The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1917. PROVIDING FOR DEPENDENTS

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1917. PROVIDING FOR DEPENDENTS

It is scarcely edifying that the married men of New Zealand liable for military service should have to battle in the way they have of late been compelled to, in order to obtain simple justice for tho dependents they will shortly have to leave behind. Surely they and the crintry a, 5 a whole had a right to expect the Government to have realised its responsibilities in this vital matter, and made adequate provision for the wives .°nd children and put pensions on a proper footing. For months the Government ha 3 been playing with the question, or rather evading it, notwithstanding its importance to a considerable section of tho community, and it is not surprising 1 that the Second Division reservists have taken alarm, and combined and organised their forces, in order to exert measure upon Cabinet and Parliament, to do their duty in these vital matters. Everything in connection with the war has had to be wrung from an unwilling and apathetic Government. It will not act; it will do nothing of its own volition; it awaits a lead from the people, instead of giving that lead which in times of crisis one ex'pects from the men at the helm of a country. We need not iterate here the laches of the so-called National Government; they are only too well known; but the questions affecting the Second Division are so pressing and so important that the Government camioi any longer stay its hand. Last veek tho Prime Minister, with that delightful indefiniteness that has characterised his doings in recent times, said that if members are not satisfied with the Second Division proposals when they are brought down, they will be hard to please. Put the public doesn't want talk; it has had an abundance of that in the past from the Government. It wants action, and immediate action, so that the married men can know where they stand. Mr. Masscy hinted that the fresh expenditure that Cabinet had been considering involved £700,000 a year. This, in doubt, referred to the allowances t'> dependents of the members of the Sec-

ond Division, anil increased pensions. .4 simple sura in arithmetic shows that an extra £700,000 will in no wise meet the demands of tiic Second Division League. In the scale ot allowances the league asks for Gs a day fo, the wife and Is Od a d£fy for each \hikl. The Government apparently is going to offer 3s a day for the wife and about Is a day for the children. When it has done this there will he little left out of the £700,000 for additions to pensions or benefits to wounded soldiers. We are sure the public will not regard these proposals as in any way adequate. The public as a whole, we feel sure, desires that the fullest, and even the most generous, provision should bo made for the dependents of soldiers, and is prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to that end. Only by so doing can there bn any approximation to the equality of sacrifice that we hear so much about. In Wellington, in July, the Prime Minister stated to a deputation of the Second Division League: "If you go, I consider yomdependents will, for the time being, be the wards of the Slate, and that the State will do its duty to you.'' Now Mr. Masscy hints that the duty is to be discharged by providing an additions' £700,000 a year, only about half of what is necessary to place dependents and incapacitated soldiers beyond the reach of poverty. An extra million and a half a year whilst the war lasts is a heavy addition to our war expenditure, but if it were incurred for munitions, or anything else for carrying on and winning the war, would even the present Government hesitate to incur the liability? Not in the least. But when it comes to the treatment of human life, it is quite a different matter. Why, we have never been able to fathom, because men are the prime factors in the winning of the war. The Government must realise that those left behind m security must support the dependents ot the soldiers in reasonable comfort, and provide adequately for the maimed and disease-stricken. The country is quite willing to do its share, but the Government hesitates to legislate accordingly. It is hopelessly divided on every important subject, with the result that either notn. ing is done, or the line of least resistance is pursued. But time presses. The men of the Second Division will be required very shortly—next month they will bo called up—and the matter of allowances and pensions must be dealt with. The Cabinet held a round table conference with members of the 'louss last night, when, it is understood, the whole subject was reviewed, and it if to be hoped members took a broad view of the position, and gave a lead to the Cabinet, which months ago should, had it been equal to its responsibilities and alive to the necessities of (he occasion, boldly announced its intention of doing what is fail and reasonable by the soldiers and their dependents, and standing or falling by its actions.