INCAPACITATED SOLDIERS

Evening Star, Issue 20315, 25 October 1929, Page 8

INCAPACITATED SOLDIERS

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY SITTING COMMENCED IN DUNEDIN The commission recently set up by the Government to investigate the possibility of providing economic employment for ex-servicemen who, through was disability, are not at present capable of adequately supporting themselves or their dependents, commenced its sittings in the board room of the Public Trust Building this morning. The commission consists of Mr j. S. Barton, S.M. (chairman). Sir John Luke, and Mr S. J. Harrison (general secretary of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association). MATTERS OF INQUIRY. Tho points on which the commission is taking evidence are; — 1. The approximate number of persons not catered for _by the existing means, such as patriotic funds and pensions, and details of their disabilities. 2. The adequacy and sufficiency of the sources and methods at present employed for tho alleviation of such persons. 3. Generally, tho means by which any remaining earning capacity can best bo utilised so as to enable them, in whole or in part, to maintain themselves and their dependents, and the advisability of adopting any particular means for this purpose. 4. The determining of the best means of affording assistance to those who are unable, partially or wholly,- to maintain themselves. 5. The classes of persons, and the principles governing such classification, of those coming within the scope of the inquiry, and the necessity for legislation to enable any or all of such recommendations as may be submitted to be carried into effect. Tho Chairman first road tho vyarrant of tho Governor-General appointing the members of tho commission and setting out the matters into which inquiry was desired to bo made. Tho commission, he said, was to inquire into and report upon tho position of physically and economically incapacitated soldiers. Tho usual procedure would be adopted of evidence taken on oath.

Mr J. L. White (secretary of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association) was present, and was informed by the chairman that ho would bo allowed no ask questions of witnesses to bring out any point which his association desired to stress EVIDENCE WANTED. The Chairman said that, by advertisement in the newspapers, the commission asked intending witnesses, or any person wishing to give evidence, to get in touch with the Returned Belchers’ Association, with the object of coordinating the task of bringing evidence. The commission asked any returned soldiers particularly, or any individuals, if they could help the commission in its task, to get in touch with Mr White, to give him a chance of having the case considered, but if any such person, thinking ho had evidence to tender, was not attached to any of the existing bodies, ho was asked to place himself in touch with the .commission. The commission suggested that any such person should first write, when their letters would receive most careful consideration, and it would endeavour to see that they were called as witnesses or else the commission would endeavour to satisfy them that their points were sufficiently covered already. Mr Barton further stated that it was being arranged that witnesses from other centres, and from Invercargill and Oamaru, should attend in Dunedin. EVIDENCE BY MR J. J. CLARK. Mr J. J. Clark, the chairman of tho Soldiers and Dependents’ Welfare Committee of the Otago Patriotic Association, was the first witness to give evidence. He said his committee considered all applications for assistance from returned soldiers and their dependents, and to date had dealt witii approximately 20,00(3 applications. He was familiar with tho conditions of the applicants, and in very many cases he had personal knowledge of the soldier. He was conversant with tho difficulties that beset tho returned man, and had known the results that followed the assistance given either by pension or grants from his association. “ I am satisfied that there is only a very small percentage of men who are unwilling to work, and they are well known to us,” continued Mr Clark. “They arc the type of men who are, for various reasons, quite unsuitable for any work that requires steady application and intelligent comprehension, We would only send them to manual labour. A few of them receive small pensions, but are fit for work. The only solution for this class that I Can suggest is that they should bo placed iii some settlement where they would be away from temptation and bo given work such as might bo found on a farm. If they were kept at it for some time probably they would reacquire the habit of work and ho able to take their place in tho labour market. The mini her in this district coming within this category is small. “There is, however, a largo number of men from minor disabilities and in receipt of small pensions who are not quite as efficient as they would otherwise have been. Many of them cannot do heavy work. They are consequently employed intermittently; when work is plentiful they ean secure employment within their capabilities, but are tho first men to be put off when hands are reduced. These men are reliable workers, who do their best to give full value for their pay. Their only fault is that their injuries handicap them in the struggle of tho industrial world. “The experience of my committee is that employers as a rule are willing to give the returned soldier a fair chance, and are very sympathetic towards them. If it were possible for them to employ ex-service men at a wage that would place them at an equality of value I am confident that preference would be given to these men by employers. “ The experience we have had goes to show that when tho_ men get into work suited to_ their disabilities they can, almost without exception, keep their jobs, and prove satisfactory and reliable employees,” said Mr Clark. “It means, however, in most cases that at tho start consideration and sympathy has to be shown to them so that they can gradually acquire the habit ‘of constant work that years of casual labour has made difficult, ft is very remarkable how getting into steady work improves ' he nealth of the men. The experience of my committee goes to prove that unemployment has a serious effect on the health of the men. It is the usual practice when any ex-soldier asks assistance on the ground of ill-health or being unfit for work to obtain a medical certificate or have him examined by our own doctor. From the reports received • we find little, if any, malingering, but ample evidence that the worry of being out of work has actually seriously affected the health of the men. _ Our records show that lack of work is one of the big factors in the breaking down qf men. This is specially noticeable in

