PAY AND ALLOWANCES

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 136, 8 June 1917, Page 9

PAY AND ALLOWANCES

ARE THEY SUFFICIENT?

SOLDIERS AND THEIR DEPENDENTS. '

Are the pay and allowances of soldiers sufficient, in view of the increasing cost of living? This question was raised at the meeting of the Advisory Board of the War Relief Societies yesterday, when several members expressed the opinion that the dependents of many men were financially better off than before the head of the house Went into camp. The Otago Joint Committee reported as follows :—"The experience of the Relief Committee has . convinced them that the present allotment of 4s per day from the soldier which is insisted on by Patriotic Associations does not leave the soldlier a sufficient sum for himself, yet this allotment is necessitated by the inadequate allowances, i.e., separation aiid children's allowances, at present made to soldiers' dependents." RIPE FOR REVIEW. The Hon. J. „T. Paul (Otago) said his association felt that - the whole ques-. tion of pay and allowances was ripe for review. There';"had been some improvement, but the cost of living had j increased to such an extent that the position of dependents was precarious. It .was felt that undei' the" present circumstances, if the Patriotic Societies in-. sisted upon a soldier leaving 4s, th© remaining 1® was not sufficient to see ' him through. The position of dependents also- required review,, especially if the 2nd Division were to be called upon. Mr. Lamer said that Auckland only asked for. an allotment of 3s 6d a day; . Mr. Paul said they had had a number of requests for increased allowances, because the present assistance waa insufficient.

Mr. Lamer: How about suggesting that the children's allowance be increased from 9d to Is? :

Mr. Paul : I would prefer to have the Government asked to I'eview the whole question.' ' ,-f ■ The Chairman (Mr. L. 0. H. Tripp) : Should we not do more ourselves? We must not forget the ; Government's financial assistance proposals. If the Government is going to pay rent, we should do something before asking for more.

Mr. Paul said it was only lately that the financial assistance had actually, come into operation. THE AVERAGE WORKING MAN'S | WAGE. Mr. Lamer asked what was the average working man's wage in Dlmedin? He had gone into tho question very carefully in, Auckkmd, and put it down at £2 16s or at most £3. ■ A woman with four children, and without a husband to jjrovide for, had £2 12s 6d, which was equivalent to £3 7s 6d.with the husband at home. The visiting sisters said that the women were better off in many cases than-before their husbands went, and had actually, commenced savings bank accounts, a thing unknown before. • Mr. Paul: Why'do you choose four children?

Mr. Lamer admitted that this case suported his argument best. Mr. J. J. Dougall (Canterbury) said that in Christchnrch a woman with three children received £2 17s 3d (including 10s 6d from the Patriotic Society), and was better off than before her husband weht away. If sickness came the: society nssis'ted also. The Chairman suggested that the question should be allowed to stand over. There was plenty of time to deal with it; before the Second Division was called upon. Mr. Paul agreed to this, but stated that if. housekeeping books were gone gone into where a woman was said.to be receiving sufficient it would be found that this was not the case.