DISABLED SOLDIERS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 23 August 1919, Page 5

DISABLED SOLDIERS

CONFERENCE AT STRATFORD

A thoroughly representative confer- . X OB °f returned soldiers, members of the Taranaki War Relief Association and delegates from the district patriotic committees was held in the Municipal , Chamber*, Stratford, yesterday to consider questions mainly affecting the welfare ot permanently and partially disabled soldiers. I t was estimate, that there were over 150 delegates pre--s**l. *£ W?- Kirkwood, chSmaa ot the Taranaki War Relief Association, presided. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. The chairman, in opening the proceedings, read apologies from several; including General Richardson, who had forwarded a letter to b e read to the conference. He regretted that General Richardson wa s unable to b e present, but hoped that h e would attend another similar gathering on a future occasion. The conference was the outcome of a decision of th c Taranaki War Relief Association to do something special for those soldiers who were pe£ manently or partially disabled and it was at the suggestion of the Hawera returned soldiers that General Richardson had been invited to the conference. He hoped there would be fuir discussion on all matters brought forward, and, if thought advisable, remmendatijons made to the War Relief Association. Of course the delegates would recognise that th c association, who were trustees of the money which had been voluntarily contributed, ha* the final decision in dealing witn any recommendations might be made, but delegates coufd rest assured that the fund would-be administered in -hebest interests of all concerned. In the early days of its existence the War Relief Association was subject to a good deal of criticism, particularly with regard to conserving its funds. But he* thought delegates would agree that ther policy adopted by the association ia this respect wa s a proper one, so that the association would have sufficient money available to meet the needs of all those requiring assistance who had returned at the conclusion of the war. During the whole time of the existence of the association he was sure he was correct when he stated that no case deserving of assistance had been turned down, notwithstanding what was said to the contrary by the man-in-the-•treet or elsewhere. Every necessitous ease was dealt with on its merits, and if the association thought a case' was deserving of assistance then that assistance was given. The aims and objects of the association were to assist sick and wounded soldiers and their dependents, and over a # nd above thia* to deal with necessitous cases of assistance as they arose, and generally to give the greatest assistance, where it was most needed. From its very inception the working of the association had been carried on on those lines. With regard to the clothing allowance, the, association had never recognised the grant as one of right, but he didnot know of any such application being; turned down. If a man did not really require th c clothing grant he thought the application should not be made, asr the money could go towards a man. who was in need of it. He hoped the conference would be able.to give a lead a« to the manner in which they desired the association should act as reregards the distribution of its fund* as affecting the permanently and partially • disabled soldiers. He had much pleasure in welcoming the delegates and declaring the conference open. GENERAL RICHARDSON'S LETTER. The secretary of the War Relict Association (Mr Power) read the following letter from General Richardson: "I am exceedingly disappointed at. my inability to be present. I would far rather be with you on the 22nd than attending official functions, but f have received direct orders to do «o> and must obey. Kindly apologise on. my behalf to all the returned soldiers, and inform them how sorry I am. _I_ regard to the address I was first going: to ascertain your difficulties and endeavor to advise and help you to the best of my ability. I hope all returned soldiers will keep themselves organised in one non-political body, and that their objects will be to (a) mutually to help one another, (b) foster and maintain that fraternal spirit of comradeship which they have developed during active service, (c) guard the interests of widows and orphans, (dy see that the sacrifices of their dead comrades are fittingly memoralised, (e> help their disabled comrades and keepever before the public of this country j the debt they owe to these men and: the necessity for practical, sympathy, (f) take an active part in their duties as citizens and thereby give the counj fry the benefit of the experience and I education they have received by their travels around the world and observations they have made of the progress of science, art. trade, industries, agri- \ culture, and commerce in the various*, countries they have visited; (g) 6ettle>' down as quickly as possible and.deterlttine to make a success pi their „ own future careers; (h) realise that thiscountry will to a large extent be what they make it, as their influence wilF extend into every form of economic: life; therefore their influence^ should be directed towards making this country prosperous. There may be questions concerning returned soldiera which you would have liked to ask mepersonally, but if you care to forward them by "letter I _ will be pleased to answer them. I will endeavor to coma to Stratford at an early date. With best wishes for a successful conference." THE DISCUSSION. Mr E. H. Young (Stratford) asked it ithe chairman could supply the conference with any ii_formation in regard to* the financial position of the Association. The secretary replied that the position of the funds "as at June 30 was. as follows:—Loans to soldiers £14,448 (this has since been reduced by £500' i_. war relict" certificates, £11,708; debentures, £8000; fixed deposit a.t bank, £5000: Post Office Savings Bank, £561* (this had since been reduced by about £2000). Mr H. L. Spratt (Hawera): WTiat is* the total amount "of the fund to date? The Secretary: £46,000; it was £52,-------000 at the date of the balance, March? 