THE PEOPLE'S FORUM

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 206, 1 September 1938, Page 24

THE PEOPLE'S FORUM

From Our Readers To Our Readers.

PROBLEMS OF THE SOLDIER PENSIONERS.

In your report of the quarterly meeting of the Auckland K.S.A. I "observe that in his reply to a member the secretary stated thai "it was not required to prove "direct' attrlbutability" in conneetiou with eu application for war pension, ami that this matter '"had not been discussed by the Dominion conference." The should know that thie rock—"attributability, , * direct or otherwise—-is the verv one on which so many men are caused'to founder in their efforts to obtain a pension, for the very reason that the men have not. nor can they obtain to. th-e very record* on which they have even a hope of proving "directnee*." The secretary also stated that the association "would press for a pension of 30/ per week for a returned man, 1-5/ for his wife and 10/ for each chiki"—the association would

'"press"! The association certainly does not exhibit a full appreciation of the need* or position of such men in this. May I as-k: "Why place a soldier's wife in an inferior position to that of an olil-aee pensioner, tor instance?*' "I* thi< the valuation the X.Z.R.S.A. places <>n the wives of ite members—these splendid women, the real '"lierotV of the Groat War, who have not only been mothers to their children, but in many cases nurses to them? What is wrong with the War Pensions (191o) Act? This provides i benefits whk-h are senerallv. and fairly.

admitted a* being most satisfactory, but which is emasculated through "arttributability." "secret reports." medical and otherwise, and the penchant of the Dominion president to eay "the men are satisfied." So far a* the bill to be introduced is concerned it seems fairly plain that this is no more than an "amendment" to "The Economic Allowance* Act" to _ give effect to an increase of 2/5 in that allowance, restoring it to 30/. which I have pointed out before ie, of little real value, because eo many —far the largest percentage —are not in receipt of a sufficiently larsre pension tn claim it. An anomaly? Yes. One of the many that will only be rectified by concerted action on the part of the men themselves, speaking from, often bitter, experience. W. A. CLINTON. President, Disabled Soldiers' Welfare Association. GOVERNMENT'S PROMISES. There are thousands of your readers, both Nationalist and Labour, who will vote for either party, no matter what may be said or written. This letter may not* appeal to either of these j.ai.>es. To those who may still be undecided. thf writer appeals" to these to study carefully the promises made before the last election, the excuses made for their non-fulfilment, the promisee made for the future, and statements made in and out of Parliament by Labour members. in which one member's statements do not agree with the others. These vary as much as does the weather. The writer is in favour of some of Labour's objectives,' but is against any promise being made simply to catch votes, and shuffled out of later. The exchange rate was to be reduced. It has not been reduced, and may be left at that. The sales tax was to be abolished; it is still' in existence. The cost of living was not to be allowed to rise; they promised to' see to that. Have they done eo? Oh, no! They eay we have given you higher wages—you can afford to pay the extra cost. Is that an honest answer to a broken promise? The unemployment tax would be abolished; it etill goes on, and you still pay one penny on every halfcrown you earn. Hence the Government wants you to go on receiving higher and still higher wages, so that they may collect more unemployment tax. That is the way they look "at it. Government member*- have a great deal to sey about the capitalist. What is a capitalist? Members of Parliament have business and farming interests. Are they not capitalists? If they are, they have no right to be in the Labour party so long as that party holds such views. Another gag of Labour is monopolies. Well, what about the B stations? Another broken promise. These were promised freedom of the air. Have they gbt it? Of course not. Then, there i's the transport business, which is being made a Government monopoly, and in the case of one company operating successfully, the shareholders received less than the money subscribed. Everyone was toW they would receive a feir deal; they need have no fear of that. Has that promise been kept? How many have noticed the remark made in Parliament that State houses are let at from 17/G to 37/6 a week, which is half of what they are being let for by private persons. Can your readers believe that? The writer says it is not a true statement, as he knows of five and sixroomed houses let at from £1 to 23/6 per week. True, they are not of the modern type. Note this: At" preaen\i Government servants are not working under the same rules and regulations as are private concerns. YP™* -JJ? , ** the Position of the individual when they come under Government control? Let them note wnat e taking place in Germany at th° present time, then ask themselves if they w«h to be conscripted and ordered to wherever those in authority direct THmK IT OVER. SANCTITY OF LIFE. _ The CaOiolic bishop, of Xew Zealand in a statement appearing under the above caption of their Church's attitude towards birth control and allied social problems, in referring to "the comin- of a new life into the world." sav- " human instinct finds somethin? wron~ in its coming outside the married state l "' If, instead, they had used these word*Inhuman prejudice—contrary to evolution—will not recognise its rights unle« its parents are lawfully bound , bv an automatically-intoned formula " "thev would be revealing the state of thing's as they are. The assertion that, " only by practising abstinence and continence in their married life" can the family be prevented from increasing. indicates either complete ignorance, or a bland ignoring, of the findings of science in regard to Hie sex-relationship In denouncing all voluntary, even therapeutic, abortion, the statement reads, "(it is) no more permissible to a medical man than to anyone else; and, indeed, is rejected by the great men of the profession as an insult to their skill and dignity." Apparently the head surgeon «t a big London hospital, who recently ■performed an operation on. a. young girl —maO. was honourably acquitted at his subsequent trial—is not one of the great men of his profession! With regard to

