WAR SUFFERERS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 42, 19 February 1930, Page 10

WAR SUFFERERS

RELIEVING THE DISTRESS

MAKING THE MONEY LAST

A'- PRUDENT POLICY

The annual mooting of the AVar Ro,Hof Association of AVellington was held this afternoon. ,

Mr. L. 0. H. Tripp, chairman of -the Executive Committee, who . presided, said that shortly after the cessation- of hostilities, when the men were returning, many of them had felt that tho patriotic war relief funds had been, collected for the benefit of those who had suffered war disability and should be made available for their immediate

use. Many argued in favour of an. immediate and per- capita; distribution of the funds, as there would be no need for their existence in five or six years* time. So strong was the feeling in certain .districts that the funds should not be conserved, that some members of the • association went to those districts and addressed meetings, pointingout the necessity of conserving the funds.. ■'■ ' . . . . .

■ "Some seven years later/ said Mr. Tripp, "the return men themselves, were generous enough to admit that' their contention had been entirely wrong, and members of their Executive have stated that the returned men now appreciate the wisdom of those' entrusted with the administration of patriotic funds in 'determining that, tho moneys should bo expended only upon proof of-necessity. Early in 1917, and again during 1918, it had been iorseen. by the executives of the various war funds who were then coming into touch with thousands". of permanently disabled soldiers and with the relatives of the fallen, that the funds would in all probability, no . matter how . carefully they might be administered, prove inadequate to. meet the legitimate.-de-mands that would be made- upon them by those actually suffering .-distress as the result of the war. .'■'.., ■- ,\ ~-•,

"11l 1919, when it became possible to assess the casualties, it was., found that the iigure was. 37. per cent. . At :that time, as well as at the present.moment, applications are; being received from ex-Anglo-Boer. War veterans. The casualty percentage in that .war was 1. per cent. If, .then, legitimate claim 3 could be put forward eighteen years after the conclusion „• of hostilities in South Africa, it was perfectly obvious that with.'a casualty list 37 times as great, applications from ex members of the N.Z.E.F. wjio served in the GreatWar would be received in considerable numbers twenty to thirty years after tho end of the Great War. , : CONSERVING THE FUNDS. - ; . "These are some of the reasons why those charged .with- the administration of New Zealand War Funds determined, upon a policy of conservation of :thosa funds, and it is solely because that decision was . arrived at that moneys : aro still available and will be so for some years .to come.. ■ As a matter of fact, during ,the last four years there has been a steady increase in applications submitted, to, Dominion War Funds by; men who have not' suspected-the pres-■ enec of -, any war disability, but who' are now suddenly breaking .down- in health as theresult of a. disability that has been latent during the; years- that have-elapsed; since their discharge,-biit iwhiclr hits' suddenly "manifested itself under the stress of some particular set of circumstance's required to bring the disability to-light. ■<

"I must admit I am very proud to have been chairman of this association for so many'years. lam proud'to be associated with: the members of my committee who have been voluntarily giving up their, time day: after-day considering the claims of the' soldiers' and their dependents; Our great difficulty to-day is to find "work for tho partially disabled men. . 'As a ■ Commission has been going into the whole question, I will not say more here now, but feel sure that the report of the Commission will be a most valuable one. The secretary," Mr. Leach, prepared valuable statistics:and data, for the Commission. Ido not know.^hat the year's work calls for any special comment. " You will see from the report that our committees have had heavy claims to >consider; last year there, were '2226 applications that "had to be dealt with."

Complimentary reference was made by Mr. Tripp to the work of the secretary, to the association's" solicitors, alid to the Press, and the co-operation of the Returned Soldiers' Association in the work of the War Relief Associatibn was acknowledged. : : ■ '. .