SOLDIERS' GRATUITIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 287, 30 August 1919, Page 8

SOLDIERS' GRATUITIES

A SUGGESTION. . Sir—l have heard many arguments re gratuities, and have arrived at the conclusion that, whatever the scale of payment is, there vail inevitably be U'fan proportion of returned 6oldiers.. unsatis fied. It does not seem to be the amount so much as the proportioning that ii causing the most discussion, One. thinf is certain:' a .flat rate of, say, .£1 pei month while on active service—active ser vice meaning from the. time of leavinf New Zealand till discharge-will, not givi satisfaction. Take,- for .instance; -tin Fifth Keinforcements: a volunteei in this reinforcement, who got i "crack" the night he landed 01 the Peninsula, and was back and dis charged in New Zealand all inside twelvi months, and compare him with member of our last, three drafts, who left over i year ago, and a number of whom ar< not back in New Zealand yet, and jh large majority of whom never- 6mclt ilui powder. Naturallv an early voluntee thinks he is entitled to n little more coil sideration than a member of a late draft. I have heard two suggested ideas o payment of the gratuity, either of whicl would tend, in my opinion, to give mor satisfaction than one.even flat.rate,, lh< first, presuming all ranks are to, be pan alike, taking iuy figures at random, is a follows:— . . For t-hose who went on active service 11 1914-15 Is. Gd. per day till discharged. _ For those who went on aotive service 11 1916, Is. 3d. per day till discharged. _ For those who went on active service n 1917, Is. per day till discharged. ; _ . For those who went on aotive service 11 1918, 9d. per day till discharged. , Thus a man who volunteered and ha( hard luck in tlie.early, stages, .for hi! period, would receive, and .1 think de serve, just double what a-1918 man woult get. If a 1914-15 man is lucky enougl to get through a long period, well-lie dc serves all that is coming to him. The second 6chemc ivas to have a dif ferent amount, say, the above rate, fo each year, but the objection to this i that it would mean extra work for tn< Department, and a still longer time t' wait for what is owing us.—t am, etc., NOT AN ANZAC. Sir,—lt is somewhat surprising to rtai Sir James Allen's statement regardin; soldiers' gratuities in THE DOMINION o August 27. It- is nothing more or les than preparing the. soldier for som shoddy amount less than Is. per day which, taking, in to consideration the set vice pay of the New Zealander, was les than Is. per dsy compared with th,ose o the Australian Army service pay. Cai you tell me that the Government wouli see the soldier get less than Is. per da; for every day's service, when the major ity of businesses and farmers have almos placed what price they liked on thei goods? From the largest business mei to the smallest never have they come< money for years as they did during th war." Aro not those' who risked thei lives for their country entitled to som compensation for losing the chances tha these business people and farmers hav enjoyed? Does the Government thinl that 44 millions would have covered Ger inany's ckiifis had she won? German; would not have allowed her to questioi what she could pay her. Why not rnak some of. these profiteers pay the' larges part of it? And.eveh if a shilling i day is granted .by.our generous Govern ment, its real value 1 to-day is abou 7Jd., or JOS. is worth 12s. Gd. —I am, etc, . FOUR YEARS. -