SOLDIERS’ REHABILITATION

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 967, 9 May 1930, Page 1

SOLDIERS’ REHABILITATION

COMMISSION PRESENTS REPORT EIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS MADE CIVIL RE-ESTABLISHMENT LEAGUE ADVOCATED rS main recommendation of the Ex-Soldiers’ Rehabilitation Commission, whose report has now been issued advocates the establishment of a Soldiers’ Civil Re-establish-ment League, “to have and to undertake as its function the creation, organisation, development and administration of all branches of activity, and all schemes designed for the rehabilitation and betterment of ex-servicemen in this Dominion.” There are eight recommendations in all.

Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. The report of the Ex-Soldiers’ Rehabilitation Commission has been issued. ft covers 26 printed pages and 166 witnesses were examined. The committee makes the following recommendations, , for all of which legislation will be necessary: (1) Reduction of the age for eligibility for the old-age pension among South Africa War veterans. (1) A reduction in the age for eligibility for the old-age pension among ex-soldiers. (3) Abolition of the time limit as rn element in the qualification of certain wives as “dependants” and the right of appeal for a wife whose application for a pension as a dependant is refused. (4) The abolition of the time limit as an element in the qualification of certain widows as dependants, and the repeal of the proviso that certain widows shall receive a gratuity instead ot a pension. (6) The abolition of the time limit of seven years in which “probability” may be invoked as evidence of “attrifautability.” (*) The formation and incorpora- ; tion of a Soldiers’ Civil Re-establisli-ment League. (7) Discretionary power in a Minister to allow war pensions to certain New Zealand soldiers who served with other British forces. (81 Extension of the benefits of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Acts j and the Repatriation Act in certain cases to British ex-soldiers other than New Zealanders. MEN 70 YEARS OF AGE AFFECTED Six questions were submitted to the commission. Replying to the first question: What is the present condition and circumstances of the persons affected, their approximate number, and the nature ot their disabilities? the commission states: "The average age of these men is probably between 38 and 45. Some are as old as ). Many understated their ages when joining up with the Forces, and their war experience had an unsettling tendency, and a particularly bad effect. When it was sought to repatriate them, they never found a place in the economic industrial machine, but have drifted from casual work to casual work, and it is only now, when approaching the average age mentioned above, that the deepest anxiety and despair are being felt at the prospects for the future, not only for themselves, but also for their wives and children. This anxiety and despair is breaking the nerves of the men, and so is deteriorating the material which it is desirable that we should endeavour to rehabilitate. In general terms, their circumstances may be described as ‘on the bread-and-butter line.’ Their number is about 5,000, and their disabilities generally ire due to war wounds and impaired health due to war services.” MAORI AND SOUTH AFRICAN VETERANS In reply to question 2, as to the adequacy of pensions, no recommendation is made to increase pensions to veterans of the Maori War. The South African veterans now number about 4,000. The commission does not recommend the request of the South African Veterans’ Association lEat the service pension of £SO a year be paid to all such veterans, irrespective of health or financial standing, and purely as a reward for services in South Africa, or a similar Pension to all such veterans on attaining the age of 65 years; but it does recommend the reduction of the *** from 55 to 60 years for the eligibility of the old-age pension in the case of such veterans. COMMISSION REPORTS ON PENSION SYSTEM The Commission, reporting on the Pension system, states that the evidence is that in the course of time, and after dealing with hundreds and thousands of applications, the procedure tends to become a codification of set rules and to be governed rather a spirit of the schedule of disabilities than by the exercise of an indiv 'dual discretion applied to individual cases. "In our opinion the inherent weakfess of the system may be said to be -hat since the work of the Repatriation beparrment ceased there has been no attempt to link up rehabilitation with the payment of the economic pension. t“ e factors on which eligibility for the pension are based are the economic factors of employment earnings and other income; but the operation cf these factors in individual lives has “hen left to the untrained, unguided and haphazard methods of the pensioners themselves, with the possible exception of the benefit of registration as unemployed at Labour Department bureaux. "In the report of the Commission °n which the Economic Pensions Act was enacted, the following appears; kvery effort should be made to procure work for these men in their own nterests and in the interests of the state.’ This portion of the recommendation has apparently been lost ight of, and as we have attempted to ts u a k°ve, that would seem to be he baste cause of most of the weak- » and causes of dissatisfaction 'TvSght under our notice. The remedy