31. Lieut.-Colonel Weston (New Plymouth) said he took it that the purpose of the conference was to ascertain the views of the returned soldiers as: to what they considered was the besfcway in which to distribute the moneys.. That, of course^ would largely depend upon the amount that w-as available* for distribution amongst'the permanently and partially disabled men. So far as he could see no indication had yet been given of the amount that was likely to be available. He took it that a good deal more would require to be obtained before the Association would be in a position to formulate a definite scheme regarding the disposal of themoney. For instance, were they going to limit the grant referring to the disabled soldiers to the Taranaki men. only, or were other Taranaki men who> had enlisted in other parts of the Dominion, and those men who were noti really Taranaki soldiers, but who en- * Ikied in Taranatri, all going to sham

in the distribution? He believed that J i when the information was compiled :-' 1 [would be found that There would bis < over 100 disabled men who would haw ( t •the right of benefiting by the fund. Hoj _ did not think there would be any ditt'i- \ cultv in securing a correct list of tii-D t disabled men belonging to the province. ; but t'H> Association should be careful , to sue that no man was- forgotten. Then , ag'.-i'i. there was the question as to what , proportion a,, man was to share in the fund —were they going to distribute tlie j xnoiKW according to' a soldier's pension or the pension he would be entitled to ( if h»- -.vere discharged and cured. He did net think that would be. the best basis to work upon, but no doubt a satisfactory scheme, which would meet with The desire of all, would be formulated . The question of the men who were still under treatment would hay-;« to (>e considered, and unfortunately there were men whose treatment would jvrobabily extend ove_- years, many oi whom would have much suffering to endure before they could come into the light of life again, and these pnrticular eises were deserving of special coneideiMtion. .Were they going to give a man his share of the distribution in a lump sum or in the form of a pension, or was it going to be retained and invested for him? He deprecated tbo opinion held by many that a returned soldier could not Ik> entrusted with a shilling or that all returned men wore neoes.s-_.rily drinkers or would never settle down to civilian life. A number, when they fust returned, were perhaps inclined to be unsettled, but he thought the majority of those who had come back had returned with a desire to settle down and start their careers afresh and to do good for the country. There need be no fear that the grants would be used to the best advantage. All men werri at firet unsettled on their return, but they soon steadied down. The majority present that day would War h-iiv. out in.this statement. The Central Association should decide the amount to be allocated, but the manner, of the -distribution could very well be left to the various local committees, who were acquainted with their own men, and who could be relicd1 upon to distribute the grants to the best advantage. (Applause). . ' Mi Atkinson (North Taranaki)/ moved . "That it be a recommendation from this, confeiei.ee to the Finance Committee of the Waa." Relief Association to prepare a report for the September meeting of the executive, stating (1) what amount of the funds shall be allocated for distribution among the permanently disabled men, and (2) what amount will be economicsilv available for 19UJ, 1920 and 1921." A Delegate: Does the motion embrace the case of a widow who ha« lost her only son? Tin- chairman replied that the As.vfrfM'iatioT! dealt with, cases outside the present scheme, and had already considered several such cases as that mentioned by the speaker. Mr Tosland (Egmont), who seconded the motion, said he was firmly of ihe ■opinion that the allocation cf the money should be divided into several. categories—firstly, tho permanently disabled men: secondly, the partially disabled men; thirdly, the men who were broken in heaith and other cases of hardship. Trie Association would then know what to give to each man and so <x u'd devise a- scheme of allocation with •c* edit to itself and with satisfaction to the men. Was the Association prepared to give the men disabled a straightout giant irrespective of their eireum-_3l-!