WAR PENSIONS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 53, 26 November 1920, Page 8

WAR PENSIONS

PROTEST BY RETURNED SOLDIERS

CONSTITUTION OF APPEAL BOARD Tho executivo of the Wellington R.S.A. has passed tho following resolution:— "That this association notes with strong disapproval that the Pensions Appeal Board set up under the Finance Act of last session is a medical appeal board only, and does not give the soldier or right of appeal on general grounds from the decision of tho War I'ensions Boan 1 ; and further, this association regrets that no provision has been made to enable an applicant to be represented in placing his case before the board as fairly and fully as possible." : Commenting on the above resolution, Mr. R. J. F. Aldrich, secretary of the Wellington 8.5.A., states that the whole attitude of tho Government in regard to pensions called for the strongest condemnation. "The R.S.A. asked that tho whole quostion of pensions should be reviewed, and that tho schedule should be revised, and" the maximum pension increaseu, and in reply to this the magnanimous Government gave .£50,000 as a sop, which' will only give tho totallydisabled soldiers a few shillings more per week, and the widows and dependants o? fallen soldiers have still to battle on a totally inadequate pension." remarked Mr. Aldrich. "Owing to the existing discontent in tiie matter of pensions (throughout the Dominion, tho R.S.A. also requested that an appeal board should be set up as a kind of supreme court, where an applicant could appeal ayainst the decision of tho War Pensions Board, consisting of Uiree medical men, whose only function will be to hear an appeal on medical grounds." Mr. Aldrich Eiiid he' was awaro of dozens of dependants whoso pensions are absolutely inadequate, but as there is no court of appeal nothing can be done for them, the decision of the War Pensions Board being final. Very often a sol-dier does not receive as much .pension as he is entitled to, for tho very simple reason that many are unable to 6tato their cases in a proper manner when appearing before a board, and to Tectify this the R.S.A. suggested that the applicant should have someone to speak for him if necessary. This request has been ignored by the Government, and although there is noTSTng in the War Pensions Act to prevent an applicant f,vom having someone to speak on his behalf, the War Pensions Board, for somo unknown reason, will not permit it. It is the intention of the Wellington R.S.A. executive to take up the matter of war pensions very seriouslv. and publish specific cases in order that the public may know that the demands of the R.S.A. are both just and reasonable.