REPATRIATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1918, Page 5

REPATRIATION.

! GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS. GRATUITY ACCORDING TO SERVICE. BOARDS SET UP, By Telegraph.—Press Associatioa. Wellington, Laßt Night. In tlie House to-i^'t. Sir' James Allen, in moving tli- I reading at the Repatriation Bill. .mo time had now arrived when they would have to deal with the returning men, Up to the present they had dealt with 20,000 returned soldiers, but shortly they must be prepared to handle another 5(5)008, Every effort was being made to fit the men coming back for new forms of civil life. This waa being done .to some extent in England, and would be continued on board the transports on the way out, So far as possible tlio men would be returned to the same or similar employment to that in which they had previously been engaged, and the fit men will tyo discharged as noon as possible after arrival in the Dominion. To enable this to be done, in addition to the proposals in the Bill, another Bill would be introduced to morrow, providing a gratuity according to the length of service. then went through the clauses of the Bill, explaining the provisions as foli lows:

A SEPARATE BOARD. The establishment ol a repatriation department, to be administered by ft »• '> patriation board of Ministers appointed fey the Governor-General. The Milliltera " who will act for the present will Messrs. Massey, Macdonald, Hanan and . Guthrie. This board will appoint a di* rector of repatriation and other offioett. For the purpose of any desirable etacentralisation of work, the board may ' establish district or local boards and committees, of which the memj>en m*]r be paid allowances. The repatriation board will make pto* '> vision for the restoration of discharged Boidit'is to civil' life and civil employment, or the occupation board! may egtabi'sh and cany on schemes orjpstitu- > tiaiis for educational, industrial and to*. catknal training of discharged soldier*, and for the care and maintenance of those who, by reason of wound* or disease incurred in military service, axe wholly or partially disabled. The board may also grant financial assistance to ■ discharged soldiers, by way of loans, M-' . cured or unsecured, not exceeding in any t case £230, for the purpose of enablisg - them to establish themselves in civil employment or occupation. The Governor-General-in-Courteil may make regulations with respect to (a) cto-i troi and management of the institutions established by the board, and the discipline of discharged soldiers receiving assistance or relief in or from such institution; (b) the grant of financial a»sistance to discharged 'soldiers in accordance with this Act; (c) the organisation and regulation of the repatriation department. STRENGTHENING MORAL FIBRE. Unfortunately, there are certain to be a number of men who are suffering from moral weakness, and he did not think; they should take it for granted that it was not possible to restore these men to self-respect. Clause 16 was designed to effect this object. The clause was as follows: "If, on a complaint laid under the Justices of the Peßce Act, 1908, before a stipendiary magistrate, by the director of repatriation, or by any other person thereunto authorised the magistrate is satisfied that the soldier who whether before or after the passing of the Act has been discharged from an expeditionary force beyond seas or in a camp of im'ilavy training in New Zealand ia by reason of habitual drunkenness, idleness or misconduct unfit for immediate and effective restoration to civil life, employment or occupation, and that for the protection of that soldier or otherwise in his interest it is advisable to cancel his discharge the magistrate may by order at any time before the disbanding of the Expeditionary Force can so! the discharge of that soldier who shall thereupon again become a member of that force as if he had never been discharged therefrom and as i£ he had been originally called up for servite under the Military Service Act 1919," Unless expressly provided, the provisions of the Bill will not affect the operation of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act, 1910, and its amendments. Section 18 provides that: "In addition to the persons referred to in section 2 of the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act 1(115 the following persons shall be ... deemed to be discharged soldiers withfca the meaning and for the purposes of that Act, namely, all discharged members, of an expeditionary force who having been classed as medically fit (whether, absolutely or contingently) for service beyond seas have served as members Of that force in a camp of military triatting and remained attached to that camp on November 12, IQIS, the date of the cessation of hostilities with Germany," Concluding, the Minister said that pa money or time should be, or would be,. 1 spared to make it a success. THE DISCUSSION. Mr. Hornsby said the Bill appeared to be a very good one, hut, like many other Biile, its success depended almost entirely on the men who were charged with its administration. In his optfiion there was too much officialdom in the Bill. The director of repatriation should at least bo a civilian. Mr. Vigor Brown asked the Minister to tell the House whether motor patrol men and South African veterans would participate in the benefits of the Bill) Mr. Downie gtewart Baid the measure was extremely belated, for after fdur years of war for the first time we "were getting a comprehensive measure for the • return of soldiers to civil life. Ho criticised the board of four Ministers, the result of which would simply mean that ' one Minister would shunt applicants on to anoSier. He fawred one Minister, wholly responsible for the administration of the department. Most, however, would depend on the personality of the director of repatriation. He favored such a man as General Richardson, who '■ was > one pf the discoveries of the war, and who had done more in England to get our soldiers back into civil life than h£3. been done in New Zealand. He dealt largely with the Australian scheme,, which, he pointed out, was being liberally financed. He hoped we would not' stint our scheme from a financial point of view. The debate on the Repatriation Bill was carried on by Messrs. Buddo, Witty, Hudson, Jennings, Anderson, Anstey, Statham, Field (Nelson), Field (Ot&fci) ' and Talbot, '(Left sitting.)