NO DISTINCTION

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 20

NO DISTINCTION

TO THB EDITOB 0» THB PRESS. Sir, —Please allow me space to reply to the letter in “The Press” of July 19, signed “Ex Nurse.” I fully endorse every word she has written. The returned soldier has never had a fair deal. Some have been fortunate and others the reverse. The soldier who is suffering to-day deserves the highest consideration, and each case should be treated individually. I remember the war only too well, and I hope this letter will meet the eyes of those who in the country’s hour of need did not think it worth fighting for. Although for years I have watched one very dear to me suffering from the effects of the war I am very proud to think he fought for me as well as his country. Give the invalid a pension by all means, but never forget that the man who did his bit should come first.— Yours, etc.. SOLDIER’S WIFE. July 28, 1938.

TO THB EDITOB OP THE PRESS. Sir —I was pleased to read the letter of “Ex Nurse,” in a recent issue of “The Press,” and think the former soldier could be treated a little hotter than he is. In an article in The Press” of June 3, we read of Mr Savage saying: “We should see that the men who do the fighting are properly looked after, while they are fighting, and not called on to pay the debts, and.their children’s children to pay the interest on the debts created.” Yet what else does he do? Are returned soldiers exempt from any taxation? No. After spilling their blood for the freedom of their country, they are compelled to pay the taxes, with money earned by long hours of hard work, and perhaps making many sacrifices. They are compelled to pay the debts created and to pay high wages, and pensions for able-bodied men to squander. What a shame for any country to ask returned men to pay such heavy taxes out of a miserable income, and not only the soldiers, but in some cases their dependent women, if they happen to own a little, even if it is earned in the cowyard. But perhaps not many of our members are fighting men, and so do not understand. I have no doubt if war was to come again, many of these men would again be asked to do their bit, as they have the experience. Those gaining- the defence forces to-day seem to do so merely for exhibition on public parades, and to get some cheap clothes (paid for by us) to wear every day, or preen themselves up in when they wish to be admired. This I always understood was not allowed: but I see it practised. —Yours, etc., M.E. July 29. 1938.