WAR PENSIONS BOARD.

North Otago Times, Volume CIV, Issue 13662, 2 September 1916, Page 2

WAR PENSIONS BOARD .

SOUTH ISLAND TOUR. • ~ 332 CASES CONSIDERED. CHEISTCHURCH, September 1." • The.members of the War Pensions Board, who returned to Clifistclmrch from' Duucdin on Wednesday evening, concluded ;i strenuous fortnight's tour of thc-.j3.outh Island yesterday moriiing, wlicJi a short sitting was held in the loeiil 'Government'Buildings, Only {encases came before the. board yesterday. Of these, live were applications for a renewal of present allowances. In' the case of oye applicant, it was decided to extend the term of the allowance, and to reconsider the ease at the end of the increased term; a second applicant had his allowance extended for it further term, at the end of which it. will,cease; in a third case, where a variation of the present allowance was asked for, it'was decided to renew the allowance as before; The next case was that of a man who is now serving a term of imprisonmcntijfor a criminal offence, and in'this instance the allowance was cancelled. The fifth application came from the wife qf an injured soldier, and ail allowance'was granted as before^/ One new claim was considered, and rfn .allowance granted, and three others,' which had been previously declined, were,again considered and adjourned to allow further information to be procured. The last case considered was that of a man who asked that the pensioiv granted liini for twelve months should be; increased. The board decided it 'could'not increase the sum, but-extended the period of the pension for another twelve'months. The board has been the reverse of idle sinco it started its southern sittings

in Christclrorch on August 14th., In a!

332 South Islaud cases hav<V been considered, including 100 in, Cliristchurch, 115 in Dunedin, 48 in, Invercargill, 33 in Timaru; 15 in Oamaru, 8 in Ashburton, 7 jn Gore,, and I) in North Cantor-

bury. Of these 332 cases, the allowances existiug in,43-cas.es were con'

verted into pensions, Sixty-three ap

plicants were notified that their allowances would cease; 33 had their allowances continued for a further period and

will then be reconsidered, 'lncreased allowances were ; granted in six in-

stances, and in 11 cases the presenl allowance will be continued 'for a fur

;her period, and the question of a per

manent pension will then be considered, Forty-eight applicants '• were notified that their cases would receive further consideration before a decision was'arrived at. In one case, the soldier in receipt of au allowance, intimated that he did ont require a renewal; hr another, the, recipient, who had lost an arm, desired an explanation as to why

he was not given the maximum pension, and was satisfactorily answered; and in still another .case, theboard considered representations for an increased pension, and' decided to-adhere to : its original decision,' A number \of claims which had previously been declined were also dealt with,, with the result that in 17 cases further consideration was deferred until tho board, returns to Wellington;, in nine ■ eases where the claims had been previously rejected, the board adhered to its former decision,' and in six others allowances wore grauted; Seven claims from defendants were variously dealt with, three increased allowances being granted, and ho change being made in the remaining cases. Seven soldiers' wives were granted ■allowances/ while in another case the soldier had- not lodged his claim, and was advised to do 50.' . In addition to theso case 3 the board, during its journey from Christclnu'cli to Dunediu, considered 130 North Islandcases, particulars of which.were forwarded from Wellington. Besides its actual' routine busines, the board: met many deputations from patriotic societies and soldiers' committees on various subjects, and gave whatever information was required when it lay in its power to do so. The'members of the board, who included Colonel R„:J, Collins, l)r H. Pollen, Mr IVG. A, Cooper; Sit., and Mr G. ,S. Fachc (secretary) returned by last night's ferry steamer';-. to. .Wellington where many more claims have been -accumulating in theiriabsence.