VOLUNTEERS'RIGHTS

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 137, 6 December 1918, Page 7

VOLUNTEERS'RIGHTS

RETROSPECTIVE ALLOWANCES MINISTER'S NEW ATTITUDE! ; Delegates of the' Returned Soldiers'l Association had a conference with mem-f bers of Parliament this morning on the .; question of retrospective allowances. ; Mr/ J. D. . Harper (president of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Asspciiwj: tion) mentioned that the epidemic had- '.i prevented the New Zealand Executive-,V (of Which the members reside ;.'itv sdif- i ferent districts) from acting. 'He ex- ;j plained the case for retrospective allow-^j ances for th€ /married volunteers, asusj summarised- in Tuesday's Post. The'i'j association had waived various claims,,,i but it felt that it could not drop'the. claim for married men, because their.''' dependents were affected. It was esti--] mated that a sum between £400,000 and; >j £500,000 would be sufficient for this j' purpose, though the Minister's ektiinataj-j was £600,000. The amount involved: "j was only equal to- the sum that wouldi'l have been required' for a 8( additional'^ two weeks of war for New Zealand.^ Mr. Harper referred briefly to the early"; days df the war when glowing promisesl^ were made to the volunteers. It. was-*:' recognised then that the prompt re-si sponse of those men was vitally import-. \ ant to the State. The Government «nd|i Parliament had decided to give extr»'=| pay to the Public Service and to com-j peraate the liquor trade in the event ora Prohibition (with compensation) beingJM carried. In view of this attitude irttj favour of persons for whom the Boltlier«3 had fought, the representatives of that soldiers we^e emphatic in their belief 3' that justice should be done to the maMi ned volunteers.

Mr. A. Curtayne reviewed the history i of the scheme of allowances, showing -1 that the scales wew improved -as they war wore on—a^ the recruiting paaoeds gradually from voluntaryism to con-J Bcription. Practically Parliament war? simply asked to place the married v©!un-%' teers in the same position financially as.?, tiw later soldiers. It wasspurely a easel of rectifying injustice. Sir James Allen said that no one vajin-^ ed more than himself the services of the) early volunteers. The' Government had! decided that it could not grant retrod spective separation allowances. The in-4 .ovreaee in the allowances was made sttW eequently because the Government was! then compelling men to go, and it wa*| seen that married men woald be re-i quired. Ho explained that the gratuities-! under the amendment of the Expeditionary Forces Bills would give. marriedmett| proportionately more than single men,.' though the difference in favour of the| married men would not be as great as ibp would be under the B.S.A. request. His! position was that if hs had Known im| the early days of the War that volun-4 teers would eventually claim extra a]*« "' lpwances, he would not have accepted!l their service*. He regretted that ,b\\<s\ question had been now raised. He t j would have been prouder, iof the men iff they had not pressed this point. """ ' . Mr. Luke said that if he never camai back to Parliament again, he felt bound 4 to state that justice should .he done be-< tween the State and the men. Mr. Isitt aaid it w*s an intolerable thought that the early volunteers should-, be left in a worse position than the laieV' drafts. Mr. M'Callum: We all say that. ' \ Mr. J. I. Fox said that the soldiers had kept faithfully their compact with, the Government, and they were- asking^ now for a square deal. The soldiers hadSi kept out of politics, though "splendid] baits" had been thrown. They had 'not | . embarrassed the Government, politically, f during the war. Now that the war was; wo.n, the soldiers looked for justice, and' they must press for justice. A refusal^ of past rights wonld compel the Return--: ed Soldiers' Association to bring the is- \ sue before the electors. The House shqykl-J have an opportunity to pass judgment! on this issue, and the Returned Soldiers'* 7 Association would know who were,the) friends of the soldiers and who were tha>i ■ enemies. ' ,\ '. '.'".., -:: .. < Mr. G. W. Clinkard asked the Min-.; ister whether even-handed justice \yo«ld N, be done-first to the early volunteers be-4 fore benefits 'were given to those whof had already had the advantage of thei j later improved scales. A portion of the| gratuity money should be used to pay;| the retrospective allowances. , ■ The-Minister said that he would place f this matter before Cabinet, with a view. to having such an arrangement made. \ j ' . > This statement .was wjarmly applaud- 4 cd. The Returned Soldiers' Association / delegates and members of evidently believed that the main. object of the deputation had been gained., „.