THE SECOND DIVISION
ANNUAL MEETING OF LEAGUE
DEMANDS TO BE PRESSED
Tho first annual meeting'of-the- Wellington Second Division League was held last night in the Masonic Hall, Boulcoti Street. The president (Mr. H. A..-\vm-strong) was in the chair, and about fori? members were present. .Mr. Armstrong, moved tho adoption of the report and balance-sheet, as already published in, Tire Dominion. He said i .ml. the work.of tho league was shown an the present conditions of service'. The league hud secured tho recognition of many of its claims. It did not deny credit to other people in this connection. £oim> members of Parliament had given the league- material assistance, although other niembors had worked hard in tho ■oMiot direction. The War liolief Association had not'helped to any extentA He considered that tho existence of the War -belief Association was a blot upon the defence system.' Thero should havo been, Jio need lor any form of charity. It was undoubtedly a fact that the association Juki given very valuable aid to the defendants of soldiers, and to that extent *h« league was indebted to tho association. .Members- of the league naturally ■had helped-to provide the funds that the association wn.s handling. The claims of tho leaguo for further concessions need not bo t discussed' in detail" at that meeting. The league had insisted from the 'first that the dependants of the soldiers •should bo placed in the very best position that'the country could afford. It was unfortunate'that the pre-enlistment standard of living had become to some •extent the gauge of the grants'made to ■dependants. Tho attitude of the Government in this respect-was not reasonable, fijneo it could not justly ■ bo contended that the present economic ntatus of some of the families was just. The lcagno had urged strongly . that tho .minimum net income ofa wife sliould bo ' £1 2s. a week, ■children's allowances to :bo extra. ■ Tho Government had'fixed tho net minimum income at J!9I) a year, or .El lis. a week. T'he league had produced a caso to rlidw that oven this minimum, free • of, nil. locurring charges, was not.always proTided, 't'ho league was not satisfied with the present position, of tho financial.assistance scheme, and thoro was a demand ■from families all over the country that further efforts should be inauo to liave Iho position improved. The Government had not yet produced any definite scheme of repatriation, although the end of the fourth .year of tho war wns at hand. The departing 'soldiers had :uo assurance at all that they would bo placed in a secure position when they came back to New Zealand. ' Tho league ill ad been criticised adversely for proposing tho accumulation of deferred pay to the credit of, the married soldiers. If the Government disapproved of that Fchenie, lei it produce its own scheme. The, league was ready to assist the Government in providing a repatriation scheme oi a kind that would bo approved by ail concerned. Mr. Armstrong added that tho financial position of the league required to bo improved. An ■enormous amount of work had been done «t very small expense, and a credit balanco was in hand. But tho league needed nn office of its own and other facilities. He read communications from several reservists who had been assisted by the league. A matter that needed attention *as the medical'examination. A surprising number of men wero being, rejected by the insurance doctors, although they had 'been accepted for military servjee. ■ Some of these men got a le-exaniination froii the military doctors, and were then chssed unfit. Others were: told that they wero fit for service although unfit from the insurance point of view. It '"was very important that reservists should provide .themselves with mediciil papers'before being examined if they had disabilities that ought to be placed before the boards. 'In conclusion,- Mr. 'Armstrong said that there was still plenty ■■ of work -for the league to. do. ' He believed that the league had the community behind'it in fighting to secure fair conditions for the dependants of soldiers. Success in'the effort wits enormously important.' Tho future citizens of Naff Zealand were the childrch'-of to-day, and the' league ywouid continue to urge upon tho Government the justice and necessity of making adequate provision for evevy child. The scale of'household expenditure put forward by the leaguo -had not been challenged seriously. It showed what a woman 'could get for the money provided for her during her husband's - absence. 'He had found that the rations provided for prisoners in tho gaols were fully as generous as the league's scale. - The report and balance-sheet were Adopted without further discussion. The following officers we're elected unopposed :—President, Mr. It. A. Armstrong; hon. secretary and treasurer, Mr. C. 11. Chapman; committee Messrs. 11. Brown, K.-S. Gundy, E. Howell, H. LimMater, H. M'Gregor, T. Smith, W. J. 'Bib-bin's, J!. (I. Heed, J. If. Eyder, A. W. Parion, H. F. Toogood, F. Jolyisnu, D. F. Skinner, J. 'F. Atkins, and C. W. Laird. The Wife's Income, Mr? Chapman moved:—"That this meeting endorses the several resolutions of the recent Dominion conference, and particularly! urges upon the Government the necessity of liberalising tho policy, o'f the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board so that the wife of a.soldier shall have a net minimum income clear of recurring obligations of £'i 2s. por week, with children's allowances extra, and, further, that the repatriation proposals of tho
