R.S.A.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIV, Issue XLIV, 10 June 1924, Page 4

R.S.A.

ANNUAL DOMINION CONFERENCE.

WORK OF THE APPEAL BOARD.

(BY TELEGHAPH— PRESS ABSOCIAT»>N \ CHRISTOHURCH, June? At the annual Dominion Conference ot the New Zealand Returned SeMi*rs» Association, the ."report stated that no imahty had been reached in regard to economic pensions, and further that nodefinite effort was made by t£e Department to obtain employment for' applicants tor economic pensions. "YVith re gard to the Appeal Board, the associaXT\ • ex Pres J sed. confidence in the efforts or feir Frederick Chapman as the fjst president of the board. With ietf.nl to h ls successor (Mr S. G. Raymond), the association felt confident +,hat thesame spirit of impartiality would be shown The Appeal Board fed «ismissed 23 appeals in Wellington and upheld 19; dismissed 59 in Christchurch and upheld 41; dismissed 11 in Dunedm and upheld 17; and dismissed ol in Auckland and unheld 44 I n all there had been 300 appeals:" 144 had! been.dismissed, 121" upheld, 8 withdrawn, 23 deferred, and 4 pensions, were made permanent. With regard to.* tiie clothing allowance to amputees, the^ executive considered that the legislation should be amended 6 o that amounts granted to wearers of mechanical devices be left to the opinion of the. \Yar Pensions Board and not kept afc the present fixed rates of £8 and £6 Ihe executive congratulated the Government upon the legislation in •#*a«etion with the Soldier Land Settlement: Act of 1923 The N.Z.R.S.A.'s line of policy had been right for. the revaluati° n™! soldiers' settlement land, ancE the 1923 legislation made provision for this course of action. With regard tomedical treatment, and after care it was reported that attention had beenpaid to incipient mental and shell shock cases. The R.S.A. was a warm advocate of the Spahlinger treatment for--1.8., and urped tiie Governme«4 toinvestigate aiia secure the New Zealand rights to the treatment. Thepresident (Sir Andrew Russell) had I visited M. Spahlinger m Switzerland, and was impressed by what he saw ; further. Sir James Allen was to be congratulated on his efforts in this connection. During the past 12 months marked progress • had been made in connection with artificial limbs, and an expert had arrived and had commenced teaching the Government artificial limb factory employees in Wellington the necessary details. The report states that a further number of the branches have decided to wind up their affairs. Last year's membership showed a decrease of just on 25 per cent, on the previous year. The following r associations were being wound un: flauraki, Whakatane, Matamata, Te Aroha, McKenzie Country, Thames Valley, l>alclutha and Dannevirke. The total number of affiliated associations was now 51. During the year Dunedin had increased its membership by 305. NewPlymouth by 85, Te Kuiti by 63,' V aipawa by 8, Molueka by 4, and Temuka by 1. It had been decided to issue a small magazine, quarterly for a start,, to financial members - OHRISTCHUROH, June 9. The R.S.A. conference carried the following resolution: "That the; attention of the Government be again vdrawjot to the fact that there are a Targe .number of disabled soldiers capable of: filling positions as clerks, liftmen, caretakers, messengers, crossing keepers, etc., who are unemployed, and- that a special endeavour be made by the Government to place all these men in suitable employment, having regard ia each case to the man's physical condition and his attainments.'' "That the Government he requested to give some attention to the after care of T.B. and neuristhenic soldiers and that more suitable avenues of: light; employment be opened up for = : those men. ' "That preference be given to . discharged soldiers (whether already set-: tied on the land or not) as-: against civilians m the letting of grazing rights or the leasing of Crown lands acquired' for discharged soldiers' settlement: tan* not taken up, or land which haS bee» taken up by discharged soldiers, "befe nas reverted to the Crown." "ThaJ in yiew of the long defavs i» dealing with applications for loans-for building purposes under the State Advances Act, this association stronriynrges the Government again to* put into, operation section 2 of the Disdharge*Soldiers' Settlement Act, making pro- £ ST S* loans *° discharged soldiers ior building purposes."