WAR GRATUITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1919, Page 5

WAR GRATUITIES.

PROGRESS OF PAYMENT. Wellington, Last Night. Good progress is being made in the payment of the war gratuities to members of the Expeditionary Force, the position at the end of last week being Japanese diplomacy with China will be pletely dealt with, involving an expenditure of £'850,030. Nearly half of the applications received, to data have gone to the ledger department of the pay office for making the necessary entries in the soldier's account, and the special Btaff engaged in dealing with Ilie original applications is working so well that during one day last week. 1,138 claims wore put through representing a distribution of £71,000. The average number disposed of daily is about 760. The whole matter is regarded as urgent, and for that reason overtime is being steadily worked in this section of the office. Some soldiers wlio have received their acknowledgment of the claim are puzzled because they hear of others whose acknowledgments bear a later number obtaining an earlier deposit to their credit. Though the claims are approved in order of receipt, the subsequent process in the ledger department cannot always keep no the same pace, as the different clerks have varying numbers of accounts to adjust. If there is any necessity for correspondence after receipt of the acknowledgment of a claim, the soldier is advised to mention the serial number, as this will enable the claim to be ijngii without dgJij;. v