is, in our opinion, to link up the State’s duty in the matter of the pension with the State’s duty in the matter of rehabilitation, including assistance in the matter of finding employment. MEN WANT WORK RATHER THAN DOLE “The medical witnesses said with great unanimity that the class of men we are considering would be better off physically and mentally if they had work; that if the State could find them work, and take away the fear of unemployment, many who other wise would want the economic pension all their lives will soon become self-sup-porting. Many men appeared before us as typical cases, and assured us that what they wanted was not the pension but work, while officials of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, various patriotic societies, and one-time rehabilitation officers all assured us that among the very large body of men there was a strong desire to know the security of life and the self-respect that can be associated only with steady work, and they assured us that the men would welcome any scheme that would give them not a “dole” but work. “We are convinced that this is a correct statement of the case of very many of these men, and our suggested remedy is that the assessing of the economic disability of the men, and the granting of the pension, should bo linked up, firstly in policy and secondly by actual organisation, with the duty of training men for work and finding work for them. WORK OF SUGGESTED LEAGUE INDICATED “We recommend in another part of our report, as our major recommendaation, the formation of a Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment League, and we recommend that the administration of the economic pensions scheme bo worked in conjunction with this league. This league, with its branches In every centre, will know the men who are the subjects of the present problem, and will have employment and rehabilitation officers in touch with them, and with the executive of the league. As to those men in the class of 50 per cent, disability or over, the league’s officers, with full knowledge of individual men, will report: ‘These men are unemployable. They are quite unable to support themselves. We recommend them for the full economic pension.’ “As to the others, their cases as potential pensioners will be considered by the league in connection with its efforts to find work. The league’s committees will have knowledge of all these men. They will know their capabilities. They will know the work they are fitted for, and the work they are doing. They will therefore be able not only to take into account the economic factors in the lives of these men, but largely to govern and control these factors, and their poliey will be to reduce the need for pension by increasing the economic and earning factors in each man’s life. We recommend that as a general principle, the finding and recommendation of an appropriate committee of the league should fix a man’s right to the economic pension.” With regard to what it terms its major recommendation, the commission adds: “Briefly, we advocate the. formation of a new body, to have and to undertake as its function the creation, organisation, development and administration of all branches of activity and all schemes designed for the rehabilitation and betterment of ex-service men in this Dominion as far as possible, and consistent with necessary elasticity to meet local conditions, and thirdly, the creation of a body that can negotiate promptly and authoritatively with the Government, local bodies and private employers in the interests of returned soldiers. BRANCHES WANTED BY ALL LARG” CENTRES “Our idea is that this central body at its headquarters should have an executive that cau watch, deal with, secure and promote all matters of principle or policy affecting the interests of returned soldiers; that it should be capable, where necessary, of negotiating with the Government of the day. with local bodies and other corporations; that it should promote and watch the promotion and passing of legislation, and discuss and advise du the policies adopted for the carry, ing out of the legislation and the policies and methods for social, industrial, economic, health and the general welfare of returned soldiers. We suggest that this body should have departments or committees, each designed to take in hand some specified part of the whole work of the body that branches of this body should exist in all large centres of population, where branches will themselves function to carry out the objects and aims of the body, and also have power to co-operate with, and if necessary affiliate with suborganisations where it seems desirable to work in that fashion. “We suggest also that this body should, in addition its foregoing activities, be in appropriate cases thi employer and trainer of men, the negotiator of contracts for employ-

