DEFERRED CREDITS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 52, 29 August 1940, Page 7

DEFERRED CREDITS

SOLDIERS' REWARDS

MR. LEE'S BILL

The Soldiers' Guarantee Bill, introduced early in the session by Mr. J. A. Lee (Democratic Labour, Grey Lynn), was discussed in 'the House of Representatives yesterday. As the Bill involved appropriation it would automatically have been ruled out of order, hjit the Prime Minister suggested that because of the importance of the subject it should be discussed. Mr. Lee said he must confess to a feeling of gratitude towards the Prime Minister for the opportunity to dis- ' cuss the principles of the Bill. What was in the minds of those who framed the measure was to try and focus attention upon the necessity of takingsteps in advance to ensure a policy of spending at the point demobilisation occurred. One clause proposed that for the period of the war the soldier's wage should be brought up to an amount of not less than £5 a week, but it was not suggested that that additional purchasing power should be given to him now, because it was realised that the additional purchasing power at the moment would not. be. possible. It was suggested that the soldier be paid the additional amount in deferred credits. The framers of the Bill were trying to imagine not only the soldier's welfare at the point at which he was demobilised, but they were also trying to imagine the soldier receiving over a period some little periodical attention which would help aim to take up the slack of society after the war. . Another clause provided for the soldier's basic pension being subject to periodic and automatic review in consonance with any increase in the cost of living and improvements in general .living standards;. -There was. also a provision that any soldier who was a civil servant should be entitled on reemployment to the increased emoluments that would have been added to his pre-war wage had he not been admitted for service overseas. The Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. A. Hamilton) said the Bill went further than the principle of planned rehabilitation for discharged soldiers; it advocated a guarantee to the soldier before he left New Zealand of five years,in employment at a wage of at least £5 a week after he returned. Mr. Hamilton said that he would not say that the proposals in the Bill were a solution. Jt sounded very good to guarantee every soldier £5 a week, but that might not be financially possible. PRIME MINISTER'S VIEW. The whole question of rehabilitation of soldiers was already in the minds of every member of the House, declared the Prime Minister. He thought there was general agreement in the House and the country that it was due to the soldiers that the fullest possible provision should be made for them after the termination of their services, although there might not be agreement when it came to the question of discussing details of a practical agreement. The Government already had had a report on the question of rehabilitation, reviewing what had been done in this country and other countries after the last war. That was only a start. The one principle on which they were all agreed—in fact, he had heard no dissentient voice anywhere—was that to the limit of the resources of the country their responsibility was to make adequate provision for the men and their families. What they could do would depend upon the production at the time. There was no section that had a greater claim on the community than the soldiers, and if they started on that basis the problem was how to work up and put into practice the responsibility all felt. The Bill had opened discussion on the subject, added Mr. Fraser. It could not be continued on this measure, but ample opportunity would be given for full discussion on the question later. As it involved an appropriation, the Bill was removed from the Order Paper.