A TALK TO RETURNED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 197, 15 May 1919, Page 5

A TALK TO RETURNED SOLDIERS

BY GENERAL RICHARDSON PROBLEMS TO BE FACED A very largely attended meeting of members of the Wellington Returned Soldiers Association was held in tho Con- ' cert 'Chamber of the Town Hall last ■ evening, Mr. J. D. Harper presiding, to . welcome Bngadier-Goneral Richardson, , C.M.G., who received a most enthusiastic reception. : Tho chairman introduced the General, I and referred to his work in England, and • said that every returned man owed a ■ debt of gratitudo to the General for tho i great interest lie had always taken in - tho men and their personal welfare. Tho i General's advice would be invaluable in - the work of re-establishing the men in ' civil life, and he knew that returned I men would continue to receive every consideration from tho General. Mr. D. Seymour, general secretary of the N.Z.R„S.A., also extended a welcome ' to the General, and made eulogistic re- ■ fernnces to his work during the war. ' Cheers, greeted the General as ho rose • to speak, and the singing of "For He's i ft-Jolly Good Fellow," and more cheering : testified in no small way to the remarkable popularity which General Itichard- ' son enjoys amongst the returned soldiers generally. The returned soldiers, he said, did their bit in /the war, but i i. it them to eonsidGr for a moment 1 what the position would have been had - Britain lost the war, and England was - not far from losing it once or twice. He had had the assistance of the Government in his work in England, nnd all • (hatjvas left for him to do was to go ■ ahead and work for the men. Every- ■ where he went in England he heard particularly high opinions of the New Zealand soldiers, and he assured one ' and all that both civil and military authorities were convinced of i 1 worta oi tuo New Zealand soldiers. The state of affairs in England when he 1 arrived took a lot .of shuffling to get in order. He did his best, with the result ■ that they built up an organisation which ■was held up as a anodel and caused very little trouble -.to ■ the War Office. (Ap. plause.) "Don't think that was due to me,' continued the General. "Tho unl- ' versally high, name and the character in ' which we were held was due to the be--1 haviour of every soldier." Whilst in Scotland the speaker found that the New Zealanders were held in very high esteem. It was the same in Prance ana other, theatres of war. Both the highest authorities in the different countries, as well as the civil population, were'of Die opinion l that New Zealanders were leaving behind tho best name they possibly i could. The good work : done in England was not due to the efforts of the speaker, ■ but to the efforts of,the Force as a ■ whole. Success could not be '■attained . without unity. The people in New Zealand were united, everything in connection with the war was united, "and," con- - tinned the speaker, "let.us'hope that as we. had unity for war 60 will we-have unity for peace." "• The peace problem - was a big. one—it concerned the"return to civilian life again, industrial develop. - ment, and the realisation of those ambitions which every returned soiuier hoped ■ to attain. .Practically every-man returned in a somewhat unsettled state, and he : could not get down to work right away. J. his was the natural result of four years of strife on the battlefields. Ho appealed to returned men to minimise this unsettled condition as> much as possible. Tt ■ fras the duty of every man toget back to ■ cml life again as quickly as possible, ;. and;as.far as the speaker could ascertain this was being done. He understood that - .the functions of.the association were-to ivatch the interests, of everv returned - soldier, but as far as he could ascertain m . W n " (l returned soldiers were not united. There were a number of returned soldiers i organisations, including "Comrades of the Great War," "Tho Federated A ™ oCll & 0n of Discharged Soldiers," and .Ilie Silver Badge Association." Each ol the associations had different objects, but this did.not tend to promote tho well: fare of tho returned soldier; Ho was glad •that in New Zealand they had formed one association, nnd if its objects were right he was sure.that it would be to tho lull advantage of every- returned man. He noted that quite a lot had already been-accomplished by tho association, and he hoped that the good work it had achieved would continne. The organisations in England were developing different political views, and in his opinion this was not good for returned soldiers as a whole. As a soldier he would say that if all returned soldiers banded together and worked hard to attain a high standing they would get more from the .Government that if they split up into difl'erent political views.' (Ap. plause.) Demobilisation, and Reconstruction. In connection with the demobilisation of the Army, tho speaker' said it was thought during. 1917 that tho war might come to an end, and it was realised that tho country was not ready. To meet this "contingency, a Ministry of Reconstruction was set up to inquire into the problems which would arise aftor the' war. There were many problems, and among these were pensions and the civil re-establish-ment of the Army; The whole question was gone into, and'it was decided to demobilise the army to meet the industrial requirements of Britain. These were met in the following order:—(l) Coal mines, 12) engineering trade, and (3) transport workers, and so on. He understood that the last trade to be met was the raspberry seed industry for jam manufacture. (Laughter.) 'However, that was the principle of the demobilisation of the British .Army. The speaker submitted a demobilisation scheme to tho War Office in 1911!, and thoy were surprised to get it. However, his idea was to get: tho men who went away first back homo, first. When the war was concluded the War Office approached Australia and asked them how many ships they wanted, but they answered that they did not require any yet.-. The same question was put to Canada, and the samo answer received They next approached the speaker, and he asked for fifty, but the War Offico said that there were only ships available for unfit men. To this'the General replied that he would see that all tho men were unfit in order to get them home. This resulted in tho comparatively largo number of ships which had arrived in New Zealand recently with returned soldiers. New Zealand would have to be ready to deal with the large number of 'men. who were return if lg, and. as far as ho was. concerned, every man would be back by September. There should not bo a discharged soldier out of work during the coming winter. Every returned soldier would have to help himself, and ho was confident that every man was prepared to help himself if given | the opportunity. . Tho. .principle of civil re-establishment was, to sec that tho men were put back into the jobs which they were temperamentally most fitted > for. Three factors decided tins—training, education, and character—and these three factors mado for snecoss. Ho did not want to see a returned soldier selling matches, as one saw them on the Thames- Embankment, and if the Repatriation Board did its duty nothing -of llie kind would occur. With regard to Anzac Day, he agreed with tho idea that it should ho mado a sacred day. It was just possible that the British Government would decide on a day as a Liberty Day such as was iccogniscd l>y the Americans in commemoration of July,4, 1776, but no such day could possibly take the i-lace of Inzac Day. It was not only a day to commemorate the deeds of those Who fell on that day, but to perpetuate tho momory of all those New Zealanders who foil during tho great war. It should | lie a day of reverence and a day of rejoicing for the victory we achieved. ■ I As he left the meeting the General was | greeted with thunderous applause and the I singing of "For he's a jolly good fellow.'" |