PAUPERED BY RED TAPE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 289, 2 September 1919, Page 5

PAUPERED BY RED TAPE

SIR DOUGLAS HAW'S PROTEST . TOTAL INADEQUACY 01? PENSIONS Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig appeared as a witness betore the Select Committee on Versions at the ilouse ol Commons recently. Sir Montague Jferlow, M.F., presided. Sir Douglas Haig iiamieiT in a statement ol evidence wlucn was as follows!'-" In the iato summer of lillß I was a,p-caik-il ov me evidence received as iu thn methods of the State to provide for the disabled: Not only were the cases which wero dealt witii by the Disabled Oiiicers' Fund brought to my notice, but also daily I received letters from all Darts of the United Kingdom with the same piteous appeal. Since then matters have been 111 somo degree improved, but not so far as ihe officers are concerned. I hold strongly that it is the dutv of the State to provide for these who havo suffered in the Great War, but I am ouiie prepared to admit that there may be email gaps which must be filled bv voluntary elt'oit. The strain thrown on the charitable institutions, and the high pressure at which they are forced to work, are sufficient condemnation of the Governmental methods and proof of the inadequacy of State pensions. In the first place I wish to call your attention to the action of a single authority to co-ordinate and advise the three Ministries—War, Pensions, and Labour—who are The necessity was foreseen ill the spring of 1915, when Sir G. Murray's Committee recommended that "for the discharge of those duties (that is, those conhec'.ed with the care of the sailors and soldiers disabled in the war) a Central Committee should be appointed and empowered to act, either through tiw agency of the public Department or independently, as tho case may reuuire." Its necessity was again brought to notice in the autumn of 1018. when a conference was summoned bv thn Ministries of the Admiralty, War, and Air to co-ordinate, advise, and supervise as well as J .o promote comradeship and mutual help among all those who had served in the war. Nothing, however. has been done, and tho result is that. 011 discharge, officers are in many cases left penniless.

There is no chain of responsibility. The War Office should not discharge the man until the Ministry of Pensions can take him over. The Ministry of Pensions should then assume responsibility until the Ministry of Labour notifies its readiness to accept him. Ignorant Medical Boards, Secondly. T would call a'.tention to the medical boards. In some cases the members of the board aro ignornnt of the actual disease suffered. In ofhera fchey are lacking in all sympathy and generosity. There is no uniformity in tneir decisions. and some treat every wretched individual who appears before them as a malinaerer.

I strongly advise the appointment of a selected combatant, oftijer to act as assessor so as to produce 6ome confidence in the decision. Again, in some cases ihe disability is reassessed at the Minis-try-of Pensions to the individual's disadvantaae. That this should be done without the individual being seen or heard is contrary to all ideas of British justice. Thirdly, the action of the Wnr Office in mittinc officers on insufficient hnlfnav can only bo described 03 inhuman. One instance will suffice. An officer, commission, December 29, 1914; previous service, nineteen years in ranks; has 1914 Star, the Medailie Militnirfr, long-service and. eood conduct; medal, wished to be eazetted out so as to obtain a gratuity; was ulaced on lmlf-pay oil account;- of illhealth due io service, January 28, 1919, but on March 55, 1919, had not received anv half-pay,, and is very ill. The result is that a- disabled officer, with twentv-thrce . years' total service, married, with one '.child, has to live on a dailv income of ss. Fourthly; delays in the Government Departments produce much hardship and distress:—(a) Delay in awarding the wound pension, and in it# renewal; (b) delav in awarding ihe service, grotuity; Tci delav in the assessment of disability retired liav. often owing to non-receipt of papers from the Air Ministry or \\ ar Office; ,'d) delay ill obtaining a temporary el-ant from the Special Grants Committee: (e) delay in obtaining a grant from the Civil Liabilities Commission owing to strict adherence io ineias.ic conditions: and (f) delay in the completion of training arrangements by tlie Ministry of Labour. Families in Abject Poverty. Fifthly, 1 strongly advocate > more generous provision lor Tao wives and children of officers and luen, and aho lor the education of their children. On their •present allowance families live in abject poverty, .and the widows are unable to give a proper education to tneir chua--ICR'xthly, the total disability rates for both otiic-ers and 4}en are inadequate. Cases are brought U> my notico in which officers drawing the maximum ' rate are in a state of abject poverty. In thi caao of oilier ranks, the fiat rate ol <=<-■ Gd. with the '20 per cent, bonus p.ac.s tut- disabled ir.au at a pecuniary disadvantage compared with Ins ne-ighbouis. Tho weekly allowance should be inertascd to at least ite. Seventhly, 1 would urge a more goiieious aud sympatnetie treatment to all who sulfe.r from ga-i poisoning, (.hellshock, and neurasthenia. It is udiuiueu that their suitable treatment is no,oasj mutter. Employers are shy ot them appointments. Ino many P. lteo appeals Drought to my notice cry lor an immediate reiorm in the method the attitude of trade unions. Ninthly, I cannot close my evidence without calling attention to the scandalous treatment of those who had wiled pre-war pensions. Many ol them nerved in the present war. Ihe pittance received for a life long a disgrace to ft civilised State. 1 - to pay my tribute to the couite s j iiiut sympathetic uttitudo of the ijtcseiic Mjiiiitrv of Pensions, and of tiio excellent work of the Officers' Friend. The' decentralisation oi the Ministry a work is a step forward, and I urge tuu a representative of tho Olhcers I'iie,. be attached to each centre at pre.-o,it, no official outside London who can give sympathetic advice and assistance to officers. To sum up, on ne half of those who have tmftercd in the country's cause, and especially on be«al of their wives anil children, I app.al (1) A greater generosity on tho part of single authority to co-ordinate tho work of tho Ministers; and (3) All improvement ill the maohinei} that has been set up and is noiv working, laboriously, no doubt, but toa sw ly, and in many cases unsyuipathctically. '