«nces? TQ-day was the opportunity for the men to make recommendations to the Association, and he could assure tho delegates of the returned men that the Association would do their utmost to give the utmost satisfaction tc all—from tho greatest to the smallest. (Applause). Mr Atk:!ison. in speaking to his motion, said the amount to be finally deckled upon for allocation must be" left •with the War Relief Association, because they would know tha amount ol money that would lie available. Tht Returned Soldiers' Association could help very materially in expressing then opinion us to the manner in which tlie money shall be-.distributed, but lie could • -assure the conference that whatevei was done every case would be treated on its merits, as .had been the policy in. the past. It would lx_ impossible tc .fix a definite amount for each soldier, bub the hardest cases would receive 'first consideration. With regard to the disposal of the funds in the past he did not know of a single recommendation from tho local committees that .had been turned down. The Association ■always acted upon the recommendation of the local committees because t.hey had the personal 'Knowledge of every rase which came before the Association. Th" l.eturned Soldiers' Association had a representative on the Association, and so were in a position to give the Association a good deal of the necessary information that wa« required. The question of whether it would be advisable to pay the grant to a soldier in a lump sum, cr to pay him a pension, or purchase him an annuity, was one which required to be carefully considered; h'de-ed it might pay the Association to ascertain from one of the iu•surancc companies* what they would group a certain number ot "annuities lor. Captain Smith (New Plymouth) -aid ho did not agree with the last speaker's, views. He was of the opinion that it would be bettor to give a m-in a lump j_i:?n than a pension or pittao;.v —thoy could not give one man. cliaik and another Je.-.id. He did not think -sny soldier liked these- pittances that \vvre -j.'.van out. A Delegate: No.good these 35 francs. -(Laughter). Proceeding, Captain Smith cons:dcrod that every man should be allowed •to have a fair spin with his money, yui lv- was .-atisficd that the large majority of the m *?n could bo .died upon to make goo-!. Air C. K. Bellringer (New Plymouth) *aid the Association realised that they must have a definite policy in regard to assisting the permanently'disabled men. He agreed with Mr Tosland! that a definite- amount should he allocated for the disabifd men, but this could not bo settled until complete information its to Ihe number of men who T/ould he likely to benefit by the fund was available. He was _ quite sure they would lie able to formulate some scheme which would be satisfactory to all. The Association wanted •( > do the right thing by the men and to see that ample justice was done to each man. The Association realised that i'o monetary yant could over repay tho men for what they had endured, tint they could at least give them something which would assist them through life. ' *Mr J. Steve:.»X)n (Kapuni) referring io- tho criticism, which had been levelled -against the War Relief Association in the early days, said that delegates would see that it would have been a bad policy had the Association administered its funds too liberally, because they would all reccgni.se that it w?« 'ripctv-sary to have a fund 'Sufficiently large to meet the requirements of the list draft cf disabled or sick men v/ho roturnod. Since the. signing of the armistice the Association had pursued an ■entirely different policy because the necessity for this arose. With re_jard to the. future ho was in favour of giving t\:* disabled men all tho money that wa-s ]o-. over after providing for the nere-s-------<i!hu)u«. cases. He could endorse v-the-ruu'ir.tks ol the pitvlous speakers that

no applications recommended by the local committees had ever been turned — down. He referred to the success of tbe loan policy of the Association, ancl said he did not know of >nt soldier who had not made good, the policy of the Association in the pas. should bo adhered to, and the tin-pos-n of the n-cney could safely be ieft in the hands of the Association. If th^re was any cliance of a soldier using _h e money C judiciously, it could be relied upon that it would be given him. ' Major Cox (Hawera) urged extreme I care in deciding what form the money ■shall be allocated1. He thought it I would be unwise to set aside a specific sum for each man and pay it indis- J criniinately, and while agreeing that the majority of the men would probably T use the money judiciously, there were I possibly a few who would not, and who, ( j perhaps, would become penniless, and then they would come back upon the State. This must be avoided, if pos- -, sible. Mr Atkinson's scheme to invest the money in the shape of purchasing - annuities appeared to be a good one. The chairman ■supported Mr Atkinson's motion. ' The question as to whether a man should be paid a lump ' sum was one which required very careful consideration. The Association would like to care for all their Tara- I i>aki men, whether they had enlisted here or in other parts of the Dominion, but under the present pro- ; vincial system which prevailed they could only deal with the men who hail enlisted in the province. Taranaki men who enlisted in other provinces were being provided for by those associations. If they • were to depart from the present system there was bound to be overlapping. He had always favored one Dominion fund. With regard to the distribution of the money