CONFERENCE'S PROCEEDINGS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 3 June 1919, Page 3

CONFERENCE'S PROCEEDINGS.

(BY TL.^l GRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) CHRISTCHURCH, May 31. At^the Returned Soldiers' Conference on Friday, it was proposed that each of the four centres in conference should elect one vice-persident and three members, except in the cass of Wellington. The committee also recommended that in the event of any district committee or local association desiring to alter thei constitution of the N.Z.R.S.A-., to allow such association .to take political action that a referendum be taken of all local associations throughout NewZealand.

It was agreed that any district comimttee or local association could enter another district committee concerned to combat any proposed alteration in the constitution; that headquarters should be empowered with the consent of a district committee to make oi- combat any similar proposals. It was decided that th c maximum, number of delegates to a conference should be three, and that associations with a membership up to 1000 have one delegate, up to 2500 two, over 2500 three.

1 be basis of representation which, was agreed to provides that n o association shall be permitted to exercise more than twenty votes. The executive was instructed not to accept affiliation of any association numbering less than. 100 membeiT, this not to apply to any association affiliated or in,process of affiliating.

The llnance Committe© estimated the income for the incoming year at £3750 and the expenditure at £3883 16s. ■ . The following officers were elected •— Piesidpnti Dr: Boxer; ti-ejasurer, Mr R iv Al drJS h ;' executive: Auckland, Messrs 'Watts, Long, Pollock and Ching: Wellington, Messrs Batten, Harper Ourtayne, Bell, Corks and Jacobs. ' Palmfr^on N. orth wa s fixed as the centre £f A distnct- Canterbury: Messrs McCallum, Leadiy, Anderson, and Scott; Otago: Messrs McLean, Laing J Graham, and Miller. I A motion to ask the Government to set up a commission to enquire into the | question of employing permanently dis- <■ ah led men in Government Departments and other industries was carried CHRISTCHURCH, June 1. Ihe conference of the Returned Sol/oersj Association was resumed to-day (lSunday). . iuoo *he. suggestion of M r McManus, Air Batten agreed to strike out the recommendation in the repatriation report that an apprentice should not marry until he; as a competent tradesman. A motion that disabled men learning new trades should receive .award rates was lost Mr Batten pointing out that this would mean a rush to the highest paid trades, in which there was no guarantee that a man would ever become mlly competent. The policy should be to tram men to become independent of Government assistance. It was resolved:- "That having regard to the present great scarcity of houses in JNew Zealand, the conference urg© on the Government the immediate and pressing necessity for State action towards building homes suitable for occupation by returned men and their dependents, and. that it be not confined to erecting blocks of houses on special Government areas, but to distribute houses in as many quarters of the town