COMMISSION'S REPORT

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 32, 7 August 1923, Page 10

COMMISSION'S REPORT

ARGUMENTS BEHIND NEW LEGIS-

LATION.

Apart from some interesting observations and discussion upon the reasons by which it was actuated in making- its suggestions for the improvement of the present pensions system, the report of the War Pensions Commission, which was presented in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, contains little fresh matter in addition* to the recommendations made, which are embodied in the War Pensions Amendment Bill which was introduced in the House last week. In some instances departure was made-in the framing of the Bill from the recommendations of the Commission.

The dominating factor of the present pensions system, the report stated, was that a pension was viewed as a compensation for physical injury, irrespective of financial loss. On'the other hand, it had an economic side, which regarded a pension as a provision for maintenance The members of the Commission expressed themselves as deeply impressed with the disabilities in life'suffered by 75 per cent, and SO per cent, disabled men, even under the most, favourable conditions, and remarked that this fact was only too painfully apparent in the evidence given. They also fully recognised the merits of the claim to generous treatment, and realised that no money payment could adequately compensate for such disabilities incurred in the country's service. They were of opinion that the best results could bo obtained by making the considerable increases they considered necessary by way of supplementary pensions on an economic basis, having regard to the total income of the pensioners. They recommended that the present scale of pensions should_ be regarded as the basis of compensation for physical injury, and be taken as the irreducible minimum. A COMPLEX QUESTION. The question of disability over 50 percent, was the most difficult and complex one the Commission had to deal with Many of these men were in a most unfortunate position through unemployment, and were in receipt of a quite inadequate pension. Their position was not in keeping with what an enlightened public conscience must regard as their due, and was particularly unfortunate in that, though married, many of them were not eligible for the supplementary pension under the existing legislation. Ihe test was a man's capacity to earn, not his actual earnings. The War Pensions Board had acted on this interpretation and governed its decisions accordingly. It was to be noted that the percentage of disability was fixed on a purely physical basis and had no relation to a. mans occupation, the standard bein,"the purely physxeal one of a. man in normal health: e.g., a solicitor minus his right arm at the elbow was deemed to sufier 80 per cent, disablement, and an engineer with similar disability was ? « ff, cent- Jt ™« clear, therefore, that the assessment had no relation to a man s economic loss. The Commission besought the most sympathetic consideration for these men, and recommended tnat such cases be treated similarly to cases of total disablement in respect to economic pension, in the discretion of the War Pensions Board; so that while a disabled man .of the-class in question is unemployed through no faut of his own he should be entitled to the full benefit of the economic pension and that his wife ail d children should also have the compensation pension as for total disablement of the husband. Every effort should be made to procure work for these men. and the question had to be faced whether they wove to be Wt. a charge touliaritv or the patriotic societies.

In respect to cases of disablement 50 per cent, and less, tho Commission suggested that-as they varied infinitely. °a wide _ discretion should be left to "the Pensions Board, and that the principles

on which it should be exercised might bo laid down from time to time.

SERIOUS ANOMALIES.

Figures were quoted in illustration of serious anomalies that were found in the case- of the widow with a child or children, in that while widows who applied before the Finance Act of 1919 came into operation were entitled to both civil and war pensions, those who applied after that date were entitled to the war pension only. It was recommended that the pension be increased by the grant of an economic pension of 10s per week in the case of a widow with one child, with an increase of 25 per cent, for each additional child.

At present totally dependent widowed mothers received a war pension of £1 10s per week, and some were entitled to oldage pensions of 15s per week. The Commission recommended the grant of an economic pension in this case of £1 per week to bring the total income to £2 10s. The Pensions Board, it is stated, was at present carrying out the policy that the pension to the widow and child should be continued so long as the child was continuing its education, and the Commission recommended that authority for such action be laid down expressly. The Commission endorsed the principle that pensions should' be adjusted m accordance with the variation in the cost of living, but instead of a triennial adjustment it favoured an annual review, based on the average of the monthly price over the preceding year. The system of additional travelling medical officers, stated the report, could be advantageously extended if medical men of sufficient standing and military experience were procurable. PENSIONS APPEALS. Alter full consideration of the matter of appeal from decisions of the War Pensions Board, the Commission expressed the opinion that the right of appeal to a tribunal of the highest authority should be given in certain cases, but. that to prevent an avalanche of unmeritorious and frivolous appeals it would be necessary to provide safeguards. As a condition precedent to appeal there should first be a hearing by the War Pensions Board attended by the applicant in person. If, after the hearing, the applicant desired to appeal, the whole case should be submitted to a Stipendiary Magistrate or the Crown Law Office for decision as to whether it was a reasonable one for appeal; the applicant to have the right of appeal to a tribunal consisting of a Judge of the Supreme Court, with a medical assessor, preferably a specialist' in the particular class of case under consideration, and to act purely as an adviser, and the appeal to be by way of rehearing. The cancellation or reduction of a pension as extra punishment to sentence of a Court, the Commission recommended should be left at the discretion of the Pensions Board. The general exercise o f. this discretion should be based on some such principles as these: .Where the pensioner is married the pension be paid to his dependants during his imprisonment; if single, his economic pension (if any) to be suspended, but his compensation pension to accumulate for his benefit after discharge; if a man's conduct is satisfactory after discharge, he to be reinstated to his full rights. It was also recommended that power be expressly given to the board, to review or cancel any existing pension in the event of misconduct, th 6 pensioner having the right to have his character further investigated by a Magistrate. A provision exempting soldiers' pensions from income tax, it was understood, was at present before Parliament, and the Commission commended it as a proper concession. FULL RIGHTS. In respect to the claim that a soldier's widow should be eligible for a pension irrespective of the date of marriage, it was stated that limitations were generally recognised to be necessary to guard against death-bed marriages. The board had expressed its discretion under this provision in the case of marriages which it regarded' as proper, having regard to the health of the ooldier at the time ol the marriage. The Commission recommended that the marriage time-limit be abolished, and that the woman be entitled to full rights of a soldier's wife and widow (if death results from war disabilities), subject to the proviso that the board is satisfied that the marriage was a reasonable and proper one, havin" regard to the man's health at the time of marriage. As regards future marriages, this assurance could be supplied hy medical certificate, and the board's approval could be given before marriage, in the cases of marriages already contracted, the board could make inquiry and decide on similar principles. _ The Commission recommended that tn-- medical treatment of ex-members of the forces be cleared up by statutory provision being made for treatment to be granted for disabilities which render them eligible to be granted a war pension. -