ALLOWANCES TO SOLDIERS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16547, 12 June 1919, Page 6

ALLOWANCES TO SOLDIERS.

* ; THE RETROSPECTIVE PAYMENTS. • NEW SUSTENANCE RATES. I , (press association telegram.) ■ WELLINGTON. June 11. ( The retrospective allowances pro- . mised to returned soldiers who went to ; the war before the more generous rate ;| of allowances was agreed to by the ] I Government are now being paid. By June Bth warrants had been issued for payment under this head of £136,457. To iOGS people, warrants for under £40 had been issued, the value of the warrants being £52,516, and to 1323 people warrants for over £40 had been issued of a total value of £83,951. The largest warrant was for £156, and there were 69 warrants for over £100. New regulations are being prepared dealing with the payment of sustenance rates to returned soldiers learning trades. Ifc is proposed that the wage to be paid to a trainee shall be assessed by a committee of three, consisting of the employer or his representative, a representative of the trade union concerned, and a representative of the Repatriation Department. The wage during the first, or trial, month of a soldier's engagement as a trainee is to be brought up to £3, instead of £2 10s, a week. Formerly the practice has been to pay sustenance up. to a certain amount, inclusive of pension, to men attending technical classes, but to give the amount exclusive of pension to men in workshops. It has now been decided to give the sustenance, exclusive of pension, to trainees in technical schools who are working in classes for thirty hours a week or more, this being considered equal to full time employment. A more generous allowance is to be given to apprentices also. They are to be assured of £3 a week, exclusive of pension, instead of £3, inclusive of uension.