SOLDIERS' INTERESTS.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13858, 19 April 1917, Page 7

SOLDIERS' INTERESTS.

GOVERNMENT METHODS CRITICISED. MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS AND ALLOWANCES. DUNEDIN, April 16.' , There ;\as a pa c sionate d scussion at Oie mooting of the Otago Patiiotic and Genetal Welfare Association this morning over tho Government's method, or lack of method, in dealing with soldiers' interests, vOiie speakei consideied that what ' Wiequueil to seeuie ledics was "a " force of public opinion which would take the Government by the neck." Another said that in the matter of the distribution of the Patriotic 'Assnein ; jinn's contribution to the Government, '■for'.- providing comforts for sick and wounded soldiers abroad .there war nothing more than from be«inniiig lo end, while a third opinion that the .whole business was a perfect scandal seemed' to express the' mind' of the members..-.■■:',.. ■ . ->i Tb'e subject arose when the report of "*rfhp'joint 'committee on the question of urging the''Government to make further nlltyvaiices-.to. roldiefs and kindred questions was presented. ' ''■',*.- : .•'• "Nobodv's Care.'' 31r Solomon said that-the funds at the "Association's disposal wno to supplement, what was given bv the Government, I ; was tint mvt nf H>r> ..\«sn"ie H.on'i duty to do what the Onvpvnmon' should do. Tt amie.wd f'l.nf if a m.l'' were rejected at the cinm he was there fori; not a person entitled to assistance front the Government. He became no body's care and might be stranded That was the attitude of the Government, alrhouph, in fact, it was no: the attitude of the committee. So the committee said that when a man was.-a soldier he should be treated as a soldier; and that the Government should do'-what the committee did, nlthouch itwas not a part of the committee's duty to do it. And there was this effect- 1 to.be considered: The funds that were spent in such cases deprived the members of the Expeditionary Force of their proper share of the patriotic funds.. Another matter of almost equal JFi'prtance concerned the funds for providing comforts for our soldiers overseas. Early in the war, the Association':'and other patriotic bodies were asked to provide funds for that purpose which was put forward as a matter of urgency. It was agreed ultimately to subscribe the sum of £3OOO a month, and altogether some £15,000 was subscribed. Of that sum a large proportion was sent to England in order to provide urgently needed comforts. Yet this was the position: The sum of £6OOO had never gone out of the Dominion at . all.'-Why it had not gone ihey were absolutely unable to find out. The matter had been placed in the hands of the Advisory Board, and had been inquired'into for months and the committee had been told that the Advisory Board could not get any satisfaction from the Government as to why the

, vmoney had not been sent away, and £jflhej could not«get<tke : , money.: back. ' That £6Qo,O..ought .to..ibei.Available for th'ese soltliefs,' but they could not get it. What the committee said was this: That the Association and other patriotic' societies should take steps to put aiend to that sort of thing and get the money. They said nothin? at all abou: the moneys still in England. Financial Assistance.

The Hon. J. T. Paul said that sonic ] months ago the Government decided.; ss'.r matter of policy, that financiali assistance should be given to soldiers called up by ballot who were financially embarrassed, this provision to apply to volunteers also.' That decision had

been heralded in Ihe nowspapevs with iP gic.it tlom of tiumpet'*, and it had been emplwiMH'd that in all i-ns-cs a >ol diei could get lomethiug like up to U a ueek. It was minting to liml out that no euch nsbistnue had jet been gnen, It appealed that the machines for working the new system had not been perfect and it had ljeeh decided to setup a Central Board in Wellington. There werfc so many boards now that it was possible that soon there would not bo sufficient labour for the country. It seemed tfo' him that the Government had an idea that before any man could assist in administration he must wear a uniform.' There were ample mean's- in each centre to carry out the administration of the new system, even if the Government had merely acted on British experience and had set up less elaborate machinery. The position now was that if a man in any part or the Dominion required financial assistance, such as was to be provided, the application had to go to.Wellington to be adjudicated upon by the Central Board. As regarded soldiers' pay and' allowances, the allotments iveiv inadequate, and he fell perfectly certain that, in addition to increasing the soldior-s' pay, the allotments should also be increased. A Case of Hardship. The fiev. Graham Balfour cited a pnrticu'ar case of hardship which had coiup under his notice. This was a ease of :i' home missionary (a married man) who went into camp. When it was found that he was suffering from hernia he was discharged, and the Government undertook no obligations with regard to him. The consequence was that he wen: into hospital to undergo an operation which cost him about from .£.lO to £35. of which the Government would not pay a penny. He had to sell his furniture to pay expenses. He had got a position now. It seemed to the speaker that that sort of things was disgraceful. The Mayor said that in the great majority of cases it was absolutely impossible for dependants to exist on the allowances given by the Government'. If it were not for [he assistance given by the Patriotic Association there would be greater distress in this city, and right throughout the Dominion the associations had shouldered the responsibilities of the Government. It etmlfl: iiot lie too Btrongly emphasised that }ho allowances were inadequate. It, was disgraceful the way the Government had used the funds of the associations contributed for the supply of comforts for our soldiers overseas, Stirring up Public Opinion. Dean Eitchett said it seemed that the Government ha,d two standards of medical examination, one here and one in camp, It was absolutely absurd that there should' not be one standard examination. It was perfectly clear there were really two standards, What one wanted to know was how were they going to get at the Government. Who' was the Minister in charge? He would like to see the Association do something effective. They seemed so helpless in the matter. A force of public opinion was wanted which would absolutely take the Government by the neck.. (Hear, hear.) He would like very much to help generate that public opinion. These things put before the Association seemed absolutely incredible,' but he believed they were facts.

The Rev. E. S. Gray expressed the opinion that if the Acting-Prime Minister was asked definitely as to the £6OOO they would get some reply. Mr Paul said the position was a difficult one and mentioned that up to a nciiit the patriotic contributions were the Government's money, for the supply of comforts had been lumped together and that for a long time the •Government could not tell which wa? which. They had now come to the conclusion that £6OOO belonged to the As-

soeintion, and the instniotitln of the Advlsoiy Loaid had been absolutely ignoil'll bv the Government. If seemed to him that if luul been a en>e of muddle fiom beginning to end altogether Dependants' Allowances. It was finally resolved to' submit the report.to the Acting-Prime Minister together with a letter. The clause in the report- dealing with soldiers' pay and allowances was amended to read ut follows: "-The, experience'of, the .Belief' Committee has convinced them that the present allotment of 4s a day from the soldier's pay, as insisted' upon by the Patriotic Association, does not' leave the soldier a sufficient sum for himself, yet this allotment is necessitated by the inadequate allowances—i.e., separation and children allowances—at present made to the soldiers' dependants." LABOUR UNREST. 0 WATERSIDE TROUBLE. AUCKLANDERS UEJECT OFFER OF EMPLOYERS.' V* '' '. ■ ":-. V ■: ■ \ ■ (Pw Pnii *'MM»tlni"i 1 ■' AUCKLAND;- April IS; '■ The Auckland watersid'ers iield ' a stop-work meeting .'yesterday- to consider-, the employers' offer■ rece'vei' ■through" the -Federation of Labour, Th'° ballot resulted in a rejection of the terms by n majority of 71 votes. -