut's sympathy with their efforts to secure the best possible conditions for the soldiers and their dependants. He was very glad to meet the representatives of the Second Division Leaguo and to hear their views. He realised that the mtmbers of the league were in a position to make valuable suggestions. The resolutions that bad beon presented to him by the leacue that day and on the previous day would be placed before a full meeting oi Cabinet in the immediate future, and he was sure that they would receivq the closest consideration, lie had already told tiie delegatiß that, he regarded the effective settlement of the repatriation problem as of more, importance to the soldiers and their 'dependants than any increase nf the separation allowances. He had not changed his opinion that the present basis of the Financial Assistance Board's work was a just one, and that a not minimum income of ,£9O a. year for the wife alone was a fair basis "on which to work. But this matter and also the 'request for an increase in the separation allowance had to be dealt with by Cabinet as a whole. They involved questions of finance and policy, and all he amid say 'at that stage was that Cabinet, would go into the whole question fully and promptly. He would give the rtprcsentatives of the league a definite reply within a day or. two. The only reason why the league's requests had not come b.'foro Cabinet that day was that a full attendance of Ministers could not be secured. The repatriation scheme that had been placed beforo him I).y the league and also the- scheme for the conservation of small businesses contained valuable suggestions, which he wns very glad to receive. He had not had lime to consider these proposals fully or to go into tho question raised by the recommendation regarding the "CI men, but he could assure the deputation thnt all the points would be considered. Sir James Allen emphasised his willingness to receive suggestions, though he could not commit the Government to nny particular line of action. The Ministers had not been 'inactive regarding the nfeat problems that had to •be faced. They had given long and anxious thought to most of the matters mentioned by the deputation.

The Land, Question, 'The Hon. D. J. Guthrie, Minister of Lands, told the deputation that he was very glad to receive the suggestions regarding the provision of land for soldiers. The matter had already received it great deal of attention from himself ond the officers of the Lands Department, and the proposals of the, league followed very closely the lines of action that had already been traced. Patriotic Funds, In, the course of some further discussion, ■ the Minister of Internal .Affairs (the Hon. G. W. Russell) askfd if the delegates had given attention to the position of the. patriotic funds. The delegates indicated that their conference 'lid not annrove of State control of these funds. The money subscribed by the public for soldiers and dfpendants oupht not to be regarded as a ."übstifcnta for Government' payments. The patriotic funds were ; intended and would be rermired to provide for snecial eircunjstanefs and case* of hardship such as wnre bound to arise.. / In conclusion; Xlr.' Armstrong thanked t'ie Ministers atul expressed the hope f><>t, Onbinet would frive fnvownble C"ipideration to claims that the Second Division League regarded as just and necessary. ' .' ■'