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New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10281, 16 May 1919, Page 7

BACK PAY

FOR WIVES OF SOLDIERS EXAMPLES OF"THE WORKING' OF THB SCHEME. The following official statement was issued yesterday:— The decision of the Government to make the eeparation allowance granted to the wife, or to the Ruardian of the motherless, children of a New Zlealand soldier retrospective to the date' of hie departure overseas, is about to be placed into effect. The present • soheme ibias been formulated onlv after careful consideration of the many; difficulties to be surmounted fby.reason of the extent and importance of proposals, and the comparatiVely' ,, enornious expenditure 1 iii-' volved. • ■Somethinsr of. its" magnitude may be cleaned, from the fact that the expenditure of approximately half amiK lion is contemplated, to cover the claims whioh will be made upon. the Defence Department. last session. Parliament appropriated y ■£4io.QoO for the purpose, but it has since been found' that another ,£55.000 will,.be. necessary, and .thus,, the estimated, total. cost .of the retrospective concession is i£'495.000. This sum is to be disposed" of In" respect' of all married soldiers rtho^eft'-thß'-Dominion pridr to December 31et.1917.' It is not to apply either individually or. .collectively'- to cover any period of camp .service. . One obiect of this is that it is thus to be mads available oiilv to those whb actual-, ly left New "Zealand, and incurred' in some measure th'a"risks of active service conditions:-"' -•'■* ■■•-■■■ .-,... THE NUMBER AFFECTED.. ,■

The exact -number of soldiers affected cannot bo definitely known until the payments have all been made, and the last case is satisfactorily disposed of. Estimates were made in October'" last of the proportion of married and ■i"B^ e men in tie Expeditionary Forces. The total embarked-at' that "date was shown to be 98,660. of whom 12,333 were-mar. ried. Their leng-th of service for the Forces was shown, as, follows: ,

. Number. ■> 848 Three Tears - 3515 Two years 4468 One rear - 'B*l2 Taking these figures as a uuideV it" 'may be assumed for the present that approximately. 12,000 wives and approved «uardians will participate in the distribution of the bonuses, which,-it wjll.,,be,«,seen, > , provides for an .average,,payment of ~»,. trifle over .£4l. ...The arrears ( aje ,pay,-„ üble as follows: ~ r , M ., , „ . Lieutenant.—Wives or guardian oc_ motherless ohiltfren 3s Per day 'from embarkation till December 31st, _ 1917. ~" - Warrant officers, non-commissioned oiflcors and men.—Wives "Ss per day from embarkation till May Blst,- 1915. 2s per day from June Ist. 1915 till December Slst. 1917. Guardians of motherless ohildren, 3s per day from embarkation till May Slst, 1915, 2s per day from June Ist. 1613, till April 30th", 'l9lß. - , Substantial sums will thus be payable, In respect, of lons-servico married man., , r Taking as an example the case, of a Main Body man who returned to the Dominion after the allowance of 8s a oay came into effect. The amount duo to his wife may bo computed, approximately as follows:—3s a day from embarkation (September 23rd, 1914) to 31/6/16, £37 13s; 2s a day'from 1/6/15 to 31/12/17, £M 30s; total, .&132~35.- "\ ■ - As a, second example: Soldier, a widower embarked on February Bth, 1915. His child was left in the care-bf a jjuwdr. ian. ■Returned and 'a'iscn'ai l ged p in May; 1918. The arrears would be:—3s a day from 8/2/15 to 31/5/15, Xl6 19s j 2s a day from 1/6/15 to 30/4/18, .£lO6 10s; total,' Xl23 9s. „...,. r Generally -speaking, payment of. the allowance is to be made to the.person who has already, drawn the ordinary; separation allowance, it being' considered that,in practically overy oase this bo , accepted as a reliable" indication'as fj to who is entitled to Te'coivoVKe ' moneys. 1 If 'is realised that there will be numerous "id 1 stanoes to which this policy c , anu'ot'"b*o , made applicable, but the department -nil! have means at its command to thoroughly investigate overy suoh claim with a view to deoiding who is the rightful claimant. In the case of a. soldier'deceased prior to the 31st December, 1917 (or whore guardian's allowance has been paid, before the 30th April, ,WB),. payment, .will^be.made up to the date of deocase, or to the dato the separation allowance was paid, if this was later. OTHEE FEATURES. ] An important point which should not bo overlooked iB that where a man hes, been discharged before April 30th, 1313, his wife, or the "guardian of his children is required to moke application for tho allowance to tho Officer-in-Charge, War Expenses, Wellington." J The'' principal reason for this is that after a soldier goes back to civilian life the department is not kept advised of his possible frequent changes of address and oannot thus get into immediate touch with.,him,, No special form of application isjrequired, but each" olaim"should 'embrace full particulars as 'to''the''sc-ldi6rV'full''name, rank, and ■•regimental number, reinforcement to which attached, date of discharge <or decease);: and the full name and address of >the applicant. In this latter necessity; ,Jor • advising the department of any change of address subsequent to the application ,be\ng made to run fiftm the, daw of re-embarkation. In the case„qf, a duty'' man —that is'a splier wh9 ( came ;back to the Dominion 'and"'r£embarked with a li'ter reinforcement' prior to December 31st, 1917, payment will be made up to the: date of return, and will again commence to run from the date of rembarkation. There are other minor features of tho scheme which need only be touched on briefly. To remove a popular misconception which • has - already been tho sub j ect of much teoxrjespondenoe-ii-may- be-stated that the present-proposals-<lo.not provide for the restrospeotive' payment "of other than the two, allowances outlined'"abovewife's separation and guardian's" separation allowance.; Children's,, widowed mother's, and dependent's 'allowances' are thus not affected. For.wives or guardians., not domiciled iu .pajThsnt will commence only , jrom >, those,.,, dates, which separation aljp.waaoe;^.as, been au«, thorieed for issue in - those countries where the wives or guardians were residing prior to December 81st, 1917. It is axpeoted that there will be t many instances where the' above'provisions do riot directly apply in' 'some '_"respect. , The wives or 'guardians' situated', should represent'^heii , ment with *a View to'liafin'g the position clearly explained.*' "Payments are .being made in the first week in June by special warrant sent direct to the payees. H