WAR PENSIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 October 1917, Page 5

WAR PENSIONS.

ALTERNATIVE PENSIONS CLAUSE. A VIGOROUS DISCUSSION. CLAUSE A RETAINED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night, The House went into committee tonight to consider the War Pensions Amendment Hill. The Minister explained it was not intended to make any alteration in clause 1 [Clause 4 provides that "If in any case the Pensions Board is satisfied that the amount receivable, in the aggregate, by a member of the forces by way of pension, in respect of his total or partial disablement, together with the amount receivable

by way of pension in respect of

such disablement, together with the amount receivable by his wife and children (if any), or by any other person wholly dependent on him and living with him, and the average amount (if any) which, in the opinion of the board, the member is capable of earning, is not sufficient to enable the member to maintain him'elf and his dependents in accordance with the standard of comfort to which they were accustomed before the war, the board may increase (he rate of pension payable to the member by an amount not exceeding one pound a week: Provided that in any case in which tide this section is applied the total amount payable by way of pension to all persona in respect of the disablement of the member shall not c.xecc.l live pounds a week."] In clause 7, sub-section 2, it was proposer! to substitute .fl for 10s. The I'lovernment fell, that the increase was sufficient, and was beydnd what the Second -Division asked for. This provision, he thought, was ample, am] beyond that the (lovernment could not go. [Clause 7 provides that the pension may be temporarily increased by Ills to allow a partially-disabled member to undergo medical treatment.] In clause 1<» it was proposed to increase the pension to a widow from 10s |(o Ms a week, It also raised the maxijnuim rate from £3 to £4. ! [Ch'.nee 10 provides that "If in any ease tiie hoard is satisiied that tn'e total amount receivable by way of pension by the widow of a member of the forces, and by her children (if any), in respect of the death of that member, is not sufficient to enable the widow to maintain herself and her tfiildrc-n in accordance with the standard of comfort to which they were jftcustomed before the war, the board may increase the rate of pension payable to the widow by an amount not exceeding 10s per week, but so that the total amount payable by way of pension to the widow and children in any case to which this section is applied shall not exceed three .pounds a week."]

Two new clauses were proposed; 10a provided the pension as of right at the maximum rate to a widow and children in the case of tho death of a member of tho forces.

Clause IS provided that the board might grant a pension to the guardian of motherless children.

Consideration of the Bill commenced ai, clause 4. . ,

The discission generally" tended in the direction of increasing the amount of £1 a week allowed under the elause to £2 a week, on the ground that a man who worked with his bauds might be totally disabled by the loss of two fingers, and if so, he would he , unable to live on £1 a week.

Tho Minister replied that the cure was not to increase the amount of the pension, but to train the man for another occupation, and that was why the Minister in charge of returned soldiers had funds' placed at his disposal for that purpose. At the request of the House he put a third schedule in tho Bill, in which injuries were defined. He did not altogether agree with the practice of delining injuries, because it limited the board to what was in the schedule, and elasticity was destroyed. The only advantage of the schedule was that a soldier knew he could not. get less than was specified in the schedule. To'show his bona fides lie was willing to submit to Cabinet a proposal that a new elause should be added to the Hill giving the board tho widest discretionary powers to deal with special injuries on their merits, provided nothing was done to discourage an injured soldier from having another occupation. To do as he suggested, he would ask Cabinet to agree to have clause 3 (which had been passed) amended, so that the board could not give loss than was specified in the schedule, but might give more. He thought that Cabinet would agree to this. Discussion was continued on the basis that the additional pension should be increased to £2 a week, and to test the feeling of the House Mr. Wilford moved that £1 be struck out of tho Bill, as an indication that £2 should be inserted.

Tho Minister contended t,hat the ameiHlirie.il would not help the man whose pre-war earnings were low. All that it did was to raise the standard, and it would benefit the highly .paid man more than the poor one, Mr. Hindnmrsh declared that Mr. Wilfonl'a proposal was undemocratic, as it created ft differentiation between the classes of society. Pensions should be the same to all men who were forced to face equal dansrers, irrespective of their social standard before going to the war.

Mr. I'ayne said the position which the House had to consider was: Should not a man be placed in the same position after hj& came back from the war as he wa« ia before he went to the. war? Mr. Vilford's amendment aimed at ,that, and was, lie thought, based on justice, though it might not harmonise with certain ideas of democracy. Sir James Allen said he had no wish tu jeopardise the concession ha had alreadj made, but he was afraid that if

mewfuers infii%terl on carrying matters too far, tho / Government might not bo ablo to give effect to cither. Ho still insisted that Mr. "Wilford's amendment would not help the poorer man, seeing the provision in the clause was based on pre-war earnings. At 11.30 p.m. a division was tak*n on Mr. Wilford's amendment, which was lout by 33 to 30. The clause was passed,unamended In clause 7 the amendment proposed by the Minister was agreed to on the voices. At clause 8, Mr. Poland urged that a definite time should bo fixed in which a permanent pension should be granted. The Minister replied that it was not possible in' the interests of the efficient adminffitration of the Act. Drs, Newman and Thacker contended that once a man had been passed by the final medical board there should be no furthoi questioning his having contracted any disease or weakness prior to enlistment, and that fact should not be used as a means to reduce his pension. ' The clause was passed. In clause 10 the amendments moved fc» the Minister were agreed to. In clause 15, the Minister moved itn amendment making it not optional, hut obligatory, on the board to grant a, pension if death or disablement of & soldier is not due to his serious negligence or misconduct after becoming n, roomier of the forces. The amendment was .igreed to, the Minister promising to look further into the special cases mentioned during the discussion. [ On clause Ifi, Mr. Wilford moved that two soldiers be added to the, Pensions Board. Mr. Massey said that was going too far. The (iovernment' was willing tpj add one soldier. The House roso at 1.3 a.m.