The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1920. A NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 294, 6 September 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1920. A NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

Although many activities coining under the bead of repatriation art still in lull swing, and some ol them—particularly the care of tht sick and disabled—will have to be carried on for . a long time to come, the latest _ annua] report of the Repatriation Department marks an advanced stage in a great enterprise. The restoration of soldiers to civil life is no longer in prospect, but an accomplished fact; and in regard to the conditions under which the process of restoration has been carried out and the results achieved, tha Dominion undoubtedly is in a position to court comparison with any other belligerent country. Amph, and convincing evidence is afforded in the records of the Repatriation Department that in New Zealand adequate and efficient measures have been taken for the 're-establishment of soldiers in civil life. At the same time the degree of success attested was only mado possible by the high standard of conduct set by tho ex-soldiers to whom their country is so deeply in debted. The quality of the men who served in the Expeditionary Force has been demonstrated in the development of the repatriation scheme as well as on the field of battle and in war service generally. The report of the Repatriation Department is impressive as a record of assistance in one form or another given to tens of thousands of returned soldiers and of the expenditure of large sums of public money in this good cause and of much larger «ims in loans to ex-soldiers. . It is even more impressive, however, as showing how few of the men financially assisted havo failed by their own fault to carry out their obligations. At i- recent date, out of more than twelve thousand soldiers who had received loans from the Repatriation Department less than five pie "cnt. were in arrear with'their repayments, and this percentage ineludps those who are entitled te special consideration on account of 'ndifforcnt health, the outcome of their military service. At the same date the number of loans written off as irrecoverable amounted to only twenty-throe (out of more than twelve thousand), and in the case of thirteen of these loans no blame attached to the soldier borrowers. This fine record, with its negligible proportion of actual failures, is one of which the country, and returned "oldiers, have every right to be proud. It fit the same time bears witness to the" judgment and forethought with which the- repatriation Fchemc has been administered. The statistics of repatriation now v un into big figure.v To the end of July the names of rather more than "73,0(10 men bad been entered on tho Departmental register, and the provision made for a pronortion of those men is indicated in the following summary; Placed in employment 15.834 Trained or in training 5.901 Financially assisted '. 15.577 Total 40,1113 To this must be added particulars of ex-soldiers provided with land or homes through the agency of the Lands Department. At the end of May, more than £10,000,000 had been expended in this category, and nearly fourteen thousand returned

men had been enabled to acquire houses or farms—loans had boon mado to 6920 liicu for the purchase of town dwellings, and' to G9-18

settled on 2,150,555 acres of rural land. So far as loans for other purposes than the acquisition of land or dwellings are concerned, the position now readied is that advances are diminishing from month to _ month in aggregate amount, while the monthly aggregate of repayments is steadily increasing. As the report observes, cx-soldicrs who hare been financially assisted in business investments or in the purchase of furniture or tools of trade "are now showing their appreciation by the prompt and loval man-

ner in which they are meeting their obligations." In June the Department collected over £33,000 in repayments on such loans, and the point has been closely approached at which monthly repayments will exceed monthly advances. Another very gratifying feature is the negligible amount of unemployment which has attended the development of the, repatriation scheme. On July 20, for instance, the Department had th* names of only 155 men awaiting employment, and of these only four had been on the "employment wanted" register for more than a week. The volume of applications by cx-soldicrs for employment is now declining, and the number of unemployed' has also fallen steadily during the last twelve months, the number most recently reported being the lowest on record. There is much still to he dono by the Repatriation Department and its subsidiary organisations in the after-care of disabled men and others who arc handicapped by disabilities resulting from their war service, in completing training schemes, and in other directions. The Lands Department, also : has something still to do in-assisting returned men to settleon the land or purchase city dwellings. With so much accomplished, however, it is already clear that the completed record of repatriation will be splendidly creditable to the Dominion and to the men who served it in the _ field. Tho I success of the repatriation scheme is I

apparent, not only in statistical records, but in tlic spirit in which returned _ soldiers have resumed their civil status. _ The men who rendered i wa,r service are makim* their weight and influence tell in all walks of national life, but there is little tendency to form a new eroiipinc on the basis of war ser-

vice.- In general returned soldiers manifest a clear perception of the

.fact that they would stand in their own lieht if they approached public, and political questions from any ether standpoint than that of full and unqualified citizenship.