WAR DISABILITIES

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4800, 21 June 1939, Page 2

WAR DISABILITIES

FIRST CONFERENCE. OPENS TO-DAY'IN WELLINGTON. In conjunction with the annual conference of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association, a conference of the N.Z.E.F. Amputees’ Association will be held in Wellington, beginning to-day. Delegates representing Great War amputees from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will meet for the first time in conference and will discuss conditions affecting limbless soldiers. When evidence has been arranged a case will be presented to the N.Z.R.S.A. conference so that the parent association will be in a position to make representations to the authorities.

During the past year an investigation has been made into the economic conditions of limbless ex-soldiers throughout New Zealand, and this reveals that while some have made good, the majority have never been able to find a position in the industrial and commercial world suited to this discounted industrial value. It is stated that their mental anguish and financial loss over the years since the war have been out of all proportion to the small amount of compensation they have received. The investigation also showed that unemployment is rapidly increasing amongst the war disabled. The Amputees’ Association considers that the siuation is alarming, and it is hoped that the conference will be able to point a way to a better standard of living for the men who are relying on pensions.