married men with families. We have found that whex-e xve can place such men in regular employment there is invariably a big improvement in their general health. “From my experience I believe that there are a large number of men who are periodically out of work who could be placed in suitable employment as underpaid workers. This is not possible in the present state of the laxv, and would require tho Arbitration Act to he amended. Very good work in this direction was done by the Repatriation Department, and enabled many soldiers to earn a satisfactory living. My committee have in exceptional circumstances assisted men while they were learnhxg a fresh occupation. In every case the men made good and are now in quite comfortable and independent circumstances.

“As a member of the Dunedin City Council I have kept closely in touch with the returned soldiers that have been employed in casual or unemployed work, and find that as a whole they give satisfaction. The reports I receive show that men who have been for long periods out of regular eniployxnout are for the first few weeks unable to keep up with the rest of the gang, but if given a chance they soon become quite proficient. Quito a number who have been taken on for one job only have been kept on and are regularly employed. Their health has improved, and there is no more than the average broken time on account of illness. My information and observation show that considerable patience has to bo displayed with such men for the first week or two they are employed, and the work must be adapted to_ their growing ability. One of the biggest factors in the recovery of the self-respect and confidence of the men is the knowledge that they are able to earn full wages and hold their own in work,” Mr White asked whether, in the event of provision being .made in existing industries for partially incapacitated men, Mr Clark thought those men would be as successful as those reestablished without the assistance of patriotic societies. Mr Clark replied that his experience as a general rule was that the men-re-ferred to would be successful if given a suitable Cases, in his opinion, should be considered individually, and he did not think any attempt to "legislate for them as a whole might bo a success. Every man wlio had been subsidised into a fresh _ occupation by the Patriotic Association here had proved an unqualified success. Mr White: Do you consider there are sufficient facilities for providing for men who enlisted in other parts ofNew Zealand and who are therefore a charge on other patriotic societies, while in hospital and perhaps undergoing treatment for disabilities not duo to war service ? Mr Clark: There is no uniformity in the system adopted by the various patriotic societies, and a man wo would assist hero might not he helped out by another patriotic society. Some patriotic associations, owing to their trust, are not able to assist a man unless his suffering is directly due to war injury. Down here we have no such rule. The necessity of the man is the main thing with us. If a man is in hospital he requires comparatively little assistance, and the Red Cross Society gives the little comforts bo requires; but the Patriotic Society will undertake that his wife and family are kept, whether ho is suffering from war injury or not. Wo make a practice not to allow his wife and children to suffer through his illness.

