FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 217, 1 June 1918, Page 8

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

A CASE OP ALLEGED HARDSHIP. Since the appointment of a direct r«t preventative of the Second Division League to the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board, it has been the practice ofl the league to refer the various cases of hardship and complaints that are brought to tho league's ofhce to their representative for adjustment. In view, however, of the Minister's statement of the policy of the board, which dealt fully with the manner in which grants were arrived at, showing that a minimum income clear of recurring obligation)? of £00, was allowed by the board to the wife of a , soldier whose pre-enlistment income wae . .£IM or under, n reservist brought hie case to the league yesterday, which, as it concerns the claims made ns to the policy of the board, the officers of the league have decided to publish. This man. who is in Class B (wife and one child), mnde application for House rent (per annum) £52 0 ff Life insurance premiums (per nnnui;)) 5 i 0 Total 157 i 0 The hoard replied that his application had been duly considered, and that it had resolved to grant life assurance (two policies). ,£5 45., on condition that an nllotment of 3s. 6d. per dny was made from his pay in favour of his wife. The man's civilian income was shown us .C 169 per annum. Under the lward's grant the wife's position during her hus-r band's military service will be as under i £ s. d< Husband's allotment (3s. 6d. p?r day) 63 17 9 Wife's separation allowance (3s. per day) 54 15 9 Child's separation allowance (Is. Cd. ner day) 27 7 S Hβ 0 0. Out of this she has to pay rent 52 0 0

Leaving her and her child as ni>t income £94 0 (I Out of iliis i9l she lias to feed nni clothe herself anil the boy of six. provide firing and lighting, school books, comforts, and incidental household expenditure.' The league officials add J "When this actual example of the work-* ins? of the board is compared with the Minister's statement some remarkable contradictions are discovered. In flip first place the Minister stated that a minimum! income for a wife only of MO was provided for by din board'in all cases where the husband's civilian earnings wer° ,£IG9 or uniler. In this case the husband's earnings were over .£IGO, mid it is therefore fair to assume that the board should! in due course have allowed the wife to maintain a personal inconie of something over jtllO: in fnet. if treir pnHey as laid down were liberally interpreted they might well have allowed her the £9i whicb they now allow for both her and her child.' But assuming that: in this case they adhered to the absolute minimum of ',690, their grant means that they consider ,£! sufficient to feed and clotho a boy of' six and provide him with all the necessaries of life. In view of the Minister's statement that where children's separation allowances are drawn the making of a grant by the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board will depend entirely on the salary the soldier received before joining the Expeditionary Force, officer? of (lie league «re inclined in look nnon the example quoted n* si'. r n!fic!'nt. They desire to point to ihe fact that under such a system the value of the children's separation allowances would be absolutely nullified."