HELP FOR SOLDIERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 142, 17 June 1926, Page 10

HELP FOR SOLDIERS.

WHAT THE ASSOCIATION DOES. DISBURSEMENTS OF £13JU APPLICATIONS UNDIMINISHED." The eleventh annual report of t\i Auckland Provincial Patriotic and \Var Relief Association was presented to the annual meeting of the association thi» afternoon by the president, Sir Jamet Gunson. The association's, year opened withja credit balance of £158,650 4/8; interest on investments amounted to £7940 17/3 and donations totalled £41 7/8, makine a total of £166,632 9/7. The total disbursements were £13,711 12/3, of which the principal items were: Auckland Claims Board £5190 14/9, provincialbranches £1003 7/0, Auckland Permanently Disabled Soldiers' Board £4060 7/ The balance in hand at the end of the period was £152,920 17/4. According to the report the Claims - Board considered 1436 applications for : assistance from sick and wounded returned soldiers, and a previous forecast' that the association's operations would be over a lengthy period was being fully ' realised. It was not expected that there would be any diminution during the next few years of the number of men. or dependents requiring assistance from the funds. A marked feature of the work at present aid for some time past" had been the cases of returning war disability on the part of many who, for ' the first time, were now making appli- '■'•' ! cation for assistance. •'There are many men in the city and district at the present time suffering war disability who are out of work, hut who, nevertheless, are able to undertake light employment," continues the report. "They are quite unable to undertake manual or heavy work, and the war jensions in some cases are inadequate to support them, or, in the case of married men, a home anil family. Unfortunately' the light class of work which they could' undertake does not appear to be available." Many T.B. Sufferers. Special mention was made in ti» report of the number of soldiers, many of whom were discharged from th*v : forces "Fit" (A), who were now suffer- ; ing from T.B. In many of these caee§ ; ' it was stated that it was very difficult for the men to establish war disability and thus obtain a war pension. The executive was of the opinion that in the great majority of cases of thi» nature the disability could be reasonably assumed to be due to exposure and stress of war service, and that these, men were eligible for assistance from the funds. Many of the cases helped by the Claims Board were later brought before' the War Pensions Appeal Board. The, Appeal Board appeared to be giving . satisfaction, stated the report, and the executive was satisfied that each appelr lant received a fair hearing, and that his case -was sympathetically dealt vn%. The balance to the credit" of the claims fund was £142,548 3/10.

Another fund, that was established for,', purposes of incidental relief of ■ distress"' in Auckland city, arising from the war, was also being more heavily drawn upon.. While the city was enjoying prosperous, times the claims on this fund were few,., and last year the sum of £840 10/ jnau found sufficient to meet them; but" tfie la?t few months had shown that tie, claims were likely to increase during the winter. The fund continued to give. substantial aid to the Soldiers' Club, contributing £265 during the year; and, in addition, £687 13/8, the deficit in the working account of the Veterans' Home for the 1924-2.) year, was borne by the fund. A sum of £200 was granted to the Mayoress' War Memorial Library Committee, and the balance in the fund at the end of the year was £10,372 13/6, Disabled Soldiers. Since the inception of the disabled' soldiers' scheme in 1919, the association reported that no less than 491 men had' ; been voted assistance, amounting to £100,287 3/9. Soldiers who were suffering permanent war disability to the extent of 40 per cent and upwards were L assisted to procure homes, and in t few cases to commence in business. The work in this connection was steadily,, decreasing. There were at present 26 men in thi Evelyn Firth Home and 15 in the TJ.: shelters. • As to the scope of the activities, it was stated that there were, now 13 branches in the province, sod, although the claims showed a small decrease in amount, the sum of £1003 7/6 was required during the year to meat their obligations. „