REPATRIATION BOARD.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16541, 5 June 1919, Page 8

REPATRIATION BOARD.

♦ WEEKLY MEETING. A meeting of the Canterbury District Repatriation Beard was held laat evening, Mr A. W. Jamieson presiding. A lengthy and comprehensive report wa3 submitted by tho chairman consequent on his recent visit to Wellington. In the course of ibis report, Mr Jamieson aaid that when in Wellington, he had taken the opportunity of making an appointment with the Ministerial Board, to discuss a number of subjects. The first question that arose was tho matter cf general policy, and after the discussion, Mr Jamieson was fully convinced that the Ministers were most desiroi.s of giving every assistance to the local boards, and tliev had expressed in unmistakable language their deeire to support any reasonable proposals that might be submitted to tlio:n from time, to time. The file.* dealing with the Chiistchurcn recommendations had been gone through by the dir-ctor, and in the main, no cne could possibly find fault with manner in which tiKse hud been dealt v.-jth in Wellington, and in r.o case could tho speaker find where the decisions of the Bear J, in the main, had bc-en over-ridden. Respecting tho questim of the poultry farm scheme, ho-.vevcr, upon going fully into reports that had been submitted, Mr jamieson had found that the delay had been main' ly duo to the fact that a number of schemes from various paits of tho Dominion had been submitted, and tho Board was anxious to | adopt a scheme that would be* adaptable to all parts 01 tho Dominion. In this con- ! nexion lie had had an opportunity of meeting the heads of departments concerned, and | found that the Government Poultry Export, who wa3 nt present in Dunedni, had arranged to bo here to-day, when further details would be discussed. Mr Jamieson was of opinion that a scheme would bo forthcoming for the settlement of Bcadel's farm, of QOO acres, at Avonhead which was being 1 held in reserve for that purpose, anH the carrying 011 of mixed farming, comprising poultry, bee-farming, fruit-growing, pigraising, and. incidentally, the keeping of a cow, IncoqtoraUd in the scheme would be some system whereby training could bo riven at the settlement, to the advantage of those who minht bo selected to take up the various blocks. Vocational training was a question which had given riso to a certain amoi'nt of argument. but Mr Jamieeon had been able to point out that the Christchurch Board was distinctly of opinion .that, whilst the Technical Schools and temporary workshops might attract a few soldiers, the real solution was to be found in the adoption of a echemc whereby soldiers could be trained in the alreadv established workshops, where the atmosphere influenced a man seriously, seeing that there • was some real objective near at hand; or, in oth'»r word? it was important, when dealing with men, that every encouragement should be given, a3 all were firmly convinced that tho men would ndt go into training schools, except as an aid, but would prefer to get into the atmosphere of real brsiness. The South belt School question had been referred to tho Education Board, who in turn had referad it to the East Christchurch School Committee, with the result ths>t u"'il some accommodation could be found for ths 115 children attending that school, it was impossible for the Technical School to securo possession. Tho onlv other way to overcome this difficulty, woii'd be for the Technical School to extend their engineering shop at the bottom end of the South belt School section, which Mr Jamieson was sure thfcse in authority would bo quito prepared to do. This would provide for the extension of the present technical shop. With regard to grants to married men in hospital, Mr Jamieson said that us soon as he had submitted this to the Repatriation Officer, the latter had authorised- him to s?nd a wire to Christchurch, instructing tho local officer that hospital cases bo-treated as discharged soldiers, so far as furniture grants were concerned; in fact, he had mentioned that when cases of this kind came up, the locaj Board would be quite "within its rights to assume responsibility, and to make such recommendations. Mr Jamieson proceeded that he had found that basket-making was being carried on by disabled men, but the executive officers were anxious to get others to assist, and they were oven prepared to pay the expenses of a man from Christchurch, who might bo minus a lower limb, as there was plenty of work available there. In connexion with Government Departments and national certificates, Mr Jamieeon, said'that the Secretary of the Commissioner of Public . Service and others had expressed' themselves as having only one dosire, and that, was, as far as lay in their power, to help the returned men. In the first place, it was pointed out that in one Department alone, there were over 3000 men who had enlisted and gone to the front, and who would rightly demand their old positions; therefore the' Government was, in duty bound, the same as any other employer, to protect-these men. In addition to this, during the' absence of the soldiers, juniors who were in the service prior to the war, had qualified for higher service; the men who had been away were four years older, and this alone created problems, the greater of which were to 00 found with the larger