H.—2B

8

The test under the section is a man's capacity to earn, not his actual earnings. The War Pensions Board has acted on this interpretation and governed its decisions accordingly. It is to be noted that the percentage of disability is fixed on a purely physical basis and has no relation to a man's occupation, the standard being the purely physical one of a man in normal health : e.g., a solicitor minus his right arm at the elbow is deemed to suffer 80 per cent, disablement, and an engineer with similar disability is also 80 per cent. It will be clear, therefore, that the assessment has no relation to a man's economic loss. The Board refers such men to the Repatriation Department, and it is common, knowledge what difficulties the latter Department has had in dealing with such cases. The position is further accentuated by the anomaly that if the Repatriation Department places a man in a job at, say, £l a week the War Pensions Board can then take this as what the man is capable of earning and grant a supplementary pension, which the unfortunate man without a job cannot get. The position of these men has been particularly stressed by the Returned Soldiers' Association and the Patriotic Societies, and merits the most sympathetic consideration. As the Repatriation Department is closing down at the end of the year, the whole care of these men should be brought under the War Pensions Board. We recommend that these cases be treated similarly to cases of total disablement in respect of economic pension in the discretion of the War Pensions Board, to the intent that while a disabled man of the class in question is unemployed through no fault of his own he should be entitled to the full benefit of the economic pension, and that the wife and children should also have the " compensation " pension as for total disablement of husband. Every effort should be made to procure work for these men, in their own interests and in the interests of the State ; but it must be recognized that with the best intent on all sides many of these men will be unemployed, and the question has to be faced, " Are they to be left a charge to charity or the Patriotic Societies ? " If the man refused employment or lost his employment through misconduct, it would be a proper exercise of the Board's discretion to refuse the|economic pension. (aaa.) Cases op Disablement 50 per Cent, and less. Many cases of this class are in the same position as the class we have last mentioned, and we can only recommend that they be dealt with in a somewhat similar way as regards economic pension and pension for wife and children. But, as the cases would vary infinitely, we suggest that a wide discretion be left to the Pensions Board. Principles on which this discretion is to be exercised might be laid down from time to time. Typical cases of this class would be a man who has lost four fingers of the right hand and a man. suffering from disease and assessed at 50 per cent. ; in the latter case particularly the man might be incapable of sustained work and therefore practically unemployable. (b.) Widow with a Child or Children. We have to point out serious anomalies in this class. Widows who applied before the Finance Act of 1919 came into operation are entitled to both civil and war pensions ; widows who applied after that date to only war pension. The following table shows how inequitable this is : —

Post- Ifinanoe-Act Widow : War Pension under War Pensions Aot, 1915, and Amendments. Pre-Knance Aot Widow: Civil Pension under Pensions Act, 1913, excluding Amendments contained in Finance Act, 1911). I Total Pensions. Widow and one child Widow and two children Widow and three children Widow and four children Widow and five children Widow and six children Per Week. £ s. d. 2 10 0 3 0 0 3 10 0 4 0 0 4 10 0 5 0 0 Per Week. £ s. d. 0 7 0 Oil (i 0 16 0 1 0 9 I 5 6 I 10 0 Per Week. £. s. d. 2 17 0 3 11 6 4 6 0 5 0 9 5 15 6 (i 10 0