RETURNED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2998, 8 February 1917, Page 3

RETURNED SOLDIERS

WORK OF THEN.Z. ASSOCIATION. '__: / Mr. C. Batten, general secretary of -the New Zealand Returned' Soldiers' Association, forwards the .following memorandum :— "The work of the' New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association has two aspects:'one from the point of view of citizens'of .'New Zealand, the other from that of the returned soldier. It vmust_ ho understood that the association is organising a national movement with very serious objects, and is not formed merely with a view to securing club comforts for its members. We still have fresh in our.minds the South African war, and we know that after that war numbers of men were neverproperly able to settle down to civil life. _ In this war, viere the wholo of New Zealand's young manhood' is involved, a grave danger is apparent to all. The returned, soldiers have ■ realised tho impending trouble, and have set themselves the task of averting it._- One of-the greatest-factors in .achieving" this part of the work is ;i Returned, Soldiers' Club. The great nervous strain through which a soldior passes- cannot bnt'haye.-'its:;.effect;.-iipon him.-; A returned -soldier— with--any length of service is out of touch with civil life, and' his feelings on being discharged from"the army 'no further use' can be better imagined than' de'ssribed';.': In tho Returned Soldiers' .'Club he meets inen who have all the attributes of citizenship, and have with him the common bond of. active service. The value of this: reunion as club members, cannot' be too strongly emphasised, since the returned soldier who has settled dp ttii : to work agai n i s thus a factor in making'it easier for those who come ' Oliibs controlled by the association are "not-permitted' to;

become loafing grounds. Men' are encouraged to work, and work is found , for them. Thus it will be seen that tho association regards these clubs only as a means to an* end, and that end is one of vital importance to the country. Tho first step is the establishing, on a sound and ■uniform basis of control, returned 1 soldiers' clubs in overv part of the Dominion. "For this organising work no public money has yet been subscribed. The returned soldiers themselves are subscribing to a great national work. From the point of view of tho returned soldier the association appears as a strong body composed entirely of his own comrades, t<> which. he can turn in time of need wherever he may be. No soldier maimed or broken in service need fear that his sacrifice will be forgotten, since in time of need everyone of his comrades will stand at the hack of him. Nor will ttoe ; widows or. dependants of thoso who have fallen lie forgotten —they will never appeal in vain to • the Returned Soldiers' Association."