RIGHTS OF RETURNED SOLDIERS.

Taihape Daily Times, 12 September 1919, Page 4

RIGHTS OF RETURNED SOLDIERS.

The temper of Returned Soldiers respecting the gratuity question, as exemplified at a meeting in Wellington this i week, at which over one thousand returned men were present, is an indication that soldiers, while they were a power iat the front deciding the issues of war, they are now going to be a power at homo in deciding the issues of politics. It cannot he said by anyone ( that soldiers have had any surplus generosity showered upon them) by the State. The determination to dispose of the men who fought at the very cheapest and ftastiest price to the country has been, and is so thinly veiled that it does not block the vision of even the political purblind. The Governments proposal, in so far as it has been made known, and is understood by the soldiers, is to give the men a sum equal to £1 per month for a period of two years, equalling a total of twenty-four pounds for . the full twd years’ service. But the soldiers have their own way of calculating what they should be entitled to receive. They say the Governmnt’s offer is unfair and unjust, an-insult. to the men who fought, and a disgrace .and scandal to the Dominion. They'say that the I offer proves that the Government is in- ( different to what' soldiers have done for ' their country, and now that they are finished with them; they hre being thrown into the gutter like "sucked oranges.” It was pointed out at the meeting that while soldiers were fighting abroad speculators at home were making fortunes; enormous profits had been made by profiteering in land; that the total increased wealth in New Zealand during the war was from 150 to 200 millions. They urge that as they had won the war, and as they represent eight per cent of the total population, they were entitled to ouc-cighth of the total additional wealth,. the amount that has 'accrued as a result of war. The meeting left no doubt in anybody’s mind about the serious nature of the determination of the thousand men present thereat. A large majority were for going to Parliament and "bombing Ministes out of their dug-outs.” It is the opinion of the soldiers that every class in the community, except soldiers and their dependants, had benefitted from the war. The Government* had permitted shameless profiteering, people had taken advantage of the country’s position to make money out of it, and now that the soldiers had returned they were entitled to be dealt with liberally, and that their just claims should be insisted upon. It is, indeed, difficult to sec how the claims of the men can be refused; they undoubtedly have justice on their side. We know of men who were practically ruined by being called into camp, and who never left New Zealand, how much worse must it be for the soldier who spent years "in the trenches. The dependents of many of these men have actually wanted for life necessaries, while those necessaries were soaring away beyond their powers to purchase them. The meeting, however, resolved to march to Parliament to demand fair play, and the next day ever one thousand men marched from their club-house, with bands playing and followed by a great crowd of civilians, to Parliament Buildings, where they were met by the leaders - of the three parties in the House and many Members. The boisterousness of fife throng was such that the spokesmen were invited into the. Cabinet-room, where the men’s case was tersely put. The Prime Minister promised satisfaction to community and soldiers, but to Soldiers in particular. Sir Joseph Ward said the monstrous inflations in land values were dangerous, and if soldiers when they came back were unable to get land, that constituted the very besf way of sowing seeds of revolution. Mr Holland said the Labour Faulty would ‘stand for fulfilling every obligation to Returned Soldiers. It whs evident frjfrni the temper of the crowd that a serious breach of the peace was narrowly averted, smashing of windows did actu-

ally commence. The lesson to bo learned from the meeting and the deputation is that justice in administration of laws can no longer be trifled with by any form - of class rule; that laws will not be tolerated that impoverish one class or section while they permit unlimited extortion to others. It is unthinkable that' a righteously-minded people should desire to fatten upon the land and the people while ten per cent of the population, and that the very flower of the manohod of The country, is away fightfor the very right to exist as a free people. No doubt the Government has now recognised the necessity for treating soldiers with common decency.