BACK IN CANADA

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 169, 11 April 1919, Page 7

BACK IN CANADA

WORK FOR RETURNED SOLDIERS

SYSTEM OF PENSIONS

("Times" Correspondent, Toronto.) . Between 10,000 and 50,000 soldiers have returned to Canada. Naturally they liavo been received with remarkable demonstrations of respect and'affection. In one or two cases there have been complaints about the accommodation on shipboard and over-delay in transportation out uf Halifax, but from week to week grievances become fewer 06 the machinery of transportation is improved and the mination of the. Government to avoid delays and inconveniences is demonstrated to the general satisfaction of the soldiers and the country.

There may he some temporary industrial unrest and confusion, but the .Government is resolved that veterans who desire work shall have it, and that in public employment they shall have all practicable preference. The Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk, a.nd the Government railways have announced tlrnt all former employees will be reinstated, and all possible consideration extended to those who may now not be fully equal to the places they held before enlistment. Similar announcements hf.ve beeu made by many factories and individual employers, although ..necessarily during ; four years there have been changes which make exact readjustment difficult in many cases. Discharge Gratuities, Nothing lias had a better effect tliaa the extension of discharge allowances. Under the new regulations the war gratuity is payable according to length of service. There are two scales, the higher for those who have served oversea, which includes Great Britain, and the lower for thoso whose service has been confined lo Canada.' The maximum gratuity for those who have served oversea is six months, while three months is the maximum for those who have served only in the Dominion. Any soldier who has been on active service for three years or over is entitled to six months' gratuity, for two years and under three years lo five months' gratuity, over one year under two years to four months'; aim under one year to three months' gratuity. Any soldier who has not been out of Canada or the United States, but who was on active service for three years or over, will receive three .months' gratuity, if on active service over two years and. under three years two months' gratuity, and if one year nud under two years one month's gratuity. For servico of less than one year no gratuity will be granted: Any soldier with dependants who had separation allowance will receive not less than ,£2O per month gratuity, and any soldier without dependants not less tlmn £14 per month. Thus, for a. married man whose wife has had separation allowance and who has been on activo service for three years or over, the total gratuity will bo .£l2O, and that of a man without dependants .£B4. In such eases the gratuity will be payable in six monthly instalments, beginning on the date of discharge. It is provided that tho gratuity shall - take .the place of postdischarge pay, and thus any such pay which may havo been received will he deducted from the gratuity. Officers of tho war veterans' associations liavo expressed satisfaction with theso gratuities, and unquestionably a good effect has been produced by the new regulations.

It is just announced that tho pensions for children of dead aud totally disabled soldiers liavo been increased and classified. The first child or younger brother or sister will receive £2 Bs. per month, the second child ,or younger brother or sister .£2, and subsequent children or younger brothers or sisters J2l 125.; the first orphan child or younger brother or sister £1 IGs., the second orphan child or younger brother or sister £4, and the third and subsequent orphans or younger brothers or sisters ill) -Is. Hitherto there lias been a straight allowance of .El 12s. a month for all children whose mothers are living and of £3 -is. for orphan children. Children of disabled members of the forces up to the rank of major in the Militia and lieutenant-commander in tho Navy will receive for the first child £'i Bs. a month, for the second M, and for tho third and subsequent children £I,_ 12s. The previous allowance was' i£l 12s. a month for all children. It is also provided that where tho pension i 6 for less than total disability '.lie allowances for children will be graded from class to class according to a schedule to be prepared by the Pension Commission. The Scale of Pensions.

Under the scale of ponsious now in force iu Canada the annual payment to a private soldier for total disability is £10 a month, or ,£l2O ft year. J;'or a widow .the monthly allowance is *fcß and the annual payment J96. These payments are exclusive of allowances * ior children. Above the rank of private the pensions for total disability are for lieu : tenant =£150 a year, for captain ,£2OO, for major ,£252, for lieutenant-colonel ,£313, and for brigadier-general JESIO. There are in all 20 classes, graded down from 100 per cent, of disability to 5 per cent. For a private soldier whose disability is fixeel at 50 per cent, the pension is <£Cfl a year. If married, he receives 16s. a month more and a prqportionate allowance for children.

There is a common feeling, however, that as yet the pension regulations are uncertain and unscientific. They have been established by a series of Orders in Council and Parliamentary regulations which were not deeply considered nor fully understood. There are contradictions and ambiguities to be' reconciled and removed. It is felt that the pensions of officers who enlisted early in the war should not be cut below the figure originally - agreed upon. Another grievance arises over the regulation which denies to a disabled soldier the full pension if his disability existed prior to enlistment. It is argued that if his complaint was aggravated by service he should not be recognised only to the extent of the aggravation, unless the fact of pre-enlistment disability was wilfully concealed from the examining officers! For example, Mr. Hume Cronyn, member for London, emphasises the argument that "the medical officers who examine and pass a man as fit for a soltiler's life fire agents of the State, aud tho State should be prepared to allow that man his full pension so long as lie becomes disabled while in the service of liis country."