Mr White; Aro the facilities and means of rendering help to ex-Imperial soldiers in hospital at present sufficient P Mr Clark said that those men were a claim on the National War Funds Council, and their funds for this part were now practically exhausted, and they were not able to do a great deal where perhaps there -was a long illness requiring a very considerable sum of money to maintain the home. In such a case it was mostly a charge on the Hospital Board. _ In very special cases the local patriotic society had assisted out of its own funds, and in other cases had been able to receive the necessary money from generous individuals Mr White 'asked if the fact that the funds from England wore exhausted had any effect on the recommendations of the Patriotic society. Mr Clark: Undoubtedly. We would like to give both South African veterans and Imperial soldiers the same assistance as wo would give a man who is our own liability, but it is not possible. Sir John Luke asked if Mr Clark considered that, if a man w’cro paid the full wage and the difference between his under-rate pay and the full wage were paid to the employer, it would remove a good deal of bad feeling. Mr Clark replied that he had known one case where it was done quite satisfactorily. The chairman asked if the activities of the Patriotic Society and the tieturned Soldiers’ Association were not overlapping, and Mr Clark explained that the two bodies worked together very harmoniously, and there was no overlapping. The Returned Soldiers' Association had a representative on the executive of the Patriotic Society, and each body knew’ what the other was doing. Tim returned soldiers usually undertook to find employment, and the Patriotic Association found the bulk of the financial assistance. The Chairman: What is the percentage of men who are not willing to work ? Mr Clark: Not exceeding 1 per cent, of those who apply to us, and probably, if you take the men as a whole a great deal less than that. Mr White asked if Mr Clark had any views as to industries which might be established, such as book-binding, the making of mattresses, or anything of that nature, for the employment oi partially-incapacitated men. Mr Clark said two types would bo required. In the first place he thought there should be something in the na tuts of country settlements when there would be a community life, and where men could be employed in bee farming, poultry, or seed growing. Then there was th«* necessity of providing suitable work in towns. At present the Government used in various institutions a great many mattresses and pillows, if disabled men could be employed making those and paid according to the results of their work there would be much benefit to the men. In the case of book-binding some of the public libraries of New Zealand sent books Home to be rebound. In reply to the Chairman Mr Clark said the employment of disabled men as ho suggested would not seriously conflict with any other industry. There were ample openings, and the type ot work was that such as business firms were not anxious to secure. Mr Clark further that he thought the patriotic societies should contribute towards the cost of establishing such industries, also the canteens fund. He thought perhaps the Government should contribute half the cost The economic pension should be taken into account in connection with earnings; but a man’s. disability pension .should not be considered at all. EVIDENCE OF R.S.A. SECRETARY. Mr James M‘T. White, the secretary of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association, said he had been deputed to give evidence on behalf of the association. Personally he had made a study of problems presented by disabled re*'

