R.S.A. FUNDS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 298, 11 August 1932, Page 6

R.S.A. FUNDS

(To the Editor). Sir,-AMay I take advantage of the , space you so generously place at the disposal of correspondents, to air, what, to my mind, is a matter of para- . mount importance to men who were • once acclaimed as heroes. I refer to the Retumed Soldiers' Association canteeii funds. This fund consists of aecumulated profits derived from the soldiers' purchases at ' the various canteens established aur- j ing the war. This fund is maladministrated by ; a board of trustees linown as the Canteen Funds Board. These funds are the property of every returned soldier in the Domin- ■ ion, and during the current depres- 1 sion, have to some extent been used for the purpose of subsidising casual i employment obtained by unemployed ex-servicemen. The leturned digger in Rotorua, ; for some reason or other, has been , more unfortunate than his comrades ■ in other centres in that the sum al- j located te this district has been insufficient to meet one-third of the demands made upon it. When, in addition to this, men who i have qualified for the subsidy on two or three days work, are compelled to j wait almost two months for that subsidy to materialise, the time has arrived when mere excuses will no long- j er satisfy the man who, after all, is | only asking for a thing which is rightly his. Some seven weeks ago, the writer, to quote his own case, which is one of dozens, performed a day's work on which a subsidy of 5s is payable. He has applied at least six times to the treasurer of the local braneh of the Returned Soldiers' Association and has been informed on each occasion that the monthly allocation has not arrived. Five shillings may not sound much, but it means a great deal to the unemployed digger these times, in fact it means the difference between bread, and bread and butter in the stand-down week. The delay in forwarding the a'Hocation may be unavoidable. If so, why? Whose is the fault? — I am, etc. No. 22725. Rotorua, August 10. (Interviewed by a "Post" representative yesterday, Mr. J. H. Watson, treasurer of the Rotorua braneh of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association, stated that there were a number of men in the same position as the correspondent, but that unfortunately, his efforts to secure an immediate advance from Wellington, had failed. He said that at the last conference of the New Zealand Retui'ned Soldiers' Association held in Wellington recently, an increased amount out of the canteen funds had been set aside towards assisting unemployment, but although it was confidently expected that Rotorua's allocation would also be inereased, these allocations had ap- J parently not yet been decided upon hy the controlling association, with the result that the amounts previous'y advanced to tlie Rotorua Assoc:ation, had been utilised. Mr. Watr.on experts that the next advance will be forthcoming very shortly. — Ed. Morning Post).