WAR RELIEF

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 119, 13 February 1920, Page 8

WAR RELIEF

WELLINGTON ASSOCIATION'S WORK

THE FUNDS IN HAND

The operations of the Wellington War Relief Association during the year ended September 30, 1919, are surveyed in the annual report of the esccutivo, to be presented to tho fourth annual general meet inz. The money received by tho association since its inception has been •£115.418 Bs. 7d.. and the '•xpenditur© has amounted to £45,704 2s. 9d. Tho funds in hand at the end of December, 1919, amounted to .£68.701 7s. lOd.

The applications for assistance received durine tho twelve months numbered 4327. and the executive notes that they included a large number of claims from men discharged from one to four years nsro. vet suffering partial or complete loss of civil earnings, as the direct result of their war service. In some of these cises both husband and wife had entered hospital almost simultaneously; but bv the co-operation of tlie Red Cross Soeietv and of the Women's National Reserve, additional comforts when required hnvo been provided for the soldier, his home safeguarded and his children cared for: frcnuentlv all such arrangements must be complete within a few hours.

, "It is expected," states the executive, "that there wi'.l be a diminution of 'wastage- of war cases'—several times creater in Wellington than elsewhere— durine tlie next twelve months, but the opinion of your committee, that the aftermath of the war will be felt for some rears to come, and particularly in the military and geographical centre of the Dominion, is endorsed by Brigadier-Gen-'edal G. S. Richardson, C.8., C.M.G., C.R.E.. and other authorities. By itself administering its own funds, the balance in hand, so far ns can be assessed, should be sufficient to meet the calls that the future will bring; but there still remains perhaps one of the' most difficult problems with which your committee has been confronted; the alleviation of economic prejudice inflicted upon nermanently and 6omi-permancntly disabled soldiers and those dependent upon them, whilst tubercular cases will renuiro special consideration. Both these subjects are receiving the exhaustive attention of a commitee especially established to deal with them upon tho most sympathetic and considerate scheme that can be devised.

"It is. therefore, clearlv established that, far from your committee's activities beine ended, it will be necessary for the remainder of your funds to bo carefully administered for the exact purposes for which they were raised, giving freely when the necessity arises; but retaining in vour own hands the disbursement of the raonev; until finally there shall thereby have been conferred the greatest possible benefit noon the maximum number of annlicants, achieving the purpose for which those funds wcro so generously subscribed bv the public. "Under special circumstances weekly erants have been awarded soldiers in receipt of maximum pension, whilst a much larger number of payments havo been made, under the many diverse conditions warranting them, to men suffering only slight physical impairment, but reoniring assistance to meet medical, funeral, confinement, and other extraordinary expenses, together with temporary restoration in part or whole, of resulting loss of civii earnings.

"It is ctuito impracticable to enumerato more than very briefly a few of the manifold duties of your Applications Committee. With tho exception of. all loans exceeding .£SO it considers every nnnlicition received by the association, it. has to solve economic, moral, financial, domestic, and social problems. It has been called upon to effect reconciliations Iwtween husband and wife, to care for neirlected children, to deal with divorce cases when both parties had apnlied for assistance, to obtain, and to cancel seoavation orders, to care for widowed mothers dependent upon their sole remaining single sons, and assist. him and his married brotherslooking, also, to the welfare of their wives and children-until nil the mala members of the family who had served with the fores, have resumed civil life. Its members must be fully eonver-wnt with all Acts appearing upon the' Statutes—in so far as war and social* legislation are concerned—during the last ten years; -for it is only by tho closest scrutiny of all application's received that supplementa'-y pensions—War, Civil, Widow sjand Old Age, Guardians allowances and pension?, etc.-have been obtained for persons who had no idea of their eligibility to receive them. Merely ephemeral treatmuj* of each claim would have increased jour gross expenditure by 50 per cent—which means that your funds would now have been completely exhausted—whilst the applicant would havo received only a temporary grant for a longer period than was actually awarded, but would have been deprived of permanent assistance from the State. "Your committee issued orders on, and paid tradesmen's accounts of every description; it has provided one man with a glass oye, and for another applicant it has converted an apple shed into a bathroom; it has supplied baby clothes, and it has paid maternity costs and funtol expenses. Its Teward is (ho many hundred letters of thanks received from writers in nearly all parts of the world; from men. who have served not only with the iN.K.E.F., but with the Australian Expeditionary Force, -ho Canadian Expeditionary Force, the N.Z.B.F. and Imperial Forces on the Western front, in Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt; and from sailors end stokors attached to the Grand Fleet, and to the ■Pacific Fleet at its base at Singapore in respect to tho successful representations it has made to the Government and to many; branches of the Defence Department, for the improvement of the position of foldicrs, sailors, and their dependents; as well aa for its treatment of difficult cases not its own responsibility, whilst for advice and 'nfonnation supplied, it has received letters ibodving resolutions convoying the thanks of the committees of practically nil the larger and many of the smaller kiudi-.v organisations within.the Dominion; tm some outside it; and of the Canadian and Australian Departments of Repatriation." Tho Teport refers in detail to many phases of the association's work. ' P mentions that more than 50 per cent, of the applications received are the icspo l '- 6ibility of• other societies; and must be recorded, duplicated, and posted with a covering letter-copy of a lady visitor's report boing olten also sent—or wired or telephoned through to the society concerned.- During the year outward letters, cablegrams, and telegrams totalled H..21. and inward letters 10,595. The figures do not include circular letters, visitors reports, receipts, orders on tradesmen, duplicated application forms and minute sheets, and many hundreds of other m documents.