staffs. Men, • whilst they had been away, had received any promotion they were entitled to, and the executive officers were doing everything in their power, and in some cases had mado the regulations Very elastic, to assist in finding temporary employment. It was true that _ a medical certificate had always been required of anyone joining the Civil Service, and this was done because the superannuation scheme was c impulsory, and it would be impossible for the superannuation scheme to_ be maintained if this protection were not instituted. It was impossible for the Government, in fairness to its own staff, to release the medical certificate, unless a special Bill were put through the House, whereby the fund could be subsidised to-meet the increased financial responsibility that would be incurred by the admission'of medically unfit' men. " This matter had already received the serious attention of the Government, and the departmental heads would herald the relaxation of the rule. A Bill was being prepared for submission to Parliament at the earliest possible moment, on these lines. In the meantime, the departmental heads had indicated that they would do as they had dono lor some months past, and extend every consideration to the returned men. Regarding other large employers, a statement had already been made from the local Board to the effect that the employers, in tho main, were assisting in every way poa. sible in the ■ repatriation of men. Despite the disadvantages, thero was only the one course to adopt, and tho employers must bo urged to meet the whole position as generously as possible. The main object of tlje recent protective let Mr Jamieson went on, was to protect tho soldiers, but there were one or two aspects •vhiuh required further consideration, and Ihe matter was now in tho hands of the Crown Laws Office, who would be submitting the full report, and if there should be nny aspect that was likely to affect the soldier's sredit in an endeavour to protect him in mother way, tho speaker was positive it ivould be altered at once In the main, Mr Jamieson concluded, he ires very much impressed l with the manner in which the Ministers had met him -at Wellington, and whilst there were, of course, iifferencM of opinion on many matters, ho uras satisfied that if the Board conceived any reasonable business proposals that would be in the interests of the returned men,. they ivould be adopted with, as little delay as possible*. In the discussion that followed, Mr E. J. Howard urged that there should be an nsjuranro that any man who had been in tho Government service before ho had gone to the war should bo taken back into that service, regardless of tho medical test and re-examination. The chairman, in answer to Mr Howard's remarks, said that th« Government had uulertaken, in cases of old employees who were now not medically fit, to find them other amployment. Some discussion ensued in connexion with tho position of sick and disab'ed men in regard to superonnation, and Mr N. B. Mc-C-allum suggested that it'should be urgod on the Government that a separate subsidised fund should be instituted for such men. A committee consisting of the chairman ind Messrs McCallum, Howard, and C. H. lewlett was set up to consider the suggesion. Several members of tho Board spoke on the question of the urban and suburban settlement of soldiers, various speakers, whilo inding no fault with tho Land Board as uch, expressing the opinion tflat the Board hould be represented on that Board. Mr D. Jones strongly opposed such action. Tho news that the three mouths' option lad been reduced to one monti was received rith satisfaction. Eventua?ly it was decided that tho matter if urban and suburban settlement should be eferred to a committee* consisting, of Messrs I. J. Goodman, V. W. Hobbs, D: Jones, nd A. I'. Drayton. Mr F. W. Hobbs, on behalf of the Trades, 'ools, and Equipment Committee, submitted report of what bad been dor.e since the Ist meeting, the report being adopted, with , recommendation that two applicants _ bo ranted £75 each for the purpose of setting p in tho fishing industry, the latter matter eing left entirely in the hands of the com-litt-ee with_ power to act. Messrs W. E. Leadley and J. Clark were ilded lo this committee. On behalf of the Sustenance and Furni:re Committee. Mr H. J. Goodman said lat'of five applications for sustenance, threo ad .been granted and two declined, and of 7 applications for giants for furniture 13

I had been, granted and 4 held over or declined. Tho report was adopted. The Committee's report, as presented bv Mr C. 11. Hewlett, showed that during the past week employment had been found for 52 men. Men were coming back fast, and there were now 112 men on tlio unemployed list, cf whom some 50 or more required light work. The report was adopted, and it was decided lo recommend that in regard to tho Limitation of Choice of Appointments Clrvso in the <*a-etted amendment to the regulations under tha Public Service f reading that " the Commissioner mav if he thinks fit, give preference to an anplicant who is an honourably discharged member of the N.Z.E.F.," ctc., should be a'terid so that the words "may, if ho tliinta fit " be altered to "shall, where nossih The Employment Committee -was requested to mako more exMrs'ive orauin-s into the basket-making industry and report to a future meeting of tho Board.