SEPARATION ALLOWANCES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16672, 17 October 1917, Page 8

SEPARATION ALLOWANCES

NEW SCALE ADOPTED. RATE FOR WIFE 3s A DAY. WIDOWED MOTHER 10s 6d WEEKLY. CHILD ONE SHILLING PER DAY PROVISION FOR LIEUTENANTS fj}? TELEGRATH.— CORRESPONDENT J Tuesday. The new scale of separation allowances for the dependants of New Zealand soldiers was announced by Sir James Allen in the Bouse of Representatives this afternoon. On and after January 1 next, he said, the wives of first and second lieutenants drawing the pay of their rank only, or tie guardians of their motherless children, would receive an allowance of 3s per day. The wives of warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and men would receive an allowance of 3s per day. A widowed mother, dependent on a soldier, or an invalid father, who was a widower and was dependent on tho soldier, if the total income, apart from allotments received, did not exceed 10s per week, would be entitled to an Allowance of Is 6d per day. A child under 16 years of age i would receive la per day. Brothers and , sisters under 16 years of age, who were i dependent on the soldier, were entitled to ' an allowance of Is a day. The Minister stated that under the > existine scheme of pay and allowances, < no provision was made for the wife and » children of an officer, the pay being con- ' sidered sufficient. Tho result was that a warrant officer, with a wife and one child, who received an allowance, was in a better position than a lieutenant with half-a-dozen children or one child. To remove, as far as possible, this anomaly, it was proposed to grant an allowance to the wife and children of a first or second lieutenant. It was not proposed to grant ! allowances to the drives and children of officers of higher rank. The allowance to the wives of warrant-officers, non-commis-sioned officers, and men, had been in- , creased from 7s to 21s per week. Under , the present scale of allowances, a widowed i mother dependent on a soldier received 7s [ per week if her income did not exceed. 7s. The new proposals allowed a widowed mother, apart from an allotment, to receive an old-age pension or income of *26 per year, and also a 10s 6d per week allowance. .«.,«. Mr. G. H. Poole (Auckland West): The old age pension has been increased to 15s Invalid Fathers Included. 1 Sir James Allen said he knew this, but they could not increase the limit. It was proposed $p raise the allowance for children -under 16 from 9d to Is a day. An invalid father, who was a widower and dependent on a soldier, would be in the i same position as a widowed mother, This » was a new provision... . . Mr. A. 8. Malcolm (Clutha): Is it not an anomaly that if both parenle are living'' neither get anything? Sir James Allen: That is so, but we cannot avoid all anomalies. The Minister said he waß'prepared to consider any specific cases. Another new proposal, he said, was the granting of an allowance to . brothers and sisters under 16 years of age J .nan Jon f nnnn a. Soldier. . It WaS Ptt>-

posed to make provision for them to fche game extent as a soldier's child. V A member interjected that there was no allowances for xshronic invalid wives or children. '.'".■'■ . . . The Minister said there was not, but he had been in communication, with the Financial Assistance Board on the subject,, and hoped to make an announcement. | Sir (fames Allen proceeded to give the, following estimated expenditure at the proposed new allowance rates compared with present rates for the first 12 months:— ? . rates. New rates. Increase. Wives ...1301,000 £828,000 £525,000 Childwn ... JM&OOO 818.000. 72.000 Totals ... 1547.000 £1.144.000 £597.000 Adding the allowances to widowed! moth era i 7 brothers, and sisters, the totals would be as follows:-Present rates, £558,000; new rates, £1,157,000; increase, £599 000. According to the Second Division League's proposals the total would be £2,088,000. : :;. „ Bedrock Figures. The new rates would apply to the troops who have gone away, and the men in camp , from January If 1918. As regards .the, Second Division, the new rates would not begin till March next, when th? first section, comprising married men without children, would go into, camp. His calculations were not based upon the previous reduction of reinforcements quota, but the present one. It was therefore based on bedrock figures. He was not, however, ; permitted by the Array Council to disclose what the reduced rate would be. The proposed increases would not.come into the present financial year. There were no increases in the estimates" for the first three reinforcements from now. The estimated expenditure for the various drafts, starting with the fourth reinforcement from now, was :— Present ' New rate. rate. Increase. Fourth draft ...268.000 £30.000 £88,000 Fifth draft ... 74.000 82.000 42.000 Sixth draft ...*-82.000 38.000 46,000 , Seventh draft... 90,000 89,000 61,000 Eighth draft... 98,000 43,000 55,000 Ninth draft ... 108,000 48,000 60,000 Tenth draft ... 118,000 51,000 66.000 The Minister said the whole matter had been carefully considered. Much ait the Government would like to make better provision, some standard had to be set. The standard minimum decided upon was that the standard should not be that of the well-to-do, but that of the ordinary working man. Under this minimum rati a soldier would get 36s a week, his wife 21s, and his child 7s. If a soldier retained for his own use Is 6d a day. a wife without a ch'ld would have 24s M nlns

