H.—39

3

BEPORT OF EX-SOLDIERS REHABILITATION COMMISSION, 1929-30. To ilis Excellency the Governor-General, Dominion of New Zealand. May it please Your Excellency,— PART I.—PRELIMINARY. Your Excellency's Warrant of appointment dated 14th. October, 1929, was served on us on the 15th October, 1929, accompanied by a detailed Order of Reference. We thereupon entered upon the preparations for our work and for taking evidence from interested parties. By arrangement with the Returned Soldiers' Associations and kindred bodies we opened the public sittings of the Commission at Dunedin on the 26th October, 1929, and subsequently sat at Wellington, Auckland, Rotorua, and Christchurch, after giving due notice of our intention to do so, by advertisement; these advertisements were duly published in the newspapers, a list of which appears in the appendix hereto as Table "A." We sat for the reception of evidence on the days and at the places set out in Table " B " in the appendix hereto. We viewed and inspected the institutions and industries described in Table " C " in the appendix hereto. Reporting and Evidence. We heard 166 witnesses in all. In each centre, preparation for our sittings and hearing of evidence was in the hands of the local Returned Soldiers' Association, and, by arrangement, most of the evidence of the witnesses was presented in the form of typed statements, already prepared. As the ground covered was non-con-tentious, being chiefly historical and statistical, followed by the witnesses' recommendations, this plan was found to wgrk well and to effect a great saving of time. The Chairman took a note of all answers to questions and re-examination of the witnesses, and this was subsequently transcribed on the typewriter. These prepared statements and the transcription of the Chairman's notes in chronological order have been bound in three books of " Notes of Evidence," containing in all 743 pages. Three copies of these notes of evidence have been preserved and are handed to Your Excellency herewith. In the course of our sittings twenty-nine exhibits were tendered to us and preserved. PART lI.—QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. We now approach the specific questions set out in our order of reference. Your Excellency's questions submitted to us relate to those persons within the classes of ex-service men detailed in our order of reference who are not in a position adequately to maintain themselves and their dependants. QUESTION No. I. The first question requires us to inquire into and report upon — The Present Condition and Circumstances of such Persons as aforesaid, their Approximate Number, and the Nature of their Disabilities. Answer.—We premise our answer to this question by stating that obviously the answer must be set out in very general terms. The conditions and circumstances of the persons falling within the scope of this inquiry are so varied that a detailed answer to this question could be afforded only by a comprehensive schedule and summary. We shall, in dealing with some of the later questions submitted to us in the order of reference, present summaries and schedules giving some details, and with this explanation we proceed to answer the present question in general terms.