RECOGNITION DESIHED

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 27, 31 July 1924, Page 8

RECOGNITION DESIHED

SOUTH AFRICAN VETERANS

EGISLATION PROBABLE THIS SESSION :

'A QUESTION OF COST.

;■ 'A deputation from the South African ;, IWar Veterans' Association made repre- -- Bentations to the Prime Minister this !- morning for pensions for those - who ;:. served in the Boer War campaign, and :s asked that all tho benefits of the ..Dis- ;■; charged Soldiers' Settlement Act should i. also be extended to them. The Prime '. Minister said that if it was at all pos- ■' sible he hoped to do.something towards ;•. meeting the request during the present "session of Parliament. > The.deputation was introduced by Sir I George Hunter and Mr. T. M. Wilford.

Mr. J. A. Simson, Dominion president

';-. of the association, reminded the Prime ',5 Minister of a promise he had made them s three years ago in regard to the pension. \ The financial circumstances had altered I considerably since 1921, when there was -'■ no money available, and he Was glad "to see that to-day there was a satisfac- ■: : tory surplus and that taxation was able ■! to be reduced. They felt, . therefore,

'•- that Mr. Massey would be- delighted to •V do now what he had said he would like U.to do in 1921. The time had cpme ™ when tho' claims' of the South African veterans should be recognised. Most of ■c them "were fifty years of age,'and if the of the pension was not approved JT, this year they would continue to make •^representations until it was. They also !'-desired-'to come under the benefits of the '^Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act. ;. Mr. Massey: "\\^th reference'to land '• : only?" ■■-■ Mr. Simson: "No, sir, all tho bene*fits."

*<■:■ Mr.- Massey: "You mean the pension Z and all the other benefits?" .

Mr.' Simson said the veterans felt ".'they were entitled to all the benefits. ~ "We feel Jou would have done it with"out .hesitation in 1921," he said, "if frad' wot been for the financial posi•vtion." ■•■■.•

THE TOTAL COST.

Z- Mr-.-J. J. Clark (Wellington) said that '•I'the request made in 1921 was that the ...South African veterans, should be placed ..on the same basis as the men Who !'.f ought, in the Maori War. The Pen- :. sions Department estimated that at the J .present rate of extinction all the Maori 'j'-.War veterans would be extinct in seven ;vyears. The average age of the South veterans to-day was 49. That •''meant' that in sixteen years from now Vthe men who fought in South Africa ".would -bo entitled to claim an old-age ■pension. No record appeared to have 'Hieen kept as. to the number of Boer i v War men who had died since their rectum, but a record kept by one contingent showed that 25 per cent. had.l,.passed away. On that basis he had ■^computed;: figures for the purpose of •showing-'what the cost to the country rkvould ba. if., their request .was given iiffectTto:"" Assuming that 6500 veterans tjvere now alive, . then in 19.53, when liheir average -'age -would .1)0 65 years, ■'Ihe number who. would still be alive1 .would be about 2750- If pensions were granted to all those men at the present ■rate paid to Maori War veterans (£49 "jfeiv.-auttum) ..the total cost to,the Dpmin-. ion would be £132,300' per. 'year; It inu'st, be bqrfie in mind, however, that iif'the' ordinary course of events a numlier.; "of : those men'might claim old-age jiensiotiS, assuming that the number ;w;ls 900, on the same basis as the Maori ■AVar veterans, it would cost the country £35,100. To give the South African yeterans the service pension, then, would mean a total cost in 1933 of £97,200. By -that time the Maori War pensions KvouldT. all..be eliminated. It was not suggested that no pensions should be paid till 1938, for some men would be e.ititled to' apply right away. He knew of one case in which a man Was 65 at the time of the Boer War. ■ . - Mr. D. C. Bates: "He was in the |.laori War, too." I The speaker said ho would not be Surprised if the same man also served in the Grtat War. i :, ;'•. .an i.o.u. i Mr. L.'de Launay (Taranaki) said that if the original number of those who went £o the Boer War—7ooo—was discounted ty 33 per cent., that would give approximately the number who would now be entitled to benefits. Only about 50 pW Cent of that number would desire to participate:in the benefits of the D.S.S. Act, because there- was a large proportion of men whose circumstances were fcuch that they did not require the assistance .of the. Act. Mr. Massey: " You think it should be applied, then,- only to those who are impecunious?" .. :; Mr. do Launay:. ''I don't suggest that.". >Thqre should also be taken into account;; the_!number of veterans who went to Hhe Great War and were killed. ■" 1 hope.-you,will seriously consider this matter 'to-day," he said. " Your promise in the past, although made in good faith, was a tender of an 1.0.XT. for an amount; owing for over twenty years. We are here to collect the cash." '. Mr. Massey: " I didn't make the promise twenty years ago; I was not here then." ". Mr. -Simson: "You have come into the inheritance, sir." " Dr. Falconer (Dunedin) referred to the lact that £6,000,000 had beeen devoted by patriotic funds towards .the soldiers of the late war, no proportion of which had been made available to the South African veterans. ,', Mr. Simson made it clear that the members of the deputation had no axe to grind, and pointed out that probably riot one of those present would require the pension. They were appealing on behalf of those who were less fortunate. I " SOMETHING THIS YEAR." f Mr. Massey stated, in reply, that he: was not,..able to do all that "was asked liy the, deputation, but it was for no .want of will on his own part or on the cart of the Government or Parliament: I There .was .such a thing as not being able to do all one would like. He was giad to say that the country was pretty ■*ell off,.T)utthe surplus would not meet ore-twentieth part oi the claims that" were being made. That was his trouble. All I fan do, he said, is to do the ; best in the.circumstances. I hope to ; he- able to do something for the South -African veterans. I do want to do 'something this, year—(hear, hear) —even if its conrfng into operation is postponed for a little time. i; So far as the Maori War veterans were (concerned, he did not think there was .any parallel between them and the jfiouth African veterans. At the time jt(ie Bill,,jvas passed giving the pension jto them they were practically all old, .decrepit men. --With a few exceptions, ithe members'-ofrtlio. South African ■Yetjtj'ans' Association were still enjoying ihe best years of their lives, while the ■|bulk of the Maori War veterans wero

practically living on charity. The latter should be given something definite, and sufficient to make them independent in their declining years. The South African veterans would not reach that stage for a very long time, for tlley were still in the prime of their manhood.

Mr. Clark: "There are exceptions." . Mr. Massey: "Very well, then, let's nave them. If anything is done, I would like to make it apply all round, for in military pensions it is not right and fair to discriminate between men of means and men who are possessed of nothing." Mr. Massey proceeded to refer to the piesent responsibilities of the Government in regard to pensions. " It had to find this year £2,405,221 for all pensions, and £374,000 for superannuation requirements. He referred to the cost to the Dominion of necessary increases already niade in old-age pensions, and said that there would be further claims this year. .'. " I will have to go into, this thing with my. _ colleagues," remarked the Prime Minister in conclusion. " I can't no it right off hand,' for I have not the necessary knowledge. I will have "to find out what it is going to cost; and-1 can only say that if it is at all possible we will do something for you. during the present session."

Mr. Simson said that if it came to another war, the country would readily iind £10,000,000. " If it was necessary to find the money /or another war," said Mr. Massey, " which Heaven forbid, New Zealand would find £50,000,000."