SOLDIERS' WIVES AND GUARDIANS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 198, 16 May 1919, Page 7

SOLDIERS' WIVES AND GUARDIANS

-— —t , THE RETROSPECTIVE ALLOWANCES NEW, SCHEME EXPLAINED ■ The payment of retrospective sopara- . ton allowances to wives of New Zealand ■ 6 ?W. ers aml gnaydiaus of the motherless children of soldiers is expected to cost the .Dominion about JC495.000.. This is , the provision that, is being made by the Government. ;, .The exact number of soldiers affected cannot;, be definitely'.known until, the paymonte have all been mnde nml the last.case is.:satisfactorily disposed of. Estimates were, made in October last of ttee proportion of' married and single men in the Expeditionary Forces. The total einbarked at that date was shown to be 98,GG0, of whom 12,333 were'married. ' , Their length of service for the. forces ' was shown as follows:— ... . . Number. ' Folio , years (MS Thyee years 3515 : Two years 445R ... One year : 3412 Taking these figures ae a guide, it may "bo assiumed for the present that ap- , proximately 12,000 wives and approved guardians will participate in (he dislri- .. button of the bonuses, which, it will be :■ seen,'provides for an average' payment of a trifle over ..£ll. The arroars are payable as follow:— ■ ' \ Lieutenant': Wives or guardians of motherless ■ children, 3s. per day from . embarkation till December 31, 1917. Warrant Officers,' Non-commissiorted . ":'" Officers, nnd'jnen: Wives, 3s. per day ■■: from embarkation till May 31, 1915; 2s. \ per 'day fronv June 1, 1915, till ■ Deceni•'"ber 31, ■ 1917. Guardians of motherless ; children;' 3s. per day from'embarkation till May 31, 1915; 2s. per day 1 from June I, 1915, till Aprils, 1918: Substantial sums will thus be'payable ; In respect of long-service married men. Taking as an example the case of a Main Body man who returned to the Dominion after the allowance.of 2s. a day came into effect, tho amount due to his wife may be computed approximately as follows:—3s. a day. from, embarkation" (September 23, 1914) to May 31, 191fi. ,-£37 135.; 25.: a day from June 1, 1915, to- December 31, 1917, £U 10s.; total, ,£132 3s. : ■■:■■-' • . . As' a second .example: Soldier, a widower, embarked on February 8, 1915. Hie child was - left in'. the care of a guardian. Returned and discharged iu May, '1918. The arrears would be: 85. a day from February 8. 1915, to May 31, 1915, ,£l6 19a.; 2e. a day from June 1, • 1915, to April SO, 1918, ,£lO6 10s.; total, ;■■ .£123 9s. ' ■■•,.'" ... ' •■■ . ~■' ' Generally speaking, payment of the allowance is to be made to the person'who ' has already drawn the ordinary separation allowance; it being considered that in practically every case this may be ac-. cepted as a reliable .indication as to who is.entitled to receive the moneys. It is realised that there will be numerous in■stances to which this policy cannot be : made applicable, but the Department will have means at its command to thoroughly investigate every such claim with a view ' '•' to deciding who is the rightful claimant. In the case of a soldier deceased prior to December 31,1917 (or where guardian's allowance has been paid,' before April 30, 1918) payment will be made up to the date 01 deecase-'or to the date the separation allowance was paid, if this were - ; -later, i: '". ■- : • ■_ < /, . An important point -which"should , not, - be overlooked is that where' a man has : ''been discharged before April 30,1919, his ! wife or the guardian of his children is required to make application for the allowance to the officer in charge, war ex> ;' penses, Wellington. The principal reason tor this is that after a soldier goes back to civilian life the Department is not kept advised of his possible frequent changes of address and 'cannot thus get . into immediate touch .with him. No special form of application is required, '. but each claim'should embrace full par- . ' ticulars ae to the soldier's fulLnaine,. rank, and regimental-number, reinforce- '. ment to whioh attached, date of discharge (or decease), and the full, name and ad- . \ dress-of tho. applicant. In this; latter '".'; obmi&'tion' : ' the 1 necessity • for'ad vising the.' .Department of' any : change , of address subsequehtto the application being made f need not be over-emphasised. . •' In the case of a "return for duty" man; that is, a, soldier who came back to the Dominion and re-embarked with a later reinforcement prior to December 31, 1917, payment will be made,up to the date or return, and. will again commence to Tun from, the date of re-embarkation. There are other minor features of the scheme which need only' be touched on 1 briefly. To remove a popular misconcepv tion which has already been the subject of much correspondence, it may be stated that;'the present proposals do not provide for, xhe ■ retrospective payment of • other, than the two allowances outlined above—wife's,separation and.guardian's, separation allowance. Children's, widow- < ed mother's, and,' dependants' allowances are thus not affected. For, wives or guardians, not domiciled in New Zealand payment' will commence only from. those datiswhichseparation allowance has been authorised for. issue in tho3e countries where the wives or' guardians were Tesiding prior to December 31, 1917. It is expected that there will.be many .instances where .the above provisions' do not directly apply in'some Tespect. The wives or'guardians'thus situated should ■ represent their.cases fully; to the Denart- . ment with a view to having the position • clearly explained. Payments are being • :. made, in the first week in June by special . warrant sent direct to the payees.