REPATRIATION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 208, 28 May 1919, Page 9

REPATRIATION

WORK PROCEEDING SMOOTHLY ■ VIEWS OF THE BOARD'S CHAIRMAN According to the' chairman of. the Wellington Repatriation Board (Mr. T. Shailor Weston) (here is an abundance of work to occupy the attention of the board. It is tlie function..of the board to do. nil in its power to assist tlio returned man • back into civilian life. A good deal had heen said about the difficulties of that .operation, anil no doubl they did-occur here and there, but in his" experience he found 1 the returned soldier anxious to get back into civilian lite as soon as he could. • Many wished to change their avocations as the result of their'recent experiences, and if they could'help'theM to do so wilh a fair prospect of that help'being a permanent ono they endeavoured to": do so. There was one case handled recent,., where a man who"had'been ' u farmei: wished to be-come-a' motor mechanic. The reasons why ho did not wish lo go back on Iho •land Were considered good and sufiii'iout, but it was-suggested that he would ds much better if he .went in for engineering thoroughly. - He liked the idea and a berth was secured-for him, where ht> will leant a good trade. In the menu-"tiih-e" that man would bo helped finan-cially.-.--There were-oilier eases where young--fellows had gone- off to tho war during the term-or their-apprenticeship, arid now the wur was won they had to come' back and fiuish their apprentice-ship-after an absenco of four years. Obviously it would not be fair for such men to resume work at the apprentice rata of pay which they were getting when they enlisted. Consideration was given to each of such cases on its meru< cases it was found that men, who wanted a new start in life, had been able to save a little out of their pay, and to get (joins! again were pre-, paved to put it in with what money the board was prepared to advance. Among the most numerous were requests j for advances with; which lo buy furniture. Judiiiis from the (lumber of these that were being'received it was small wonder that the demand for homes was acute in Wellington. Such applications were a 1; first sorted out by Mr. Luke, after which 'the chairman personally interviewed ni> plicants in order to ascertain exactly how they were placed, ami a recommendation to the board was made accordingly; each one on its merits-repay-ments to be made in accordance with the circumstances of the applicant. The board advanced money' up to £300, making it repayable, as a rule, within three years. A good 'deal of work was done by the board for places where there was no local, board. The representative in such cases forwarded, his cases and recommendations for review before the final .transaction.' • ~,,,, Mr. Weston said that although there had been a rush of work,, the annhcants had not been so numerous, which led him to hope that the work of repatriation was not gom;; to bo so serious a problem 'as was imagined. The bigger -work—that of providing houses and land for returned men-was being attended to by the Lands Department, The board worked:in'with the War Relief Association, which helped to prevent any undue overlapping. (

GOVERNMENT DOING ALL IT CAN. STATEMENT BY HON. W. D. S. - MACDONALD. Reference to the question-of repatriation wns made by the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald,' Minister of Agriculture, in the course of his address at last, night. S dinner 1 to of the Provincial Farmers'. Union. -~,./, .. ' "So far as giving the soldier his due, said Mr. MacDonuld, "we know that it is absolutely impossible to assess in money the sacrifices the soldiers of this country have made. We do nt»t mean that we are doing all,that the soldier is entitled to, perhaps, but we are doing all that this country can possibly do for him. You can. only go so far as means will allow." Some gentlemen who .were gathered together in one-of the southern cities were' talking-a good deal about what bugiit to'bo done, but they never said anything about what had teen Every member of the Repatriation Board was trying to do his best for the returnen men. Mr. Guthrie, the Minister of Lands, was in a very difficult position, because he had to get the ■right class of land for the soldier at the right price. To get the soldier on the land with success was not an easy thing to do. Mr. Guthrie did not want to put soldiers otf land on which they might not make a success.