THE SECOND DIVISION.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1917, Page 5

THE SECOND DIVISION.

PENSIONS AND ALLOWANCES B'LL. PROVISIONS EXPLAINED. CONSIDERABLE DISCRETIONARY ■ 'POWERS. ENLARGED DEFINITION Of , . "DEPENDENTS." ' ■' 1 !_• l/: '' ■ " ' NO EXTRA I'AY FOR OFFICERS AND ■< ■• ; ' ■■ I By Telegraph—Press Association. . Wellington, Last Night. Sir J. Allen moved in tho House tonight the second reading of the 'War Pensions Amendment Bill. He slid that some revision of the pensions fixtjd in the original act was necessary, because of the fact that the Second i)iyisiun was about to bo called up. He was not abt» to say when the first class of ftus division would be called up, but it would possibly be in January* He hoped the war would end oefore" it was r.cessary to call up the second class. Tne bill may not please everyone, but he h'.ped the scale of pay was such as would not require to be reduced hereafter, At the tame time, any pension scheme would be unsound if it did not encourage the pensioner to increase his income oy his own exertions. To do this, special treatment of medical science may nive to be applied, and these two principles *-ere recognised in the bill, such treatment to be free, but if a man would not consent to undergo the treatment there wat power (which would be used only in extreme c.iscs) to reduce the pension bv fifty per cent. A fund was placed at the disposal of the Minister in charge of discharged soldiers to assist men to the extent of £1 a week while being trained m a Government institution, and when it. was found that the man had been mad* as fit ;'•< it was possible to make him. his pension could be made permanent, and after that it would not be reduced because of any increased earning power on the part of the pensioner. The most important part of the bill was, no doubt, the schedules, which set out the rate of pensions to be made. A private and . lis wife may receive a pension of £3 nor week, and may receive an additional £1 cn account of pre-war earnings. We are observing a different principle to that adopted ip Britain and Caeada.- and he thought it was better than theirs. Tim proposals in the bill were also, in some respects, better than the suggestions made by the Second Division 'Lvagnc. In adjusting the pensions on the basis' of pre-war earnings, he pointed o;,t they had not been able to bring the pension up to the level of a man in the middle class of life earning three or fonv hundred a year, but they had considerably Increased the pension rate for the »vorking man who wa3 not earning very much. To facilitate this adjustment considerable discretionary powers were given to the War Pensions Board. He proceeded to quote specific instancss of pen* sioners, with a view to showing that ; n many cases pensioners would 1)3 receiving more under the bill than they were earning prior to the war, which, be claimcd, was not ungenproiis. 'lhe discretionary power of the War Pensions Board was considerably enlarged by the amendment of section 3 of the principal Act. The definition of the term "dependents-' had also been widened, and in this respeet we are giving a lead to ths world, except, perhaps, to Britain. A provision had been made, which >o far as he knew, was quite new. In the case of a man who is disabled, comes back and marries within two years of his discharge, a pension is provided for liii> wife, and a widowed mother who ,s partially dependent upon her son was nn-.v provided for, "lie receiving half the pension paid to the wife.

The bill will come into operation on January 1, 1!) IS, nnd when it docs comeinto operation there will be no distinction between beneficiaries of the First and Second Divisions, but all vill be placed on the same plane. _ The Minister next proceeded to outline the financial obligations imposed by the bill, and then stated it was not intended to increase the pay of officers ur men, but a considerable alteration would be made in connection with the allowances to the wives and children. ' ■ With a view to removing the anomalies now existing, it was aiso proposed to raise the amount which could be given by way of financial assistance by the board from £2 per week to £'3 per' work for rent, insurance, etc., whLlt meant .that a single soldier could secure villi his pay fliia per week, Soldiers, -ilh children, of course, increased proportionately, He compared the soldiers' pay and allowances under the bill with ihe average earnings in the public service, and of employees of local bodies, contending that, the results showed that the proposals of the Government were distinctly generous, adding, as they did. over a million of money to the responsibilities of the country.

THE DISCUSSION. Mr. Wilford said there w;ro somo clauses in the bill which were a credit to the Government, but it had its weak places, particularly with regnid to ,\llotments. He, however, wished to li.ako it clear that no private member had the right to move nn increase in any amount payable to soldiers and if no in<-re<tsc3 were moved, that was the reason. He contended that no married man should leave his wife with less than two guineas a week, but this bill did not provid; for that payment, except at the expense of the husband, who had to leave h"r 5s a day in order to make up that sum, He asked that the moment a sol-Jier was sent, into camp all legislation in favor of the soldier should be called in to his benoflt, whether he had reached the f:ont or not. In like manner the Government should consider whether the tinu had not arrived when free medical tiealaicnt should be extended to soldiers' dependents. COLLAPSE OF DEBATE.

On the House resuming after the'cupper adjournment, the debate en'ia|sed, and the second reading was carried on the voices.

THE THREE MONTHS' INTERVAL. BETWEEN / EXAMINATION AND ■' CAMP. STATEMENT BY PREMIER. By Wire. —Our Parliamentary Reporter. Wellington, Last Night. Before the House rose to-niglit, the Prime Minister made reference to the request of the Second Division League that married recruits should have three months' grace between the medical examination and mobilisation, in order that might settle their affAiri after they