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Hokitika Guardian, 16 May 1930, Page 4

Tttt; Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the position of incapacitated • ex-soldiers has done its work well. The Stale which they helped to save can never make up to these men what they have lost, but on the whole the treatment of disabled rnen by this country has been generous and enlightened. The Commission’s report, however, says a northern paper, confirms certain doubts about this policy.

Sufficient attention lias not been given io tlie training of disabled men to enable them to earn money. The State has for the most part limited assistance to pensions, and has overlooked Hie material and moral value ot work. The Commission recommends that the two methods be linked up, and it proposes the creation of a body, to be known as the .Soldiers’ Civil Re-Estab-lishment League, which, with branches

in all the centres, will,watch over all matiers affecting the ex-soldier. It will help the disabled man to find suitable employment, train him for various kinds ot work, and recommend for pensions. The Commission makes a number of other recommendations to meet cases of hardship, stall as that" of the New Zealander who served in the lanpenal forces, hut the establishment of this League is the principal item in the report. The returned soldiers' associations have the satisfaction of knowing that the Commission’s recommendations are mainly in support of requests that the Associations themselves have made. We hope the Government will adopt the report, and generally continue the policy of assisting the returned men in all deserving and necessitous cases. The problem of men breaking down in after life, due to nervous disability is daily recurring, and the re-establishment proposal should cover such cases. Equally with regard to the wives and families| of sick men, the conditions should be mere •elastic with regard to rendering immediate succour when such is needed. All the men are not paragons, and there are instances where the wife and family have a heavy lot, but if this proposed re-establishment league had a welfare branch in action, cases which occur to the mind could he met more adequately than they are now, if at all. Wives in stressful circumstances are often patient and long suffering. They avoid revealing their extremities, but there are instances where there is room for a welfare officer to take action and relieve the distress that is being bo'rne so bravely. In considering the case of the ex-soldiers needing State help, let the authorities not forget the wives and families who are an important part in the scheme for encouragement, and help if the mother is to do her duty by her family, and the children are to grow up worthy citizens of the Empire their fathers defended in the time of great extremity.