DISCHARGED SOLDIERS

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 25 January 1917, Page 2

DISCHARGED SOLDIERS

INFORMATION DEPARTMENT. The following is an extract from a recent memorandum from the Hon. A, L. Herdman to the Minister of Defence on the operations of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department, of which Mr Herdman is in charge :— —Local Committees— For the purpose of assisting the Department in securing work for returned soldiers, over thirty committees have been set up in various centres throughout the Dominion. These committees have defined areas of operation, and are ordinarily branches of the local patriotic societies. They are frequently presided over by the Mayor of the Borough, and they work in close co-operation with the local representatives of the Department of "Labour, who have been requested by the head of that Department to afford them all possible assistance. —How the Depra tment Proceeds— All offers of employment by Government Departments, local authorities, or private individuals are indexed alphabetically under ' District' and * Occupation/ Particulars of these offers aie immediately advised to the districts affected, and if not promptly filled they are then communicated to all the centres generally throughout the Dominion. Similarly when a man is reported as desiring work his name and requirements •re immediately advised to the local committee, and if there is any position in the ' District' or ' Occupation ' index which prim a facie seems suitable their attention is specially drawn thereto. The officer in charge of the Information Department is indefatigable in looking out for openings for returned men, and at the present time there are only three men on the Wellington employment register. —The Pensions Ssale —

It has been suggested that men who have been victims of the gravest mutilations, such as the loss of both arms or both legs, have been given a pension of £1 a week. As I felt satisfied that men so circumstanced were treated in a more liberal manner than that suggested I had enquiries on the subject made at the Pensions Department, and the following has been supplied :—■ Nature of Injury Pension granted Leg off at thigh ... £91forl2m'ths Leftarmoff and left foot off £91 per annum Mentally deranged .., £91 „ Phthisis ... ... £91 „ Foot off ... ... £91

' for 6mths, then £79 Right leg off ... £78 per annum Right arm off at shoulder £78 „< Right arm off above elbow £78" „ Right farm off below elbow £78 „ Right arm off ... £78 „ Left arm useless ... £78 „ Shot in face ... £78 Right leg off below knee £78 „ wife, child also

£32 and £1910 Left farm off below elbow £65 per annum Left forearm useless... £65 „ Right leg off (not on duty) £65 „ Right hand stiff .., £52 „ Eye out ... ... £52 „