REHABILITATION

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32311, 10 September 1943, Page 8

REHABILITATION

ADDRESS BY MR THORN EXPLANATION OF THE ACT LAND SALES BILL DEALT WITH In a speech recently delivered to members of the R.S.A. in Waihi, Mr James Thorn, M.P., gave a lengthy explanation of measures adopted by the Government for the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen and women. In the course of his address Mr Thorn dealt with the improvements in the pensionsfor soldiers and their dependants, as provided in the Budget, and a few days ago enacted into legislation. Speaking specifically of rehabilitation he stated that under the Rehabilitation Act there was set up a Rehabilitation Council of seventeen members representing every important interest in the Dominion, and from this council a rehabilitation board of five members, all of them returned soldiers from the last war, had been consituted with executive authority. In addition to these bodies the Rehabilitation Board -had set up 90 local rehabilitation committees, five being in the Thames electorate, with very wide advisory powers in the solution of servicemen’s problems. The Minister of Rehabilitation, was Major Bkinner, who had fought for over three years with our Middle East Forces, and who was a brave and efficient soldier.

Work Done To J)ate Mr Thorn stated that a very considerable rehabilitation effort had already been carried out successfully. Up till March 31 last the number of servicemen and women demobilised from the forces was 19,294, and of these 10,591 had been placed in employment or had returned to their old employers, while 994 had returned to or had acquired their own businesses and farms. Of the remainder 5808 had not then been discharged, or were on leave, or in hospitals or recuperating, 1044 had refused all help or could not be traced, 397 had not decided their intentions, 156 were on full-time training schemes, 146 were enrolled for placement in employment, 74 were living on private means, 34 had left New Zealand, and 50 had died. It would thu& be seen that the rehabilitation of those demobilised at the date mentioned had largely, been successfully achieved. After explaining the trade trainingschemes which the Government had initiated for servicemen, and the educational facilities provided, Mr Thorn stated that up to the beginning of August 214 ex-servicemen had applied for loans from the State Advances Corporation for the purchase of farm properties. Of these applications 100 had been granted, and in these cases the servicemen bought the freehold of the properties concerned. Where the applications were declined the reasons were: 28 declined on account of excessive purchase price, nine declined not only because the price was excessive but because the properties were of an uneconomic nature, 28 others were declined because of the uneconomic returns from the farms concerned and their general unsuitability for the settlement of returned men, and the remaining 49 were declined for various reasons including injuries or ill-health, no experience or insufficient experience, and general unsuitability, all of which mitigated against successful farming operations. Speaking of the Servicemen’s Settlement and Land Sales Act, Mr Thorn said this had been passed into law in order to avoid the gross mistakes that had been made in the settlement of soldiers on the land after the last war. Its. principal effect was to stabilise land and house values as at December 15 last, and to ensure that all transfers of land and house properties shall be made through the Land Sales Committees and the Land Sales Court which the legislation would set up. Under the Act no homes would be taken from anyone either in town or country and no land would be compulsorily acquired for any reason other than the settlement of the servicemen. No one-unit farm would be taken unless it was offered for sale by the owners, and then it would be used only for soldier settlement. When land in excess of a one-unit capacity was taken the owner’s home would be left to him together with sufficient land for efficient operation and for the provision of a good livelihood. Mr Thorn stated that the Bill had been based on resolutions passed at the last annual conference of the Returned Services Association and had the general support of that organisation. It would certainly prevent any repetition of the unfortunate experiences after the last war, as the result of which of the £20,000,000' spent by the State on the purchase' of land 1 (Continued in previous column)