to the disabled men, there would be no difficulty about that, although tlie Association , could not yet decide the actual amount , to be allocated, as they did not know ( the number of disabled men who wished , to participate in the fund. Mr Atkinson's motion-was carried. \ STRAIGHT-OUT GRANT FAVORED. There was «om e iurtlier discussion bearing on the question ot a siraignt- - out grant.' i Dr Thomson (Hawera) said that, - speaking as a medical man ,it appeared. > to ium tliat it was far more important * that the disabled man should De pro- ) vicled with suitable employment than - to give him money. He enumerated ■ many avenues of light employment, and k suggested that returned soldiers might i well consider the advisabieness of qualifying as bacteriologists, which provided " a very congenial occupation ana a £oocl iiving. Mr H. L. Spratt spoke in favor of a* general scheme being formulated in _ dealing with disabled men, but said _ that nothing could be done until they knew the number of men who were iikeiy to be participants in the fund. c He suggested that a committee from y the conference should be appointed to L craw up a list of all the disabled men, ;. together with a history sheet of each j_ man. c 'The chairman replied that the Asso- , ,1' ciatton was already tabulating such a n schedule. He added that he was in o accord with Dr Thomson's suggestion h that the men should be got into eraOj ployment, • and the Association had ald , ways endeavored to find employment for t-j men who were seeking it. i- Captain Smith (New Plymouth) y strongly favored the giving of" a lump is sum in preference to a "weekly allows- ance. " Mr Hunter Booth (New Plymouth) ~- asked why capitalise whatever'amount ■o was set aside for distribution among c disabled men. Assuming, for instance, that the amount decided upon was > £25,000, and there were 100 to particij?- pate, he maintained that it would be it better to give the men £1 a week for ■i- five years, when the amount would be 3t absorbed. By paying it out in this "j way certain proportions of the money d would be placed on fixed deposits for '•• varjung periods of from two to three l(~ years. The interest earned upon that d money would probably enable the 'r grant to be extended beyond the five <i years. .V Mr Spratt (Hawera) said that, as--0 summg there were 150 disabled men, i', he was doubtful whether the whole '<? 150 would participate in the scheme, f borne of them would possibly 'not rce quire assistance. i- Major Cox (Hawera) believed it ■t would be found that there would only v be between 50 or 60 disabled men who n would require financial assistance. In >" making the grant a man's "financial y status would be taken into consideraLi V° n he Relieved, by the War Relief v Association. j •7 Mr Tosland (Opunake) moved; j 6 (iT nat .D 0 a recommendation to the ;- War Relief Association to appoint a c committee of returned soldiers to con- ;- ter with the association to devise a :i scheme whereby a final distribution of r the fund may be made." Cl The chairman "seconded pro forma. After some discussion the motion - was lost. - Captain Smith (New Plymouth) * moved: "That the Taranaki War Re- * lief Association be recommended to adopt the lump sum policy, the sum d in some cases to be invested for the - soldier at the local committee's dis--1 eretion, and that the pensions or anil unity scheme be applicable to widows X ancl dependents." I ') Mr Harding seconded. ! The chairman stated that the asso--1 ciation was already dealing with the proposal contained" in the latter part :- of" the motion, The mover then withdrew the clause '""" referring to widows and dependents. l Further discussion ensued, during '' which the chairman pointed out that l" the policy of the association had aln ways heen to do the best among the , men who wore in need of assistance. i; Captain Smith's resolution was cary rie<l. ° 111 reply to a question, Mr Bellringer '• said it was quite clear that if a man - .preferred an annuity the association r would buy it for him. "I COMPLIMENTARY. In moving a hearty vote of thanks I to the delegates from the returned • v soldiers for their attendance, Mr Bells ringer said they could rely upon it " that the association would do their I !j best in the interests of the men. Cl Mr F. Mills (Hawera) expressed his * pleasure at meeting the returned men '> in conference, and hoped they would 1 return satisfied that the association •■- was doing their best for them. Lieutenant-Colonel Weston thank- - ed tbe chairman ancl the members of n the association for the cordial manner in which they had met the returned y men. He had the fullest confidence. ] that any matter which came before ■i tnf ar Belief Association would re-r-fMve the utmost justice in treatment. He was sure the whole country was united to do the very best in the in- ~ tevests of the returned soldiers. He _ moved a vote of thanks to the association for the manner in which they had i mot tlie returned men. L' I Air H. L. Snratt, in seconding it, > said that the War Relief Association had always given a sympathetic atten--1 tion to any matter affecting tliA re- - t-u-nod men. ancl had always tried to > do the best by the returned boys. C _ The chairman, in acknowledging a :5 similar compliment to the chair, said - the delegates could be assured that! * the returned men would always receive j

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