PARLIAMENT

Lake County Mail, Issue 13, 20 August 1947, Page 7

PARLIAMENT

Points from Speeches Replying to a question asked in Parliament by Mr T. L. Macdonald (National, Wallace), the Minister of Defence (Mr Jones) said he was sorry that the issue of free railway privileges in cases where the next-of-kin of a deceased serviceman was unable to travel alone must bo limited to the one pass. Discussing the reply in the House, Mr Macdonald said he was sadly disappointed with the answer. The case concerned was that of , an elderly mother who was given a free rail warrant because she had lost her son overseas. She could not travel alone, and was nnable to get her husband to go with her because they were both pensioners and were unable to find the necessary means. Many people thought that there should be elasticity in the regulations to meet such a deserving case. The Minister felt that there was some merit in the . case and probably there were other cases that had been turned down just as the present one was turned down when it was first advanced. Had the boy come home, two warrants would then have been issued, one for himself and another for his wife or mother. As he lost his life, only one warrant was issued, but that warrant could not be used because of the circumstances of the family. If the Minister could hack away some of the red tape something might be done for such deserving people. Tn his reply the Minister said that many applications were received for extensions of the pass to fathers, children, relatives and others. Principally due to the exceptional strain on the .railways during the war the Government could not meet these requests, and consequently the policy of limiting the pass to the widow or the mother of a deceased serviceman was, and still was, strictly enforced.