turned soldiers. During the four and a-half shears ho had been secretary bo could remember having placed only three seriously-disabled men in what would appear to be permanent employment. Vacancies for partially-incapaci-tated men rarely occurred. This small result was achieved notwithstanding the fact that ho had watched carefully every possible avenue of securing work suitable for disabled men. In some particular avenues of employment—• working lifts, for example—the advent of automatic lifts was preventing expansion in this particular direction, while some of those previously employed in this capacity had to his knowledge recently lost their occupation. In pursuing, his inquiries concerning the numbers of partially-incapacitated men in uneconomic employ, he had adopted the categories decided upon by tho New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association when it was making preliminary inquiries into this problem, Tho number of cases quoted under the various cateuories were less than fha total numbers with whom he had come in contact, because it was Impossible to remember all those who had com© under his notice during even a brief neriod. Ho estimated that his firm res for the Dunedin district could sntely be increased by at least 10 per cent. Mr White referred to a large number of cases of incapacitated men that had come under his notice. He said that during the past winter the association had endeavoured to alleviate distress arising through unemployment by means of Poppy Day work. In addition a certain number of men had been placed in private employment, and a number had also been employed through grants from Poppy Day funds to the boroughs of Kaitangata, Milton, Palmerston, Port Chalmers, Sawyers Ray, and Queenstown, i The association arranged with the councils concerned to co-operate with representatives of the organisation in these districts in the selection of suitable tecal returned soldiers for such work as is made available. Pound for £ subsidy at least was always obtained, and to date the association had this winter voted .sums of money to various local bodies, the total amount of such expenditure, together with subsidy, being used to relieve unemployment of ex-servicemen. Generally it was found that the men worked satisfactorily, only four or five having not quite come up to expectations during the present winter. A substantial percentage of tho men employed this year had been employed at least onco_ or twice previously. This, in his opinion, indicated either that a number of them were hardly fitted to compete in tho ordinary labour market, or that there were too' many men dependent on seasonal work for their means of livelihood. It would bo noticed that tho precentage of labourers employed was large. In the administration of Poppy Day work he had always found that tha number of skilled tradesmen out of employment was a very small percentage. Tradesmen of certain crafts might occasionally he unemployed for various periods, but a great proportion of the men dealt with were labourers. Men are still employed under our Poppy Day scheme although the funds are now exhausted, the additional financial assistance being received from the Canteen Funds Trust Board. I would like at this stage to refer to ex-Iraperial soldiers .whom I have not found it possible to classify under the categories previously referred to. A number of these men are constantly breaking down in health and require hospital treatment. If it is for an old war disability, application for pension is immediately made, but the time taken in determining such applications is so long that little benefit in the way of financial assistance when it is most required is obtainable. Tho assistance rendered by the War Funds Council is not such a generous scale as that rendered by most patriotic societies, and where a man has a long illness I think provision should ho made for greater relief than that forwarded to any case which has come under my notice. The Red Cross Society certainly helps in the early stages of a man’s illness in such cases as these, but I feel that there should be further funds made available, and am of tho opinion that funds should be secured from England, where, 1 understand, largo sums of patriotic money are still held. I realise that wo have a moral responsibility to these men in view of the fact that we have accepted them as desirable immigrants to this country, but I believe there is a feeling amo-g patriotic societies, and others who affard relief, that they should not ask for the total assistance they deem advisable from tho War Funds' Council simply because they know the money forwarded from the Empire Services Fund has been much more than expended by the council. Tho only other means I am aware of by which assistance may be granted to men who served in the Royal Navy or the mercantile marine during the war is from tho New Zealand Sheep Owners’ Fund. In my experience, how'ever, I know of assistance being granted to onlv two of three umn through this source, and then only when the man has ieceived in.,.ries daring service Refcrr : ”g to the beneficial in" of w’ork to ex-soldiers who had been long out oi employment and sc.ady work, Mr White, said he had often noticed during the winter months, when work was difficult to secure, or in individual cases where financial strain was encountered by the soldier that the man’s health, deteriorated and

a certain number had to go into hospital for treatment. The cause might bo largely psychological, but he believed ebaat the worry and uncertainty encountered in the battle of life often did detrimentally affect the physical health of the soldiei. Commenting on the administration of the economic pension, Mr White said the policy followed by tho Pensions Department was that monthly declarations of earnings were mado by pensioners on a slip attached to the pension warrant. Where, for example, the pensioner drew by way of earnings the sum of £o in one month, that amount would be deducted from ins economic pension the following month He knew of cases where men had undertaken work at a polling booth and the £2 earned as poll clerk had been deducted the month after declaring such earnings. Although he knew of no cases where aa economic pensioner had refused employment, he was of the opinion that such men did not desire temporary employment because they did not profit thereby, and because they were afraid that if they earned a little occasionally the economic pension might be discontinued altogether.

Mr White felt that if any scheme for the employment of pensioners in civil life was to be effected, the Pensions Board should administer the economic pension more sympathetically. Ho thought the men should receive some encouragement to work, and where a man had a dosiro to improve his position the economic pension should be reduced on a sliding scale, and that ho should still be left with what might bo termed a living wage. “In regard to the possible remedies for tho present position,” said Mr White, “ my association has no fixed policy, but I am directed to bring to yous notice several points which it is thought are worthy of close investiga tion. Evidence will be placed before yon indicating that under tho Indus trial Conciliation and Arbitration Act it is not possible to obtain an under rate worker’s permit unless the. applicant for tho permit lias already bee: apprenticed or engaged in tho particular occupation ho proposes to follow. If tins is so then it would appear essential that tho Act bo so amended as to permit of disabled men who have a small earning capacity being employed as under-rate workers by manufacturers and others, whom, I believe, are prepared to provide employment. I believe r great many of those who have at earning capacity could be so employed throughout the dominion, ami if this were done it would relieve the Government of a certain amount of responsibility in the payment of pension, but I think it would he essential that the pensioner should lie left slightly better off than when in receipt of the economic pension, and that siicl. pension should he reduced gradually. To assist in the administration of nmh a scheme I believe it would be necessary to have a local committee to take a personal interest in the men and to encourage them back to a sense of competence in themselves and their ability again to fill a useful place in the community.