the bishops' contention that, once con- | oeption has tiifcen place, the birth of a j child resulting from that conception, ) must, despite the, mother's and allied circumstauces, be allowed to eventuate: it is a direct contraversion of their statement that "the Catholic Church holds to the Divine law, 'Thou ahalt not kill'." Take the case of a pregnant woman who is told, from the result of a doctor's examination, that to have a child is to condemn herself to death; that she will, of a certainty, die in childbirth; the Church's attitude in maintaining that she must bear that child, even though she die in the process, is contrary to humanitarian principles. The love o"r a husband for bis wife must, of a necessity, be greater than any feeling he can have for an unknown, and oulv virtual, being; and what husband would consent to his wife bearing a child—in the event of the above circumstances applying? V. T. TREWARTHA. OTJK CIVILISATION. Civilisations come and go with monotonous regularity, each thinking iteelf the. greatest of all, and while magnanimously admitting it still has eome distance "to go before finelly ushering in the millenium, is content to believe that except for some slight deviation the road it follows will lead to that goal. The white civilisation of the present era pointe with pride to what hae already been accomplished, the wonderful citiee, the palatial steamships, the speedy transport by air or road, the machines, the radio, "electricity and a thousand other marvels. One of the great problems still to be dealt with ie the colour problem. What ifi to be don« with mentally inferior races to bring them up to the white standard? The problem is not a new one, except for a reversal of the case. Four thousand years ago the blacks were building the pyramids, a work present-day engineers could hardly perform, and creating those marvellous works of art now being discovered in ancient tombs. At that time the whites were clothed in skins of animals and living in cavee. It is fair to assume that at that time the blacks were concerned as to what were beet to be done with etich savages. The historian of the future, when writing of the white civilisation of the twentieth century, will marvel at the wonderful battleships, the enormous guns, the epeedy aeroplanes. the deadly bombs, the virulent poison gae. the underground shelter*, the gas masks, and the other ingenious devices to kill and to defend. The one outstanding fact of this civilisation which will leave an indelible mark in the world's history, which will arouse the wonder of future generation*; end perpetuate the adage that truth is stranger than fiction ie the destruction of food and clothes while million*; go hungry and cold. Well may it earn the title "The white man's poverty amidst plenty civilisation." C.'R. McDOKALD. COSTS AND STANDARDS. Surely the Prime Minister could nave been forgiven worse than the alleged sarcasm charged against him by Mr. J. A. Griffiths and others who, judging by their letters to Mr. Savage, have rather cheekily embarked on the self-imposed task of a "Tell Xew Zealand' , campaign in regard to the Government's policy. May another young Xew Zealander advise them if they expect to cut any ice to at least first of all make a better study of conditions as they were, and as they now are. I take it what these younjr priests wish to know i»:—(1) The (third) factor, enabling the Government to give social security for all; (2) whether interest-free money is to be need to implement Government policy. The answer* are simple: (1) The Government has. more than any previous Government, made available to the masses, the high prices realised for exports; (2) the Government has stopped senseless overseas borrowing and has in addition provided from income, more than any other Government, for public works, etc., working sanely and methodically towards what these writers describe as

"issued money." Instead of apparently ene#rin.2 at "Mr. Sempie's desire to keep motorists out of their coffins," Mr. Griffiths and his colleague*; might advise young New Zealand on the following:— Do they object to the slicht rise in coste occasioned by the 40-hour week and higher wages? Do they favour abolishing lariffs and destroying our standard of living? Do they prefer a fixed exchange rate to a fixed price level? After endorsing social security, do they lack courage to endeavour to bring it "about? YOUNG NEW ZEALANDER. SOCIAL SECURITY. As a man over 60, with a wife much younger and a grown-up family, just struggling along, may I be permitted to express my views on the proposed new legislation"? To- all of ns who are stragglers life k very much like a game of cards, and. when anyone overlooks our hand we are restless and annoyed. The new old age pension scheme only intereste those who do not know how to play their cards and are seemingly content to have a Government Department overtook their hand and limit their play. I have been playing' my cards for the last year or eo -under the impression that a scheme was to be launched just before the coming general election which would put the old people in a position of independence and, incidentally, induce families from overseas to settle here and help make New Zealand a happy, prosperous and progressive little country with a stable government. A liberal superannuation scheme is the most perfect method of ending poverty. for if the most decadent old age pensioner is entitled to a liberal pension, then the tendency is for he or she to pull themselves together and become respectable members of society, and if they do not respond, then what earthly concern is it to others if they end their life in their own peculiar way? Now, at f>3. I am compelled to discard this card from my hand and be content to etrugsle along- at hard work, trusting- to ev own endeavours to provide for my last davs and those of my wife. ' A simp'le 1 amendment in the Hospitals and Charitable Aid Act making the treatment of patients free to those unable to pay would., surely, have produced the benefits proposed under the new legislation. This, of course, is practically in force now. The Government would be wise, I think, to shelve tile measure and go to the country with a wider and better scheme. PJ^ILH.