SOLDIERS’ COMMISSION PRESENTS REPORT

Blent with other employers; that it should engage and control the employment and assist in the establishment of policies for Vie settling of returned soldiers on the land, and in the carrying out of those policies. We think it desirable that for this purpose it should co-opt on its various committees State officers from the Departments concerned. We suggest that it should deal in principle, and to some extent in administration, with the applications for and the granting of pensions, and for this purpose should have power to co-opt officers of the Pensions Department on appropriate committees. We think that it should eventually control all <he funds available for the alleviation of the conditions of ex-service men. The commission also recoipmended that grants of economic pensions to mental patients should be left to the discretion of the league. “As to the life of the funds available to meet necessitous cases, nothing definite can be stated. All that can be said is that some similar funds have been exhausted, some are approaching exhaustion, and few of them are expected to last more than ten years. The length of time that will elapse before tbe money of the War Funds Council is exhausted will depend on the extent of the calls made on it by other bodies as their funds become exhausted. The present policy of the Canteen Fund trustees is to reserve their funds, to stand behind the War Funds Council as a final source of supply. Question —To inquire and report upon generally the means by which the remaining capacity of such persons as aforesaid can best be utilised, so as to enable them in whole or iu part to maintain themselves and their dependants, and the advisability or otherwise of adopting any particular means which .May be proposed to or by you for that purpose. "No effective answer," says the commission, "can be given to this question, even in general terms, without first making an occupational classification of the persons affected.” Under this heading, the commission discusses “Special Farming Schemes,” “Unskilled Labour,” “Artisans and Skilled. Tradesmen,” “Messengers, Porters, Liftmen,” "Under-rate Workers,” find suggests that such cases should be left to the discretion of the afore-mentioned League. Question four was to inquire into and report in relation to cases where no means are likely to enable such persons to be able, by their own efforts, partially or wholly to maintain themselves and their dependants, and the best means of affording assistance to Them. The commission finds that the cases xall into two classes. The first com prises pensioners under our own pensions Act, and the Commission considers that provision for those totally disabled is adequate. As to pensioners whose total disability is not entirely due to war service, the commission thinks some anomalies may he cleared away, and for extra sustenauce they should look to the war funds. As to the second class, who are non-pensioners, rhey fall into two subdivisions —tbose •whose total inability to maintain themselves is not attributable to war service, and those whose inability is due to infirmities of old age. The commission considers the first, subdi- \ ision must also look to the war funds. As to the second subdivision, the recommendation is that the League should apply the provisions of the Rest Houses Act, 1929. Question No. 5 was: The classes of persons who should come within the scope of the recommendations, and ihe principles governing such classification. The answer is: "Our recommendations may be briefly summarised as i hose relating to pensions, cottage homes, veterans’ homes, settlement on land, settlement in business (includng in'each of these cases advances for establishment in the undertaking!, special vocational training, and provisions and assistance by employment officers. The commission does not consider that ex-imperial soldiers should come under the war pension provisions, on the ground that each part of the Empire must look after its own. It makes exception. however, iu favour of New Zealanders compelled by circumstances to enlist under conditions which technically exclude them from the New Zealand pension statutes, and quotes several cases of hardship. The commission also considers that all exservicemen from any part of the Empire who are now settled in the Dominion should be entitled to the advantages of the provision for settlement of the land or in business, if fhey can give a sufficient assurance to the League that they have a reasonable chance of succeeding. Question C merely referred to the legislation that may be necessary.

“A BIG HELP”

OLD R.S.A. REQUESTS RECOMMENDED WORK FOR DISABLED MEN ‘‘The recommendations put forward by the Ex-Soldiers’ Rehabilitation Commission are mostly in support of requests that we have been battling for for years,” said Mr. A. C. A. Sexton, a vice-presi-dent of the Returned Soldiers’ Association. “If the recommendations are accepted it will be a big help along,” he said. He stated that the work of the commission could be divided into two classes. It was concerned with the finding of relief and also of seeking new avenues of employment, particularly lor the partially disabled men. The commission heard a lot of evidence and went about i:s work in a very thorough manner, hfe remarked. In Air. Sexton’s opinion one of the most practicable suggestions put forward was that advocating the formation of a corps of corn missionaries. Suitable men would be enrolled and an effort would be made to secure work suitable for them such as liftmen, watchmen and messengers, etc. The possibilities of the scheme had been gone into in Auckland and it was thought that with proper support from the Government departments it could be successfully worked. A scheme on somewhat similar lines was being successfully worked in England. SUPPLEMENTING PENSIONS In regard to other avenues of employment Air. Sexton thought that I there were still a number of men I about who could be successfully placed I on from five to ten-acre blocks with ■ a view to them supplementing their n pensions, by keeping a few cows. The H men, of course, would have to be care-

fully selected, but he personally knew of quite a number whom,he was quite sure would fit in well with such a scheme. Air. Sexton said that when the Government granted an economic pension it was understood that it would also try and provide the recipients with some work. It did not matter how light it was, the main thing being to provide the men with some occupation, and thus keep their minds employed. The commission realised from the evidence it had heard that it was not a good thing to give a man a pension and then let him drift. It was found that disabled men kept in better health when lightly employed. He was also pleased to see a •recommendation to reduce the age for eligibility for the old-age pension among South African War veterans. Personally he was of the opinion that they should ho placed on tlio same basis as the ex-servicemen of the last wa r. Si** George Richardson, who has t.;ken a prominent part in rehabilitation questions, was principally interested in that section of the commission s work dealing with employment. SPECIAL COMMITTEE “The idea put forward in Auckland was that a special committee of voluntary workers be set up to find avenues of employment and place men in work,” said Sir George to a Sun representative this morning. “We suggested that for the success of the scheme such a body should be officially recognised and be given authority to approach heads of Government Departments direct. It was essential also that the Government should give all assistance possible in regard to finding employment for men. We realised that we could not approach commercial firms or private individuals if the Government departments were not doing their bit.” Such a body, he said, would be the agents between the men and the employers, and he was quite sure would Ci ° a great deal toward helping the Government to solve the problem. “A number of us in Auckland have gone into the question, and we feel quite sure that in such a work we would have the full support of the business community.”