WAR PENSIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1915, Page 3

WAR PENSIONS.

WORK OF THE BOARD. (From Our Own Correspondent.)' * Wellington, Nov. 22. , The outspoken criticism to which the War Pensiqns Board was subjected at last week's conference of patriotic societies is likely to have good effect. The question is one of administration rather than of legislation as far as it effects the majority of cases, the powers given the Board under the Act being wide, and there is reason to believe that the Ministers have taken action already with the object of ensuring that the law shall be interpreted in a liberal spirit. The ease o.f the parents of the late Captain Frandi, for example, is to be reviewed by the Board. This was the case where a mother aged 75 years and a father aged 83 years, both in receipt of the old age pensions, were refused the pension on the ground that a married sister ought to be able to contribute something towards their support now that their only son had died in Gallipoli. It may be mentioned in justice to the Board that it lias had to be on its guard against applications from persons whj. under the Act. had no right to the pension at all. , There was the ease of a widow who applied for the pension though possessed of very ample private means. The Pensions Act clearly debarred her from receiving anything at all. But applications of this kind are few in number, and the indications are that the Board will try in future to err oil the side of generosity when it must err at all.

The Pensions Board cannot go outside the Act, of course, and some of the members of the House of Representatives would like to see a special session called to make certain amendments in the law. They admit frankly that they did not understand the working of the scheme clearly when it was before Parliament 1 during the recent session. A Wellington member is circularising his brother members throughout the Dominion with a view to securing their views on the point. Among the reforms that are suggested is the removal of the maxima from the schedules, so that a disabled soldier or a widow will receive the allowance of 5s per week for every child regardless of any sum that the widow may have received from her husband's life insurance policy; and the liberalising of the regulations at several points. It may be said fairly confidently that no special session of Parliament will be called, at any rate for the consideration of war pensions. If there should be a special session before the usual time next year the reason almost certainly will be found in the recruiting questjbn.

EAftLY SITTING OF PARLIAMENT URGED. A Press Association telegram last night says: Mr. R. Fletcher, M.P, for Wellington Central, is circularising members of Parliament to urge the Government to convene a specially early session in order to amend the Soldiers' Pensions Act, so that widows and orphans may receive full pensions, irrespective of private means, and generally to make the benefits of the pension scheme full and clear as possible, thus making a recurrence of cases of hardship such as have already occurred quite impossible.