WAR PENSIONS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 4, 30 September 1920, Page 5

WAR PENSIONS

$ .. ; AN INCREASE DEMANDED ,i TO MEET RISING COST OF LIVING ' With tho object of demanding that the - pi osent scale of war ponsions should be aised, in view of tho increase in tho I cost of living, a meeting of returned roldiers and the dopendonts of fallen and' ' disabled men was held in tho Wellin"- ; ou Returned Soldiers' Club last night. ' ihero was a very large attendance, in- ! eluding a number of ladies, and Mr W ■ Perry (pros,dont of tho W.R.S.A.) occu- i el T)r ? U 'V A^ ongst thoso P resonfc : wore. Dr. A. ]f, Newman. Mr. J. P. ir r, r - ?■ Eraser, M.P.'s. Hio* ' ri ' ' WBS recopised that pensions should be paid as a mati®, ° "SW to those who had suffered ; « It tad to remembered that f lp cat many men. had como back wHo Juul at first not been classified for penEtons, but who had later broken down ? .? a . d to, 1 * treated in sanatoria and Hospitals. It was these men whom the association wished tho Government to keep in mmd. The maximum. pension • granted to ft totally disabled man was ' per week, but that could not be said to bo on adequate sum in, these daya of the high cost of living, even if he received a supplementary pension of 41 ; per week. It was deai/ed that the Pennonsi Act should be amended to give tho Pensions Board a wider power and wider discretion to deal adequately with' individual cases as they presented them- • selves, (tear, hear.) Mr, Perry moved: t.*iTTewi ew " le tho pension hitherto granted to a totally and per- 1 nianently disabled soldier was inadequate '■hen granted, and in view of the fact that tho cost of living has risen by at least 75 to 80 per cent, since tho outbreak of war, this meeting calls on the Government to increase the pension payable to a totally and permanently disabled soldier from the £2 per tfeek payable;at ; present, to J;3 10s. per week, and to increase the pension payable to a partially : or temporarily disabled soldier and to: a ftependant in a similar proportion. This meeting, believing that it is the duty •• bf the country to do everything possible : for the soldier maimed and disabled in I the war, calls npon tho Government to ] make the above increase of 75 per ccnt. j applicabla in all cases of disablement, ; and that the War Pensions Acts be amended accordingly; bub this meeting I maintains that tho power to grant supplementary I and attendants' pensions •! should not be withdrawn from the War 1 < Pensions Board." ! Redemption of a Promise. ] Mr. A. B. Siovwright, in seconding the ■ motion, said that file Government had ) promised that the pension Bcale would ' be mado adequato to present-day needs, j The U.S.A. now called on the Govern- ! ment to redeem its promise, and to see that tho dependants of fallen meii, and < disabled soldiers, received pensions which would keep them, not in luxury, but in a reasonable degree of comfort. The returned soldiers and dependants of fallen, and disabled men did not want charity, they simply wanted justice, and it was to lw hoped that tho Government would not delay any longer in bringing down an adequato pensions soale. • Dr. A. K. Nowman said he hoped that j the setting up of a Pensions Appeal ' Board would result in the removal of ! causes of irritation which existed at present Now that tho cost cf living had gone up, the pay of Civil Servants and numbers of Parliament was to be In- • creased, and he felt euro that Parllament would treat, tho returned soldiers and tho dependants of fallen and disable men as fairly and ns squarely as other people had been dealt with. I'here ; was money enough in Now Zonland, and • there was humanity enough in Parliament, he thought, and he had no doubt that propor coneideratton would lie given to tho subjeot under notice. (Applause.) j

First Claim on Country's Flnancos, _ 'Mr. Lulco said the first claim on tho finances of the country should be tho disabled men and tho dependants of thoeo who had fallen. (Hear, hear.) He did not think tho Government ,should bo blamed for not having introduced the question of pensions earlier in tho pre- ; sent paseion, as it had first to find out ■ what members wero thinking, and how the finances of the ocuntry actually stood. ; Mr. Froser said he very plcaoed ' with tho loaohition. Ho did not beliovo that there, was anyone in the Houso , who would oppose the domands cf tlio 6oldiors, but whether that unanimity would be sufficient to shift the Government was quito another matter. •

The motion was cavric<) unanimously.