FINANCIAL HELP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17646, 26 November 1917, Page 6

FINANCIAL HELP.

THE SOLDIER AND THE STATE,

A RESERVIST'S QUERIES

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln view of the fact that the Second Division has beon called up could you supply your thousands of readers with some information regarding the grants made by the Financial Assistance Board. A reservist, for instance, has £3OO invested an a house, leaving £SOO on mortgage. It appears to bo generally understood that in these c.'rcumstances the board will pay the interest, on the mortgage. Another reservist, however, is living in a rented house, and has £3OO in the Post Office Savings Bank, which lie. has been accumulating for years with the idea of purchasing a business. Will the board pay the houso rent an that case? If not it means that on the soldier's return in, say, two years time, his wife may have been compelled to draw on her savings, but the other soldier on his return finds that his money invested in houso property is intact. Again, what is the position in regard to the payment of insurance premiums (life and fire), children's injurance, children's education and music, time' payments of articles purchased, rates and taxes and the other manj incidentals to a home? f . Vr .. a I am giving be low the cases of three friends who lach desire to know their SStion in regard to the Financial AsSnce Boarf. Each is roughly 111 receipt! of £250 or over per annum, and each has now a comfortable and well furnished" home. . ,■■ (A) Reservist with no children (who, bv the bv, has already been called up and passed as fit); is buying bouse and paying interest and principal combined bv weekly instalments of 1-s 6d; husband's father pays £1 a week board; nephew pars 10s a wwk board; insurances total"£l2; is paying 5s a week off piano, which was purchased two years ago/ , ~., . (B) Reservist with one child; is buying house for £9OO, of which £SOO is on mortgage; interest due half-yearly; insurances total £lB. (C) Reservist with two childrenn ; has £3OO in P.O. Savings Bank, living in rented house. £1 2s 6d a week; insurances total £23. The above instances are typical of hundreds, and I should bo much obliged if you could supply the information, which is of vital importance to every man and woman of the Second Divisiou—l am, etc., SECOND DIVISION. WHAT THE OFFICIALS SAY.

INQUIRIES IN WELLINGTON. A copv of " Second Division 's " letter was" forwarded to the Wellington representative of the " Lyttelton Times" s o that first-hand inquiries might be mado and the best information secured on the points raised. Ihfj result is the following telegram dated Wellington, November 25: " Almost every Second Division man who is called up to serve his country in the Expeditionary Forco presents a fresh aspect of the problem which the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board was set up to solve. Consequently, it is impossible tlo lay down in fixed regulations or scales of allowances what any man is entitled to under this scheme. All that) can be done is to indicate the general lines of the board's policy, and to add—a* i 1 can fairly do after looking into the board's work—that it interprets its powers in a fair and liberal manner. "The most serious criticism heard is that the assistance scheme is not of much use to thrifty men, but) that it puts a premium on improvidence. It has also been said that the existence of a ' nest-egg' in the bank places the soldier out of reach of State assistance. This is not so. However, it is well to admit that tho improvident man who enlists and leaves obligations will get more out of the State than one who in civil life has lived within his means, and not incurred obligations which he could not have met out of his income. But this is true not only of soldiers, but of the generality of men. Those who squander their income on luxuries, to the detriment of their dependents, can secure free hospital treatment, even food and clothing for their children, if they become destitute, though the careful man will never reach this condition of dependenco on the community. Grants bv the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board ar© not charity, but this general principle does apply, that the careful man will probably get less on the average than the thriftless, though his savings have not' to be exhausted, or even decreased, to enable the scheme of grants to benefit his dependents. "The- general principle underlying the decisions of the board is that it will prevent hardship to a soldier by reason of the fact that his military pay and allowances are insufficient to meet obligations which in civil life he was able to carry on his usual income Income is the deciding factor, not capital. If the soldier has a credit in the bank, the board does not say to his wife. ' Come to us when the money is gone.' It only takes into account the fact that there is a sum coming! in as interest, which goes to increase the income of the soldier. To that extent only is the bank balance con-, sidered, for the board will make such a grant as will enable obligations specified in its regulations to bo maintained without trenching upon the soldier's savings. THREE CASES ANSWERED.

"The correspondent in the 'Lytte'lton Times' raises threo specific cases of reservists who arc in doubt as to the extent of the probable assistance from the State when they eater camp. These were placed before the responsible officers, and their answers noted. Each reservist, it was stnted, is in receipt of a civilian income of about £250 per annum, and has a comfortably furnished home. (A) Reservist with no children, is buying house and paying interest and principal combined by weekly instalments of l"s 6d; husband's father pays £1 a week board; nephew pays 10s a week board; insurances total £l2; is paying 5s a week off piano, which wa* purchased two years ago. . . . " In this case it is obvious that the wife will continue the home. She will eet about £lO9 per annum in pay and allowances. If the 10s a week boarder is not paying sufficient for Ins keep the board could not help to maintain this young man, and thus the situation is slightly too complicated to give a final "answer without going into the individual merits of the case. The board, assuming that the facts are correctly stated, would pay the rates and insurances on the home, and also the interest on the mortgage, but not the principal, for the latter can be suspended until after the war. " The payment of principal has been thoroughly discussed in connection with mortgages under Jhe State Advances Department, where principal and interest, are paid in regular instalments The Financial Assistance Board in these cases pays; thei interest, and has arranged with the *«j*»^ n l° suspend the demands for principal until after the war. The amount*.usually due each half-year will, not^ pile.;«£ but the payment of principal will sunpJv be suspended for the time. So , n this case the wife would be completely relieved during the war of any payment in respect to the mortgage. ' < (B) Reservist with one chiW: h buying house for £9OO, of which £SOO is on mortgage, interest 4ue half-yearly; in-

surances total _tß.--';We would pay the lot,' was the comment of tho officer who has to do with these claims. "(0) Reservist; with two children; has £3OO in the Post. Office 8a rings Bank; living in rented house, £1 2s 6d a week; insurances total.£23—As the reservist is a man,: who has been earning £250 per annum, the board, which consists of business- men of wide experience, would regard this rent as reasonable, and would' pay it, as well as the insurances. There is one important point al>cttt insurances whicn should be made, 'and it is that the board will not countenance the taking out of insurance bolicies. when a man has enlisted, sorbint'.the State has to bear the special .ibwden of an obligation he would-.iio'fc -halvo undertaken out, of his ordinary income. 'Without hesitation it pays' the loading 1 on a. current policy for war,risk, but it will not undertake to pay'C°r.' additions to the policy at or after .tbe time of enlistment. The.only concession " n 4 er heading is in regard to new policies up to £2OO if no policy was previously in existence, and where the soldier has dependents towards whose support he :s contributing. In such a case the board will finance his policy. It also keeps ii'n instalments cm futniture bought bofore enlistment, but' tins has to.be watched carefully, owing to the way in which the grants have been abused. Expensive pianos and articles of furniture have been bought under an impression, fostered by seme salesmen, that the State will foot the bill.

"The way in which a reservist can applv ihe scheme to bis own circumstances is to assume that if his soldier's pav and allowances will not meet his current obligations, and enable his wife and family to live up to their ordinarv standard, then the State will pay the difference, by grants in respect to "rent, rates, insurances and interest on mortgages." ______