league should bo immediately dealt villi by tho Govornment." Ho suid that the /recent .confoi-oneo of the league'had adopted the .02 2s. minimum net income, after very careful consideration. Tlin sum was Iho least that ought to be provided for Iho wife of a soldier. The repatriation.scheme, should not 1)0 neglected' any longer. Some peoplo in New Zealand seemed lo havo an idea that the repatriation problem would sp.itlo itself. It could not settle itself without grave hardship to llio lit men who returned after the war. Tho motion wtfs adopted. Insurance Grants. The following was agreed to on tho motion of Mr. J. H. liyder:— "That this meeting calls tho attention of the Minister of Defenco to the policy of the' Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board regarding notification of grants of insurance premiums and war risk whereby the onus of notifying tho companies is pluoed on the soldier or his dependant, thereby running grave risk ot tho policies lapsing, and asks that instructions bo givon to tho board to notify insurance companies and other payees ini- . .mediately grants aro made." Financial Assistance. Mr. H. M'Gi'egor moved:— "That Ulo Wellington Second Division League renews its request for u full inquiry into the administration of the .Financial Assistance Board, with a, view to:—(a) Determining tho question as to tho competency of one institution in Wellington dealing adequately with thousands of cases from alt parte of tho Dominion, (b) Determining 'whether tho systora and methods adopted by the board can bo improved in tho interests of soldiers and their dependants, (c) Examining into all tho 1917 grants which have been reduced subsequent to the increase of separation allowances, and oil decisions made prior to tho recent liberalising of tho board's policy, with a view of ormging them up to a standard providing, reasonable comfort for soldiers' dependants." He said.that the experience of reservists show.ed that a singlo board, sitting in Wellington, could'not do theswork satisfactorily. Mr.. Armstrong said that one of tho great troubles in connection with financial assistance was. the delay in payment. ; He quoted a case where uwo months had elapsed without any payment being made. The official side oi' the board required attention, with the object of "speeding up" the operation of the scheme. Improved access to the board was most important. It would lie only 1 fair if every reservist, when passed fit, -were- given a pamphlet explaining the operation of the financial assistance .scheme. Men residing away from Wellington were dependent on correspondence at tho present time. Mr. Chapman said that in many cases reservists had not received courtesy from the Financial Assistance Board. The motion was adopted. Widowed Mothers. v
Mr. K. Gandy raoveil: "That the position relating to the granting of separation allowances to the widowed mothers of soldiers in the opinion of this league is still .unsatisfactory, and that Government b.e asked to amend the regulations so that tho possession of property that is used as a home or that is not in-come-earning shall not debar' irrespective of capital value, and that in cases where,a widowed mother has mors than one son serving with the forces she should he entitled to the separation allowance in the same manner as if she had only One son serving. I'urtber, that as the War Pensions Act now places tho widowed mother, if wholly dependent, on the same footing as a wife (without < hildren) that the separation allowance should also lie equivalent (o that of a wife." Tho motion was adopted. ' Homo Service Men. The following motion was moved by Mr. A. L. Monteith, and carried: "That Government should fulfil the promise made by the Minister of Defence' in Parliament that homo servico men would receive the same separation allowances for their dependants as tho men on activo service, and the league renews its request made in April last that those men oh home service,who are actually separ-ated-from their families-should' receive payment at the increased rales." Retrospective Allowances. Mr. Armstrong moved:. "That the loiigue notes with approval that the Returned Soldiers' Association is considering approaching the Government with a scheme for making the increases in allowances retrospective, formally affirms its agreement with the principle of retrospection, and pledges its support to any equitable proposals brought forward." "lie said that r the league was of the same opinion as the returned soldiers on this point. The motion was carried. Votes of Thanks. In conclusion the meeting accorded the officers .11 hearty vote of thanks for I heir work during the year. ■ Mr. Armstrong, in acknowledging the vote, said that the work had been made pleasant by the hearty support and cooperation of the members of tli'e league. The-.ell'orts of the honorary secretary had been partioulerly valuable. He asked members nf tho league to remember that the slogan of the league in the future would be: i'Tho duty of the men who do not have to go." The task of protecting tbe.. interests of tho soldiers and Iheir dependants rested with the 1 men who were being left in New Zealand.-
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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 258, 19 July 1918, Page 7
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1,737THE SECOND DIVISION Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 258, 19 July 1918, Page 7
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