"A THIN BANDAGE."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 97, 27 April 1938, Page 15

"A THIN BANDAGE."

CHARITY FUNDS.

DISABLED SOLDIERS' NEEDS.

better system advocated

The system of making street appeals to relieve sick and disabled ex-soldiers is wrong, and should be made unnecessary, say* the president of the Disabled Soldiers Wel fare Association, Mr. W. A. Clinton, in a letter to the "'Star." nf "L " U . l , Hk . e , to express appreciation S - 1 ' ® . P lth y article in Saturday's \\ eek-end Pictorial," write# Mr. Clinton, and I who niv fellow trooper's sentiment, •Why can't we eliminate self more and give more thought for the other ellow? 'S.W.B.' found it difficult to Sd5 r t o th dor ry - itis^d^uit

the week we have had two striking examples of the wide diverln Ir ( 'i " P° sltit >n of men who once w the brotherhood of the o- U ns ' In one case we have a body of soldiers visitin Sydney to join with our Australian fellows in the celebration of Anzac Dav. so iS aT lt fltthlg that we should 11 f- rwe I,ave a stree t appeal disable , 6C . n ° f - fUn<lS t0 relieve ssck?^nd donts Tt ■ X " Sei '-V. COmon and theh de^n ~ - • It is neither right nor proper that V . a, "l men and their^depenMrt on / lmVe t0 <le l seEd ' even in part, on such a system. , .-l ln on3 ' men have obviously the trip™ in thl to f feetr eet the ex P ense 8 of the • ° ther ' a «>»ection on the stnet is necessary to relieve the distress f those without the wherewithal to live without want-a sad and striking com! mentary on the need of givin® more thought for the other fellow". ■The Dominion president of the organisation responsible for the arrano-e----m New Zealand of sending the prmi.ged position in the Legislative Council that the administration of war n- t0 t ? e entire satisfaction of 1 v , e of t,le country and of the public ('Hansard,' No. 18, page 21— Council, September, 1936). Surelv this «mnot be so when hi, finds it necessary to appeal to the public up and down the country for funds to relieve distress amongst sick and disabled men and their dependents? Public Not Blamed.

We cannot blame the public for the position It is generally admitted that the public has been, and is, always ready to honour its promises to the soldiers. The blame is attachable to those, professing to speak for the exsoldiers, who do not give more thought to the other fellow—in this case the sick and disabled men. Relief of disttess by funds collected in the manner y j®- '» niy opinion and that of my association, the equivalent of placing a thin bandage on a severe wound and then leaving the man to lie out in the open without further attention, or reporting him to the proper quarter so that he might receive it; a thing no soldier was ever wilfully <uiilty of in the war da vs. * ~

''Listening to the inspiring dawn service in Sydney this Anzac Day I heard in the prayers one 'for thoee disabled by war who. are now facing difficulty with greater courage than ever required on the field of battle.' May this prayer find response in the hearts of soldiers and public alike, go that through our united efforts this courage shall be rewarded by securing to these disabled men and their dependents a reasonable state of economic security. That such is urgently required is indisputable when it is realised that 20,000 war veterans receive pensions of a total of £1,500,000, or an average of 2.3/ per week each! It does require courage to face life under these conditions, courage of a real nature, for there are now no citements of the blood lust of war to carry men op.

"Deeds, Not Words." "In remembering the dead let us determine that this system of street collection and organised charity shall be no longer the lot of disabled men. I appeal to all to help ns renew the comradeship of the war—in its most beautiful memory—and to live in deeds, not words; in securing reasonably adequate war pensions; not street collections for distressed sick and disabled men and their dependents; not grocery orders to feed hungry children, but their right to full and plenty; not cast-olf aecondliand clothing, but the privilege of buying something new; not the destruction of the finer fibre.: in the characters of such disabled men and their dependents, but their maintenance through economic security of a real nature as of right; in short the renewal of 'the brotherhood of the guns.'"