WAR PENSIONS BOARD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8303, 23 November 1915, Page 3

WAR PENSIONS BOARD

ITS DOINGS AND CRITICS

(From Our Wellington Correspondent)

WELLINGTON, Nov. 22

The outspoken criticism to which the War Pensions Board wus subjected at last week's conference of patriotic societies is likely to -have good effect. I The question is one of administration ! rather than of legislation as far as it j affects the majority of cases, the pow- j ers given the Board under the Act being wide, and thero is, reason ;to be-1 lieve that the Ministers have taken j action already with the object of ensur- , ing that the law shall be interrupted! in a liberal spirit. The case of the) parents of the late Captain Frandi, I for example, is to be reviewed by the ' Board. This was the case where a | mother aged 75 years and a father i aged 83 years, both in receipt of the old age pensions, wore refused the pension on the ground that a married sister ought to bo able to contribute something towards their support now that their only son had died in C4alli- , poli. It may be mentioned in justice \ to the Board that it has- had to- be on, 1 its guard against applications from'] persons who, under the Act, had no right to the pension at all. There was j the case of. a., widow who applied for' the pension though possessed of very ample private- means. The Pensions , Act clearly debarred her from receiving anything at all. But applications of this' kind are few in number, and the indications are that the Boardwill try in future to err on the side of generosity if it must err at all. The Pensions Board cannot go outside the Act, of course, and some of the members of the House of Representatives would like to see a special j session called to make certain amendments in the. .law.' They admit frankly that they did not understand the working of the scheme clearly when it was before -Parliament during the recent session.' A Wellington member is circuln rising his brother members i throughout the Dominion with a view |'to securing their views on the point: i Among the reforms that are suggested \ is the removal of the maxima from the ' schedules, so that a disabled soldier or a widow will receive the allowance of, os nor week for every child regardless of the number; the payment of pension regnrdloss of. any sum that the widow; rnny have received from Ivor husband's lifo insurance policy: and the liberalising of the regulations at several noijvts. It moy be said fairly confidently that no special session of Parliament will be called, at any rate for the consideration of war pensions.' If there should be. a'special session before th« usual time next year: the reason almost certainly would' be' round in tho recruiting question.