SATURDAY, Daily News. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1918. REPATRIATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 December 1918, Page 4

SATURDAY, Daily News. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1918. REPATRIATION.

The Government proposals in connection with the repatriation oi ! our men in Europe are contained in the Bill brought down in the House on Wednesday evening. As one member observed, the succeso of the measure depends entirely upon the men charged r/ith its administration. The board proposed to be set up docs not inspire confidence and handicaps the scheme from the beginning. The board is to be composed of Ministers of the Crown, and the first members are to be Messrs Massey, MaeDonald. Hanan, and Guthrie. Now, the Premie is aboul to leave for Europe on a mission that may involve a stay of from six to eight months, the very time when the various proposals for repatriation must be thought out and set in motion. He will therefore prove a dummy. All the other Ministers declare tiiey are overworked heennse of the absence of the two leaders, and no doubt, t.liejv complaint is wellgrounded. They arc. stale from a lonJ. period of stressful work, they must continue at high pressure for some time to come, and therefore are finite unfitted for solving the difficult problems presented by Iho repatriation of the soldier;;. Temperamentally, 100. they are not all suitable for Iho duties they are undartakinp'. Tt i-t one of iho grave faults of the Coalition Cabinet that it will nover £0 outside in own ranks and take advai'taire of the talent that is only too ready to r.saist the country '* the present time.. It | ae,;.'. on theory ihni it ha- a

monopoly of the b <:)::;; of ike Dominion, when, as a matter of fact, most. of iir, member;-, h'.wo lo'st whatever dash tho.v hv a isurfoit of office. The po.-.ition :alls fo? initiative, rosoiivp" and wisdom. r.nd in nofhin.FC more than iu i'tu-.Hnl io repatriation, e problem which really should have heep. trickled a year afro. But this has shared the fate of other equally pressing inp ! tev.'.—it. has been .shelved. The one man in the Cabinet who could have bandied the question successfully b the Defence Minister, because he is in intimate touch with all matters affecting the soldiers, hut he. it is understood, declined nomination. A board, no matter how suitable it:-, members. is, after all, not. likely to achieve the same degree of nucccss as one .Minister could. Wo would have preferred such an nnpoinlment, with, say, a plenary hoard comprised of men outside the House. Tli' present hoard lias power to establish district or lone) hoards and committees, which will help i'< decentralising the work, and also to appoint, a director, of repatriation. Mr Downey Stewart siifrs'fsterl that General Richardson, who has been, doing such good work for the men in England and France, should bo given the appointment. ITe certainly lm rendered splendid service, and should proye- an excellent man for the position. Be-is n "ranker" having come to Zealand as a gunnery-instructor, aii.l has risen to his present high office through undoubted merit. 1 r.o board is empowered to make movinon for Ibe restoration of discharged soldiers to civil life and employment, and establish or .carry on schemes or institutions, for educational and industrial and. vocational training of soldiers and the care and maintenance of wholly or partially disabled men, whilst the board may also grant financial assistance by way of loans to soldier.-, wishing to establish themselves in civil 'employment. Provision is made for caring for men who are suffering from "moral weakness," power being given to call Ihem up for service'again, i.e., to put them under military discipline. How this will work out remains to be seen,J but it is clearly the duty of the State to help to the utmost of its bhility ' the 'unfortunate, men wliosoi'morals have been affected by the awful experiences they have plissed through. The Minister said uo money or time would he spared to make the scheme a success. That is a hopeful sign. The 'men are. deserving df all the help and the most sympathetic treatment (he country can give them. The pity is that Ihe foundations of the scheme were not more firmly laid. There is also a niggardly disregard of the claims of the married volunteers, who are entitled to have their pay and allowances made up to the new scale brought down Io meet, the needs of the Second Division men. There can be no question their claim is a. just one. ■• m<l the country is quite prepared io sanction whatever the amount involved,

especially now thai, the war is over and our liabilities are likely to be less than they were estimated to be a year ago, when the matter was first discussed by Parliament.