R.S.A. CONFERENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 250, 21 October 1919, Page 11

R.S.A. CONFERENCE.

CLAIMS OF FIT MEW. PAY AXTI ALLOWANCES. K]>KMI>LOYMEXT PItOBLEM". a'j Telcgrnph.-'rress Association.) UI-'.LI.iXr.TOX, Monday. The New Zealand Returned SnMierV Association conference to-day recorded it- approval of the action of the president. Dr. P.oxer, in connection with his telegram to the Prime Minister depremtin<r I lie Wellington demonstration on the gratuities question. Mr. -T. Covvlps (Mastorton) drnwrilmd (lie "march on Parliament" as a disgrace t,i returned soldiers. The Repatriation Committee reported that it found there was a tendency to overlook the claims of lit men, and recommended that: — <n) Unskilled men: These should he eligible for training in a trade under the subsidised wages scheme. Ill) Dying trades: That men whose tnulcs are dying nut owing to industrial progress should he eligible for training under the Buhaidised wages scheme. (d Men discharged as (it, hut who contend they nre not in fact in the samo physical condition as they were before enlistment: These men should he allowed n;i independent medical examination at the expense of the Department as to whether a chaneo of occupation ia desirable: men whose former trades have heeome distasteful owing to -vvnr service should he eligible for training under the subsidised wngps scheme. (d) Men who have lost opportunity by war service: The committee urges that the scope nf the Department must extend to cover the forgoing eases. StTCKSSFTL REPATRIATION. The committee etressed the principle that successful repatriation does not mean putting a man into the position he occupied before enlistinc. hut putting him into the place to which he is most suited after his service. The policy of decentrali-infion followed was, in tho opinion of the committee, a most commendable one and had contributed largely to the -wppse of the Department. Mr. T. T.nnpr (Auckland), chairman of the committee, stated that hundreds of nun were beiiKr discharged, as fit when they were really not so. There was obviously something Wrong somewhere. Tic hoped it was not true that instructions worn being given by the Defence Department to medical officers on transports to discharge as many men as possible as fit. Tho mutter required immediate attention. Mr. .T. D. Harper, the representative of the association on the Pensions Board. Raid the Board could not be blamed if such men did not receive pensions, because the Board was guided by the last report of the medical officer. Ho knew of no such instructions as Mr. Long referred to having been given. The committee's recommendations as a whole were adopted. PAY AXD ALLOWANCES. Tho Pay and Allowances Committee. reporting with regard to the Welling ,, ton remit, that tire Jfpw Zealand rate "f pay be raised to chat o e the Australian Infantry- Force, and to bo retrospective, stated that it had no recommendation to make, leaving the decision to tho fu'J conference. Mr. A. B. Sievwrig'ht (Wellington), convener of the committee, moved the adoption of the remit, and spoke in support of it. Tiie remit was decisively rejected, the only delegate who voted in favour of it being Mr. Sierwrigiit. The employment of returned soldiers firmed the subject of a report by the Repatriation Oommittee, whivh stated that it found many soldiers had been refused re-crn'ployment in the public c=erv;ce on account of war injuries. The committee, urged that employment at a wage comparable to ». ,t they would have been receiving had they not enlisted, should be found for them. The committee also recommended: — That a separate eiiperannua.tuon fund, subsidised by the Government, be established, in or'-T to remove any difficulty in connection with superannuation, and that no soldier so re-employed shall lose by reason of war service, any annual increment to which he would otherwise have been entitled. Tliie report was adopted. TU'E CPA-Y OF OFFICERS. The Pay, Allowance* and Gratuities Committee recommended that even - endeavour be made to huve the increase in the rate of officers' pay made fully retrospective; that soPdiers' financial assistance bo niiule fully retrospective to all members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and that legislation be introduced to give effect to this principle; that clan*! 12 ot tho Government's eclieiiuj, a.s .passed by Parliament, in which these allowancee cannot bo claim&d as a right, and are issued at the discretion of the Minister of Defence, should be withdrawn. Recommendations were adopted with resard to prratuitiee. The conference resolved that the period spent in hospital by returned eoldiers in New Zealand bo counted as active service, for the purpo*.> of tho gratuity, provided the pnituities cease on June 28, 1910, whether such aoddiers are discharged Or not. The conference discussed the question of retrospective financial assistance for men of the main body and early !■ inforcementf. Mr. x. a. Ohing (Kawakawa) said ho had helped 200 people to apply for financial assistance, and not one application had been granted. The applications nern rejected in the secretary's offie. After a. lengthy discussion, Mr. Ching moved "That in view o.f tho very unsatisf.ictory manner of dealing with claims ["it before tho board, the conference domanda that the adminirttra-tion of tflie Firiaiic:a4 Assjs'tan-co Act should l>o phied in tho hands of the Repatriation Department, and that a deputation wait on the Minister to place the whole of the facts before him." This was carried mianimouelv.

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