R.S.A. CONFERENCE

Evening Star, Issue 19891, 13 June 1928, Page 11

R.S.A. CONFERENCE

PENSIONS REMITS [Pek United Press Association.] WELLINGTON, June 12. Tho R.S.A. Conference to-night {Kissed resolutions ae follows: That tho War Pensions Act should be amended, to .provide for pensions lor widows of ex-soldiers whoso deaths are attributable to war .service, irrespective of a pre-war engagement to marry or the dato of marriage. That old age pensions bo available as of right at the age of sixtv to returned soldiers, and at the ago of fifty-five on the production of a medical certificate that a man’s earning capacity is impaired. , That the Imperial Government be asked to remove tho clause stipulating that a claim for pensions must be made within seven years of the soldier’s discharge from t-Tlie forces. That, in view of the large number of Imperial es-sorvicemen now re-siding in New Zealand, -the conference urges upon the Now Zealand Government the immediate necessity of entering into a reciprocal agreement with the Imperial Government whereby 1 lie claims ol Mali funnerial ex-servicom.cn lor pensions and treatment may be investigated and decided by the Now Zealand War pensions Board, and, if necessary, tlm Appeal Board. That the New Zealand War Pensions Act be amended so that the New Zealand pensions may be available to men domiciled in New Zealand prior to enlistment and who served with tho Imperial or other Empire forces. That it be a recommendation to the Government to re-establish vocational training in connection with T.B. soldiers, particularly _at Pukeora, where there are thirty-eight T.B. returned men fn the case of the wives of men in receipt of full pensions for dual disabilities, snob as loss of two legs or a leg and an eye, and who are otherwise organically sound, and who may at any time after their discharge be eligible to receive pensions in cases of serious organic physical disability, such as T. 8., heart disease, etc., and in receipt of a full pension, the conference feels that these marriages arc not desirable, and that the wives should not be eligible for pensions. That tho interest from the canteen funds for one year be used for the purpose of granting relief to dependents of ex-soldiers and providing work for unemployed returned soldiers. That the Government be requested to subsidise tin’s amount £ for £. That the council appoint a deputation to wait upon the members o c the Canteen Board resident in Wellington to stress the resolution.