PLEA FOR JUSTICE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 151, 21 March 1919, Page 6

PLEA FOR JUSTICE

RETROSPECTIVE PAY

THE R.S.A CASE

SECRETARY'S STATEMENT,

The general secretary of theN.Z.K.§.A., Mr. J). Seymour, made a statement yesterdiiy in referenco to tlio retrospxtivo applications of the amended scale '_t allowances to wives and children. The assoeiation wished it to be very clearly understood that tlio statement of tlio Minister of Defence in the House last session, gave the impression that ihe demands of the association had been i".et, but in reality nothing of the kind liad been dono. Members of Parliament as well as the general public had been mistaken. As from January 1, 1918, the scalo ot allowances had been moro than doubled, namely, Is. to 3s. per day in the caso ot_ wives and from i)d. to Is. lid. per clay in tlio case of children. The association had insisted that the scalo should applv retrospectively to the wives and dilution of the men who enlisted in the esrlie' stages of the war. The justico of this claim was not questioned, tho arguments against it being chiefly based oil, tho cost to tho country, which tho Minister estimated at about iGOO.OOO. ■ In bis statement to the Ilouso the Minister offered iilO.ftOO in lieu of retrospection, lno Department had 6ince, it was understood, thought it desirable to increase this amount to JJ500.000, which it was estimated would provide for retrospective payments to wives but not to the children. Somo Wives Penalised. The association intended to insist upon retrospection in full as the only equitable action possible. The inadequacy ot tho Minister's latest proposal as a satisfaction of the principle involved was obvious. While all wives were to receive the full allowance, those without childveil would have been Able to flupploinent their allowance, but those with children, being unable to do so, were relatively penalised for their families. The Minister liad, however, agreed to acquaint the association with Hie Department's proposals before theyVere finally adopted, and tho association hoped to l>e able to soeuro its demands in full.

'Parsimony—Not Principle. In matters involving financial consideration, continued Mr. Seymour, tho experience of tiie association hail distinctly been that the Government was influenced more by. parsimony than principle. Realising with scarcely concealed 6atisfaction the fact that in many cases 110 monetary compensation could bo adequate to the sufferings of the men or tho losses of their dependants, the Government cheerfully proceeded to do in some directions as little as it possibly could, instead of ns much ns it possibly could. If it was possible to cffect some economy .it the oxpense of a principle, tho principle was sacrificed without apology.

Appeal to Public and Press. In pay and conditions and in provision for tho interests of dependants and business, the position of tlie i eoldior had continuously improved during tho war. Tho early volunteers went cheerfully and did not begrudgo unavoidable hardships. But whore it was possible to do something towards equitable treatment - tho Government hud contested every inch and yielded only to pressure. For a. year they liad contended, in effect, that the country could not afford to treat the volunteer as nenoronsly as tho conscript. ' Next, whilo allocating same £2,000,000 for gratuities, etc., only somo ,£410,000 of this could be spared "in lieu of retrospection" to satisfy the claims of justice. Thirdly, this had been increased to £500,000 not to fulfil a moral obligation, but. presumably, to provide a ljettor line of defence against the full satisfaction of the principle involved. Tho last position had been reached, and the association looked to the public, and Press of the country to support it in its demands on behalf' of the children of tho volunteer.