SOLDIERS’ DEPENDANTS.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 October 1919, Page 5

SOLDIERS’ DEPENDANTS.

ALLOWANCE APPLICATIONS

RE—OPEN ED.

WELLINGTON. This Day.

_ The great public interest taken in‘ the amount of the war gratuities hasi Scmewhat obsc.ured important proposals which were made at the same time by the Minister of Defence in regard‘ to allowances to widowed mothers and other dependants of warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men (except wives and children) who have‘ not previously applied for or received an allowance. Many cases have come to the notice of the Defence Department where depndants, ithr through ignorance of their privileges, 01‘ through changed circumstances, have suffered -hardship through the absence of an allowance The classes of dependants named above are now beiiigi given the opportunity of applying for“ an allowance to the Oflicer in Charge of War Expenses, Wellington. Another important. provision recently made by the Minister of Defence is set ! out officially in the following t.erms:——l Applicants who have already received I the allowance should be increased if ficient to remove hardship during military service, either :by reason of an inadequate amount or by being Paid‘ for a portion only of‘ the Period of! military service under limitations im-1 posed by previous orders, may applyl for their cases to "be reconsidered} ‘Applications under this head should! also be made to the Ofiicer—in-Charge: i-"i’)f War Expnses, Wellington (not to; :the Soldiers’ Financial Assistanceli lßoard, as has been erroneously sug-l igested by some correspondents to the? ‘newspapers-). The Pay Branch will in-‘J Kvestigate the ease, and decide whether ‘ {til allowance should be increased ifi one has been given in the past, whe-I thcr its currency should be extended,; or ‘(in the case of new applications)’: whether hardship has been suffered‘ [which should be relieved by the payment of an allowance. Payments will lbe made by the Oflicer-in-Charge War .EXpenses within periods of service from the beginning of the war. The rate available for issue will be governed bythe extent of the pre-enlist-ment support of the soldier less any I-allotment of pay made by him to or the dependant, with a maximum of 3/ per ’day for each dependant, and less any payments already made under previous iauthorities. Pre~enlistmen-t support ‘will not be insisted upon in cases ,wherc circumstances have changed lsince the soldier-’s enlistement by reason of which the soldier became relsponsible for the full or partial mainitenance of a widowed mother or other ‘dependants. Each case will be considered on its merits and in the great ‘majority of instances it is not anticiipated that there will be any great diflficulty in deciding the claim for retrospective allowance. Where the circumstances necessitate, the Pay Branch will be able to secure the advice of the members of the Soldiers’ Financial Board, which has had so much experience in the task of deciding the question of whether the soldiers’ pay and allowances have been sufiicient or otherwise to enable him to carry -his civil obligations without financial hardship..So much confusion seems to exist in the minds of soldiers and their de.pendants regarding the authority to which they should apply to obtain the benefit of the recently aannounced concessions that it is advisable to indicate specifically where the different classes of applications ishould he sent_ Applications for reitrospective allowances (whether for lwife’s, childrenfs, widowe dmother’s, or ‘other dependants, and difference be;tween Territorial and Expeditionary iForce pay must be made by letter to ‘the Oflicer-in-Charge of War Expenses, Wellington. Pension applications must be made on the form obtainable at any Registrar of Pensions, and sent to that Department. ‘Applications for payment of extra loading on life insurance premiums, due -to war service, mustibe made by letter ad‘dressed: “The Secretary, Soldiers’ Fiinancial Assistance Board, Wellingitem.” In the case of New Zealand lsoldicrs new resident in Australia, remittances will be sent through -the New izealand resident agents in either Sydlney or Melbourne. .