SOLDIERS' LEAVE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 31, 31 October 1918, Page 4

SOLDIERS' LEAVE

' GRIEVANCES MENTIONED IN PARLIAMENT. Complaints made by men 'now in the training cainps regarding the leave arrangements were mentioned in the House of nepreseutatives yesterday. Statnain (JDunedin Central) assed the Minister of Defence to inquire regarding *tne week-end leave granted to the men of the i'orty-seventh Reinforcements at reXreW* Hβ said that-most of these men belonged to-the Second Division,, and he understood that many ot them had not had any leave for feven weeks, while in cases where men had been granted leave they had had to pay their own fares into town by motowar. It was stated also that men who had been granted special leave to -visit members ot their families who were .•dck.had been 'deprived of their pay for the aay or two they were out of camp. • Sir James Allen said he- would look into the question. The rule was that after a period in camp the men got weekend leave, and when they were granted this leave their fares were paid into town and back again to camp. The l)e. fence Department'had 'been considering the position of men who got sick leave and then asked for extensions. Ihe difficulty was that some meu appeared to have applied for extension ci sick leave without any good α-eason. and it had been considered that additional leave should be without pay. But there were cases in which the t continuance of pay would be justified, and these cases were U t-C n t e willdnson (Egmont) asked if it Vμ a fact that when the soldiers pav was stopped the allowance to his wife and children stopped alsoThe Minister of Defence: That is inTojved in the other question. It u undet consideration.