“Anotlur suggestion which I think .worthy of investigation is that of the establishment of a roll similar to the King's rol 1 o* employers which has boon adopted in England. Employers who are prepared to employ a certain percentage of disabled ex-soldiers are placed on what is termed tbo King's roll, and in their advertisements and on their business tables they are permitted to have the King’s badge indicating tlnH they are assisting the exservicomen by means of employment. These two suggestions, if practicable, might be inairmrated together “1 believe the fact that tbe Repatriation Department terminating its activities so early is also responsible for a good deal of the present unemployment. On their return to Now Zealand many men were in so unsettled a state that they did not know what to do in the future, and for a considerable period, of time they just drifted into casual employment or undertook unprofitable ventures which, biter they were compeled to give up. I believe, also, that a number of the disabled men, who are not too old, could still be trained in useful occupations, and that some effort should be made to do this at the earliest possible moment. At present the Government is paying them the economic pension what it might be paying to them as a supplementary wage if apprenticed or under the training of an employer. “ I would also like to .suggest that for neurasthenic cases and post-hospi-tal cases a workshop group >etlenient would be highly beneficial. Whether the numbers justify such a proposal could, of course, only be determined when the po-dtion has been fully investigated. 1 have met, many men, neurasthenic, post-hospital cases, T.B. cases, and others whom I think would benefit by air open air life at such a settlement. Such a scheme could be modelled on a number of similar colonies in England, and the expense, in the first instance, would not be such that it would be out, ot the question to give the proposition a trial. If necessary the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act could be reopened for any of those who desire to permanently reside in such a settlement, and they could be allotted a small portion of land round their home and the general farming could be worked on the Erench community system. If such an establishment wore provided it could even be used to provide a home for single men when they are past any earning capacity’. Another aspect of a settlement of this nature is that it could be used for civilians when no longer required for ex-servicemen. Persons who may, for instance, suffer from T.B. and others would benefit: by an open air life and by suitable employment in such a settlement. In England there are many such settlements, and there are also large factories which employ many disabled men; two. e.g., being Deans Hag Toy Factory, which employs about 70U disabled men, and the British Legion Poppy Day Factory, which employs 270 men. If it wore found expedient and necessary to set up a colony of this nature, I think it should be free from departmental control, and should preferably he controlled by a committee selected by those wiio have the interest of cx-servicemen at heart.” Regarding the financing of such a scheme, Mr White thought the Government should accept a substantial amount of the responsibility—say, fill per cent. He also thought that the Canteen Funds Trust Board should as stst. Then there wore the funds held by t.ho War Funds Council, patriotic societies, and amounts held by t.ho Red Cross and Order of St. John. Each ot those bodies might contribute an equal proportion of the remaining 50 per cent of the cost. The annual report of the Ota".. Patriotic Association indicates that the average expenditure on soldiers during the past two years has been £1.227 12s Id. Of this sum £7SO 15s 6d was last rear secured from other societies and through the War Funds Council, so that this sum must bo deducted from the total amount expended The interest at the estimated rate of ,5-t per cent, on the total fund in-

vested—i.e., £'45,000 —brings in a revenue to the extent of £3,475 per annum. It would seem, therefore, that the capita! oi the fund is being reduced very slightly each year, and although wo cannot tell what the future will bring, many men’s position is now at its most difficult period, because ol the fact that they have young families which, after a period of’ten to fifteen years, will become a lesser responsibility, and perhaps be an asset rather than a handicap to them.