TRAINING OF DISABLED SOLDIERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 41, 16 February 1918, Page 15

TRAINING OF DISABLED SOLDIERS.

SIR JOHN COLLIE TO ORGANISE NEWSCHEME.

Mr Hodge, Minister for {'elusions, announced at Newcastle tuat lie Uud selected Sir John Collie, median examiner to the L.C.C., as organiser of a scheme for the training and treatment of disabled men, and he was hopeful that the questlou would be dealt with better in the future than it had been in the past.

In his speech Mr 1 lodge told how the Eccentric Club, responding to an appeal by the Minister of Pensions, set up a number of disabled soldiers in business as cobblers. On a previous visit lie had met a minersoldler who had been taught cobbling and wished to return to bis native village and start business.

I -I told the man," said Mr Hodge, "I was sorry I had not the power to set him up in business as a cobbler, but 1 asked how much It would take." The reply wns that £25 would do It. Eccentric Club. :iml I told them the story, and 1 was I lieu mi,.! there presented witn sums of money that totalled ±:ii)j.

With this money, said Mr Hodge, he bad been able to set up several cobblers, but he wnnted to do more than this. He

wanted to have a great national fund, out of which disabled men could be helpeu with money, either as gifts or loan?. The Ministry of Pensions was teaching men nil kinds of occupations—agriculture, poultry farming. Intensive culture, etc—but they

could not set np a man as a poultry farmer under £7f>. H-e should like to give a man £23 as a Rift and £50 as n loan, but If they nskod thfc Exchequer for It, then the ciuestlon was a.sked how they were Koinp to discriminate between one man and another. The Queen was deeply Interested in this problem, and hnd frequently written to him concerning this matter. The visits of the K'ng nnd Queen to various Institutions nad made a great difference to the wounded soldiers.