PAY AND ALLOWANCES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 194, 6 May 1918, Page 6

PAY AND ALLOWANCES

Sir, —I would like to call your attention to the pay and allowances for a soldier's wife, and I nm not au isolated case. My husband leaves me 3s. per day, and with 3s. per day separation allowance, this makes a total of M 2s. per week. You will persist in saying we get .£3 Gs. Crt. per week with one child, i! 2 2s. per week i and 10s. 6d. for child makes it £2 12s. Gd. for the wife to draw. This is abso- ] lutely all we get. Then, ■ again, the Financial Board promised to pay rent, insurance, etc. Do they do it? I think not. After battling for six mouths to get help, they at last agreed to help me with my rent and insurances. Now, after paying it for six months, I get a notice that owing to the increased separation allowance from January 1, 1918, I do not require financial help, although I have only J& 2s. to do everything s witl., and pay education fees as well. They will only allow me a few shillings tor my rent'now, and I have to pay the balance, firing, lighting, and keep myeclt in food and clothes. How and what can I put bv for my husband's return? It would be far better if we got extra paj allowance and no financial assistance at all. Tins is a fact, and I don't think it is fair for you to keep saying that wu get such a lot to live on. Trusting yon will be able to print this letter, to let the wives know exactly what they will have.— I am, etc., A SOLDIER'S WIPE.

[Our correspondent is in error. _ Tho amount paid to a soldier with a wife aud ouo child is £3 Cs, Gd. a week, plus anything the Financial Assistance Bolird may grant, and plus the fact that tho man'himself is kept in food and clothing. The i' 3 Gs. Gd. is mailo up as follows: Soldier's pay, M 15s. per week; wile's allowance, £1 Is.; child's allowance, Ids. Gd.: total JB3lis. 6d. per week. The wife in this particular case apparently is receiving i 2 12s. Gd. a week, plus "a few shillings" towards her rent, on which she has to support herself and one child. The husband, therefore, must have retained lis. a week of his pay. If he had allotted 3s. Gd. a day instead of 35., the wife's income would have been M 16s. a week, the sum mentioned in Tun Dominion on Saturday, plus tho allowance for rent. The Stato is paying the family in this case £'i Gs. Gd. a week, plus the clothing, food, and board, of the husband, and plus au allowance for rent. The financial Assistance Board, we art informed, would take into consideration the pre-eiilisimcnt earnings of the husband. If the husband had been earning £i 10s. a week in civilian life, then a deduction of lis. (the amount ho is now retaining) would leave i' 3 16s. The wile is receiving now £2 12a. Gd. a wees, plus the rent allowance (say, 55.), making a total of M 17s. Gd. a week. • The difterence, 18s. Gd. a week, is represented by the clothing, food, board, and medical attention provided for tho husband. Tho board does not. profess to maintain incomes at the pre-enlistmcnt standard in all cases, and the figures we have quoted may not apply fully to our correspondent's case. But the pay and allowances as shown in this case are practically equivalent to a wage of Jil a week.]