THE WAR GRATUITY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10611, 9 June 1920, Page 5

THE WAR GRATUITY

PAYMENTS ALMOST COMPLETED. ABOUT 5000 STILL UNPAID. As far as regular applications for the war service gratuity are concerned the payments have now practically ceased. Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Hutchcn, officer in charge of the War Expenses Department, informed a “New Zealand Times” reporter yesterday that up till Saturday last there had been paid out in gratuities a total of £5,276,000, representing about 91,000 applications. There 'were something over 100,000 men in tho Expeditionary Force, said tho colonel, but it would ho realised that this number included some thousands who were not entitled to the gratuity, and others who had returned to tho Dominion and again left on active service. This reduced tho number of soldiers actually entitled to the payment to about 06,000. About 1000 of the 5000 who still had n claim to the gratuity might represent men who obtained their discharge in England, hnt tho returns of the actual number were «till to come to hand. The names and addresses of tho remainder, Vho had nob made any application, had been ascertained, and their dues would bo paid out to them as soon as application was made. The department was now chiefly occupied in tho payment of tho retrospective children’s. allowance. In this connecr tion there had also been a great deal of laxity in the forwarding ef applications, and the. department was communicating with those who wore shown in tlio records to he entitled to the payment. The staff of the Expenses Branch has been reduced since December from about 480 to something like 1501