REPATRIATION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 125, 20 February 1919, Page 6

REPATRIATION

THE NEW REGULATIONS

DIRECTIONS TO DISTRICT BOARDS

HELP FOR RETURNED MEN

Draft regulations that have been issued by tho Central Repatriation Board statu tue constitution and functions of district boards and local committees, and give instructions regarding the granting of assistanc-e to returned men. These regulations are not to _bo gazetted at once, as the board wishes to obtain experience before giving them authoritative form. They will form iu the meantime the basis of the administration ot the repatriation law.

The draft regulations provide that for the purposes of tho Repatriation Act the Dominion shall be divided into four repatriation districts, as follow:—(a) Tho Auckland Repatriation District, comprising the Auckland Military District as now constituted tinder the Defence Act, 1909; (b) The Wellington Repatriation District, comprising the "Wellington Military District, together with the Postal districts of Nelson and Marlborough; (c) The Canterbury Repatriation District, comprising the Canterbury Military District, with the exception of tins Postal districts of Nelson and Marlborough; (d) The Otago Repatriation District, comprising the Otago Military District. For each district a repatriation board shall be appointed which shall be known respectively as the Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago District .Repatriation Boards, and shall have their headquarters in the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. and Dunedin respectively. Each district board will consist of not less than ten, or more than fourteen, members, five members to constitute a quorum. Each district board shall havo power to appoint such sub-committees as may be required with such powers as the district board may think necessary. The Repatriation Officer of the district shall act as the secretary of the district board and carry out its policy. The District Boards,

Each member of a district board shall receive an allowance of one guinea for every day on which he attends a meeting of the board, together with the railway or steamer fares actually paid by him for the purposo of attending or returning from the meeting, and together with the sum of 10s. for every night during _ which ho is necessarily absent from his home by reason of such attendance.

Local committees shall' be established at 53 towns (names specified) throughout the Dominion, and at such other places as may bo recommended by a district board and approved by the Repatriation Board.

Each district board and local committee is to appoint its own chairman, and in any case, in which the Repatriation Board thinks it necessaiy, it will appoint as the official secretary of a local committee a paid officer of the Repatriation Department. In all qther cases a local committee shall, with the approval of the Repatriation Board, appoint ono of the members of the committee or any "other person as honorary secretary.

In any case in which a local oumniittco has an official secretary, the'members of that committee shall in respect of their attendance at meetings of the committee be entitled to the same allowances as those provided for members of a district board. '

The functions nf a district board and of a local committee arc-,:—

(a) To advise the Repatriation Board or the' Director of Repatriation, or the Repatriation Officer of the district as to any matters referred lo it by such s board, director, or officer, relative to the administration of the Repatriation Act, 1918; (b) To exercise oil behalf of the Repatriation Board such of tin; adininistrative_ powers of' that, board as may from time to lime be delegated by it to such district board or local committee. Industrial Committees. A district board and any local committee having an official secretary may, with the approval of tho Repatriation Board, establish with respect to any specified industry or industries, or with respect to industries generally, one or more industrial committees.

The function of an industrial committee shall be to adviso the district board or local committee as to all matters relative to the training or employment 9f discharged soldiers or soldiers' widows in the industry or industries in respect of which the industrial committee "has been established. "Members of an industrial committee shall in respect of their service as such receive such allowances (if any) as the District Board, from time to lime recommends to the Repatriation Board. GRANTS~TO~SOLDIERS , THE SCHEME'OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. The following instructions havo been issued for tlio guidance of officers of the Expatriation Department with respect to grants of financial assistance to discharged soldiers under the provisions of the Repatriation Act, 1918.

1. Applications for assistance shall bo made in writing to the District Repatriation Officer or secretary of local committee. as the case may be.

2. All applications for financial assistance that reach a repatriation officer shall bo referred by him to the district •board or lo.cal committee for consideration as prompt] v as possible. <3. A district board or local committeo in determining any application shall be satisfied that tlio purposo of any assistance or benefit is likely to ba achieved, having regard to the character, • fitness, and previous ' experience of tho applicant, and shall talce into consideration tho degree of assistance (if any) already received by tho applicant. 4. Except as otherwise provided in these instructions, all assistance given to soldiers shall be by way of loans, which shall bear interest at tho rato of H per cent., and for a term not exceeding ten years, except that interest shall not lie charged upon the first „CSO of any loan granted.

'a. The Departmental officer shall require any person to whom a loan is granted to execute such legal documents and to give such availablo security as may bo necessary to secure repayment of the amount advanced. Terms of Repayment. fi. In recomhiending the terms of repayment of loans the district board or local committee thai! have regard to the purpose for which, and the" general circumstances of the person to whom tho loan is proposed to be granted. 7. In any case where a person to whom a loan has been granted has been unable to pay the whole or any par! of the loan within the period fixed, and who produces satisfactory evidence that he or she has made a proper use of such loan, the district board may, if it thinks fit, upon application for "the renewal of the loan, grant the renewal for such period and oil sucli other conditions as it deems wasonable.

8. Where property is allotted by way of loan to any person the value of the properly shall be regarded as a debt due by that person, am] (he assessed value shall be repayable in the same manner and at the same rate of interest as a loan of that amount, the repayment of which shall be secured by such legal documents and such security as the Department shall require the person to execute or furnish. Conditions of the Grant, 9. It shall be A condition of the grant of any assistance by. way of loan that the person to whom the assistance is given shall at all reasonable times permit any person authorised in writing l;,v a repairiation officer to enter upon any land and premises upon which there is any property which has limii purchased for- or lent to the applicant under these instructions, and shall produce to that person such boohs, documents, and goods, and disclose to him such information as lie desires for the purpose of forming a true estimate of the financial position and prospects of the person assisted. 10. A repatriation officer, or any person authorised in writing by him, may, on the recommendation of a district hoard, take the necessary proceedings I for the recovery of tlio amouut of any

| loan, or any part of it, which has not I been repaid by the recipient within the period fixed by the district board or local committee.

11. The repatriation officer may on the recommendation of a district board or local committee authorise the sale, to tho best advantage, of any property recovered or recalled when a sale is deemed necessary and advantageous in the interests of the Department. 12. It shall be tho dr.ty of a repatriation ollicer to take all reasonablo_ steps to ensure that no person shall, without his consent in writing, sell or otherwise dispose of or pledge or mortgage in any way, or deposit by way of security, or where the property was or is advanced for specific purpose, use for any other purpose any goods allocated by any authority under the Act. 13. When a district board or local committee advises that any borrower is unable to repay any amount duo to the Department, tho Hepatization Board may authorise the writing off of the wholo or any portion of the nmount so due.14. A district board or local committee may, through the repatriation officer, make recommendations to the Repatriation Board in connection with arrangements for the commencement or expansion of businesses and industrial undertakings of a kind which will give employment to soldiers, or in connection with any application or matters not specifically covered by these instructions.