THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10109, 17 October 1917, Page 5

THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

SEPARATION ALLOWANCES.

(Fan Pukrs Association.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 17. In, the House yesterday Sir James Allen read a. statement of separation aHowanco which the Government proi>osod sbou 1, U effect from Ist January, 1918, ; > , being in all cases at per diem: lust second-lieutenants drawing pay of,■ rank), wife or guardian of motherless child ren. 3s; warrant officer n.c.0., and men, wife 3s: widowed mother dependent o soldier, or an invalid father, who is « widower and dependent on soldier, f total income, apart from allowance does not e. "eed 10s per week. Is 6d; child under .16 rears Is; brothers and sisters under six teen dependent' on soldiers, Is. In explaining the proposals, bn Mien said no provision was made tor allowances to wives of officers, as their pay was supposed to be sufficient, bub because of the Increase in the new scale the pay o warrant officers was brought above that of lieutenant, with children, and to remove | that anomalv an allowance had been pio-j vided for the wife and children of beutem , .-nils. These proposals would cost £l-W,OOO per annum, the estimate being based on the present reduced quota of .-emolumentsThe expenditure, however, would not conn, ill( o Ihe ~resent linancial year. r I he Govenimeut had given careful consideration to the question of allowances, and would mm hj like to make larger provision. hey t. It. some standard must bo set, am the stand;,nl set was not that of the well-to-do man.' hut of the working man. Iho soldier who married a vonng woman would go aua\ with 35s per week, his wife receiving 21s per week out of his pay. A soldier conld Allot his wife 24s 6d per week, so hat she remained behind with 45s 6d. which was a I'cnerous allowance for a woman without j children. An attempt was being made, ml the interests of the Second Division to bring the allowances up to the standard of a man earning £SOO a year 1 hji s was most unfair ami impracticable. Ihe amount fixed were the minimum rates. They ought t increased, but. he gave his word they would not lie reduced. ~ , Sir John Findlay said nftor hearing ] statement by the responsible Ministers in caucus that morning, no greater Jack ot confidence could be expressed m the National Government than by votm 0 against the provisions now before them. 'lle’-V had been told deliberately that they | had'reached a breaking-point, and if they pushed further they would be faced with a national -disaster. ~ . I Sir Joseph Ward informed the House that | as a. result of the fullest consideration hv 1 Cabinet it bad been unanimously decided that everything possible had been done. U the country was going to bo driven at the bayonet point by the Second Division, it would be better to leave them boro Members should reflect that they had had to borrow 28 millions for war purposes, also that the whole responsibility for that rested upon tlie shoulders of Ministers. Did those members who told them in a light-he.ii ter and flippant wav know that they had to borrow £28,000,000 for war purposes, also that the whole of the responsibility rested upon Ministers. They must all recognise that they had at the outset reached out as far as possible, and now they were told that they could easily go another million. Tie cited (he case of some members demand, lug an increase in old age pensions, and when the Government applied a three-penny tax on tea the same members voted against it What the Second Division were asking for would cost a million more than the Government had provided for. There were only three wavs of raising the. extra revenue. One was fin export tax, another a {>oll tax, and the third extra Customs taxation. Would any members support any of those proposals,-he asked. , ' Mr Massey said he thought the country had done; its duty up to now. but they had to look to the future. Tie did not think some members treated the Government fairly. The Government did not expect generous treatment, but they did expect fair | day. The Government had told ( members that morning a great many things they could not tell the House, because it would appear in print next day. and ho was not one to cause a panic. If they took a careful path, they would come out alright, hut, thev must not rush into a huge expenditure. No one knew when tin- war would finish; it might drag on for another couple of years. He did not desire to scut one more man out of the country titan was necessary, but they had to succour the. men at the other end of the world. I hey ha cl to fill gaps. He did not think the Second Division League was playing the game. It, was not right, fair, or proper to dragoon members, as the League had done. Ihe Government, and Parliament would do at that, was possible for the. men. They had to stand this bargaining by men of our own race, and the Premier declared it was not the proper thing, especially when they remembered that there were already 9000 married men lighting at the front, and not one complaint or a question had been neaiu from them. Mr Payne moved an amendment tnatj.no regulations he referred back to the. Government for further consideration, with a view to increasing the allowances. On a division, the amendment was lost by 41 to 13, and the regulations were then adopted. (FbOM Oob Parliamentary REPORTER.) 1 WELLINGTON, Oct. 16. Another caucus of supporters of the National Government was held this morning, and .liter hearing Ministers’ .statements, the members agreed unanimously to support the financial proposals placed before them. These included the new scale of allowances. Referring to those in the House, Air Ala - coin, said it was an anomaly that if both parents were Jiving they could get nothing. Bir James Alien said it was impossible to avoid all anomalies. He was prepared to consider specific cases. He had been m communication with the financial association regarding the position of chronic invalid wives and hoped to make an announcement on that point later. The Minister proceeded fo give figures, showing that he estimated the cost of the allowances for the next twelve months, covering thirteen reinforcements, at the new rates, as follows : ~ ~, i Present New Old i rates rates rates Wive- - 301,000 826,000 525,000 Children ... 246,000 318,000 72,000 Total 548,000 114,400 596,000 The allowances to parents, brothers, and sisters would bring the lota! under the rates to £1,157,000, an increase of £599,000. Iho no w rates would operate from January Ist, 1918. Sir James Allen made an important reference to the reinforcements quota. He said bis calculations were based not on the reduced reinforcements rate, already announced. but on a further reduced rate. What that scale was to bo bo was not permitted by the Army Council to disclose. Opportunity for discussion was then provided mid a few members carried the debate into the evening, but most of the supporters of the National Government (lid not speak, they evidently accepting the decision of the .caucus. , . „ , The members who voted for Mr layups amendment wore Messrs Austey, Brown, Fletcher, Hornsby, McCombs Ipland Payne, Statham, Thacker, Vcitcli, l Walker, Wilford, and Witty. Pairs for i the amendment —Webb and llindrnarch.