ALL AGREE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 205, 29 August 1940, Page 11

ALL AGREE.

SOLDIER WELFARE.

GUARANTEE BILL. EMPLOYMENT AFTER WAR. WELLINGTON, this day. With the consent of the House and at the suggestion of the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, the second reading was taken in the House of Representatives yesterday of the Soldiers' Guarantee Bill, which was introduced early in the session by Mr. Lee (Democratic Labour, Grey Lynn). As the bill involved appropriation it would automatically have been ruled out of order, but the. Prime Minister said that in view of the general interest of the question involved he took the unusual course of suggesting that the.re should be a speaker from each side of the House, if it were so desired, in addition to the mover, so that the hill could be discussed. "I think it is the wish of every member of this House and the community that everything possible should be done for the soldier," said Mr. Fraser, "and I do not think that any suggestion should be set aside." , Mr. Lee said he must confess to a feeling of gratitude towards the Prime Minister for the opportunity to discuss the principles of the Bill. One of the clauses suggested that .the soldier's wage should be brought up for the period of the war to an amount of not less than £5' a week, but it was not suggested that additional purchasinig power should be given to him now, because it was realised that additional purchasing power at the moment would not be possible. Taking Up Slack of Society. It was suggested, he said, that the soldier be paid an additional amount in deferred credits. The framers of the bill were trying to imagine not only the soldier's welfare at the point at which he was demobilised, but they were also trying to imagine the soldier receiving over a period some little periodical attention which would him to take up the elack of society after the war. When they suggested the system of deferred payments they were thinking not only of the eoldier's welfare, but also of the welfare of the community generally. He thought a clause of this nature could well he subjected to close scrutiny by a committee composed of all members of the House. Mr. Lee said that he had been well pleased to see the Government adopt the principle contained in his bill that thera should be no disqualification of pension rights because of the date of a soldier's marriage. Another clause in the i bill provided for the basic soldier's pen jsion being subject to periodic and automatic review in consonance, with any increase in the "cost of living and improvements in the general living standard. There was also provision that any soldier who was a civil servant should be entitled on re-employment to increased emoluments that would have been added to his pre-war wage had he not been admitted for service overseas. Opposition Comment. The mover of the bill had discussed the principle of the bill, the Leader of the Opposition,. Mr. Haniilton, said, but the bill went further than the principle of planned rehabilitation for discharged soldiers. It advocated a guarantee to the eoldier before he left New Zealand of five years in employment at a wage of at least £5 a week after he returned. Mr. Lee had said that his bill was not the laet word, but it was worth etudy by the House or by a committee. Mr. Hamilton said he did not know whether the War Cabinet or the General Cabinet was expected to make that study. of rehabilitation after the last war showed that there was room for improvement, and although the Ministei of Public Works had said there would- be no bungling in. this war —and presumably he included rehabilitation—it was doubtful if they had got through the difficulties cropping up. The Government had passed legislation which required the return of their jobs when soldiere caW back, but it would be difficult to put that into practice. The problem of rehabilitation was not as simple as it might appear. The soldier wae called upon to make sacrifices' and consequently he was worthy of conwhen he returned, but in this war some civilian populations were suffering ae much ae the soldiers. Any rehabilitation scheme was worthy of consideration and he was surprised that Mr. Lee had not formulated a scheme. Prime Minister Replies. The whole question of the rehabilitation of soldiers wae already in the minds of every member of the House, declared the Prime Minister. He thought there wae general agreement in the House and the country that it was due to soldiers that the fullest possible provision should be. made for them after the termination of their services, although there might not be agreement when it came to the question of diecussing the details of a practieal agreement. The Go*ernine.nt already had had a report on the question of rehabilitation, reviewing what had been done in thie country and other "countries after the last war. That was only a start. One principle on which they were all agreed—in ,fact he had heard no dissentient voice anywhere— was that to the limit of the resources of the country our responsibility was to make adequate provision for the men and their families. What we could do would depend upon production at the time. There wae no section that had a greater claim on the community than the eoldiere and if they started on that basie the problem was how to work up ana put into practice the responsibility alt felt. The bill had opened discussion on the subject, added Mr. Fraser. It could not be continued on this measure, but ample opportunity would be given for full discussion on the question later. Mr. Lee said he had not tried to do other than assert a principle and he thought the introduction of the bill had served a useful purpose in focusing members' attention upon the subject. The bill was then removed from th< Order Paper.—(Parliamentary Reporter.]