SOLDIERS' FINANCIAL AID.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 March 1919, Page 7

SOLDIERS' FINANCIAL AID.

A PROGRESS REPORT. . . ■ Wellington, March 3. So far as new grants are concerned the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board has to deal with rapidly declining business, oulyi)2 new grants having been authorised during January. The Board veriiication section, however, had a rather busy month with the result that grants in no fewer than 972 cases were completed and approved, an annual expenditure of £19,694', which brings the gross annual liability in respect of 10,409 cases to £313,528. This large amount represents money which the State has granted as a free gift, without obligation to refund, to help the soldier in meeting obligations which he cannot cover unaided from his military pay and allowances.

A summary of the monthly grants illustrates the wide range of the assistance rendered to our soldiers and their dependents through this agency. There were 4287 separate warrants, representing an actual expenditure of £i 1,209, the items being as follows: Rent, £4765 14s lid; interest, £1952 17s Id; instalments. £134 12s 2d; rates, £394 lis 2d; life insurance, £323 5s sd; re-insurance, £172 5s Od; lodge fees, £39 15s sd; national provident fund, £44 8s 4d; confinement and surgical expenses, £337 5a sd; miscellaneous, £135 4s lid. The Board, in its monthly report, slates that it has had good reason to challenge the origin of certain charges published in a few newspapers;, chiefly in respect to non-payment of grants, and it suggests that before charges based on the statements of soldiers or dependents are published, care should be taken to make inquiry from the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Department, as experience of some of these criticisms which have been published showed that the charges were groundless. One applicant, for instance, stated that he had "stirred up the matter considerably by writing to the newspapers and putting his case before several political associations." His grievance, which related to non-payment of a fire insurance premium of 10s lOd per annum, was gone into, and the applicant then admitted that perhaps he had been a little ha«iy. As a set off nsrainst the criticisms the Board has in its possessions hundreds of letters of thanks which are very gratifying. This evidence comes from soldiers' wives, whe have been very appreciative and from the soldiers themselves. One, who had secured the help of th» Board in meeting his obligations upon entering camp, wrote in the course of a long letter of {hanks:—

"l can assure you that such treatment goes a long way towards giving one a stout heart to proceed to camp on time arid also to obev the lawful commands of his superior officers while serving his King and Country." There have been applications from returned soldiers for retrospective grants, the men stating that had they known of the existence of the Board, they would hn\e made an application earlier. The Board has had, to advise them that the Regulations make no provision for granting financial assistance after the dis- ! charge of the soldier. In replv to one i organisation which sent forward a request of this nature the Board stated that it was to he regretted that an application had not been lodged on behalf of the soldier, hut it was safe to assume that many men v;ere unmarried, and without dependents, and that in such cases it was doubtful if the Board would have authorised a grant in the first place, seeing that the regulations were designed to prevent undue hardship by reason of service with the Expeditionary Force, and for no other purpose. The Association was informed, however, that it was still open to undischarged members to make application for giants, which would be made as retrospective as possible, viz., for a period of three months prior to the date tf the application, provided the applicant was serving with the Expeditionary Force during the whole of the period-