, wiinout a cii'iu wuuiu iiavo am uu, juus 21s, a total of £2' 5s 6d. ' Mr. Payne: One shilling and sixpence is not enough to buy extra food. Financial Assistance. 1 Sir James Allen said the letter he had read the previous day from a sergeantmajor showed that this amount was quite sufficient. It would be a mistake to' give the men more, as it might lead them into difficulties it would be better to avoid. General Richardson and other officers said the amount was sufficient. The Minister went on to say that there were many labouring men in the Second Division, and some with £400, £500 or many hundreds a year. The Government had tried to do something for the latter in order to assist their wives and children to continue to live as they had been accustomed to. The financial assistance scheme was intended to help these men in the way of rent, mortgages, insurance, etc. Their standard minimum was that of a fairly-well-paid working man, supplemented by help from the Financial Assistance Board. .. Replying to Mr. T. M. Wilford (Hvttt), the Prime Minister said he did not propose to place any time limit on the debate. The House could discuss the matter during the evening if it wished. The House decided on the voices'to take the discussion on allowances in. Committee in order to have increased freedom of debate, and divided on : the question of whether or not the proceedings should -be < reported by Hansard. The proposal made, by Mr. J. T, M. Homsby.(Wairarapa).that the debate should be reported officially was negatived by 42 votes to 21. ,-,,- -w v Mr. Wilford said that the House was being required to discuss a complex question in a very inconvenient way. The regulations had to be treated as a. whole, whereas a member might disapprove only of a part, He waa disappointed with th» J •- I /i?,J.!. 1 •f

allowance of 3s a day for a wife. The allowance ought to be 6s a day, so that the soldier would rot be forced to allot practically all his pay for the maintenance of his family. The children's allowance of la a day was also too low. The provision for the payment of separation allowance to widowed dependent parents was too circumscribed. A father would not gat the allowance unless he was a widower, an invalid, and dependant. The Minister ought to remodel the allowances outlines that had already been suggested. He hoped the Government would not require a motion on the subject since he had no desire at all to embarrass the National Ministry. Mr. J. Payne (Grey Lynn) said the allowances would not be a recurring charge. They would require to be met from loan money only during the war period. Tho additional charge involved in the , payment of adequate allowance to the wives and.dependants would not be a grave addition to the financial burdens of the State. If members did not insist upon adequate payments being ,made the rei sponsibility would be theirs. It waa . shameful for the Government to say that l 21s a week was an adequate allowance for ', a wife, and that Is a day was enough 1 pay for a man to draw at the front. Mr. Hornsby said it was a reflection upon the Dominion.to sav that the allow-' i ances proposed by the Government were • the best the nation could do. The > Financial Assistance Board was administering its jchome generously, but the payments should be made of right and not by favour of any group of men. A Sceptical Member. 1 Mr. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) said that ' he had heard nothing to convince him '. that the allowances demanded by mem- . here of the Second Division League were unreasonable. He refused to accept the ] statement that the country could not ' afford tc pay* more. I Dr. Newman (Wellington East) said I that under the scale wives without chil- » dren were in a much better position than , the mothers oi young children. He would ask the Minister to giv& rome extra consideration to wives with families. Fur--5 ther, he did not know why men at the > front should be kept so short of money II especially as they had toiled and slaved . for the money. He had come round to 4 the view that'the Government should take control of the patriotic funds.. ' Upon resuming after the dinner ad--1 iournment Mr. Wilford said he had exara--1 ined the figures, and he found that the in- >' creased amount the Government was "few- ,' ing to dependants only amounted to £127,000 altogether. The increased payI ments up to July came to £358,000. The Ministers statements did not tally. Mr. 1 Wilford advocated that an invalid father { dependent upon a soldier should receive > i a greater allowance than the father, who .; was. merely dependent. Mr. H. Poland (Ohinemuri) stated that ac "' cording to the Minister a month ago the r cost to the country was estimated at 1 £2,037,000. Now owing to the reduced J rate of reinforcements it was less. Mem--1 hers must remember that the estimates l never erred on the wrone side. Consequently the country could afford to inJ crease the allowances. The wives and i children of members of the Second Division should not be compelled to go to a 5 patriotic society for relief. They should [ not evsn be under the necessity of having to approach the Financial Assistance Board, The Minister said the last two speakers t had mixed up actual payments with haa bilities. That afternoon he had merely ■ given the actual payment; till September i 30, 1918. The liabilities till that date m I the reduced reinforcements rate amounted i to £2,016945. ..'«.« ». Mr. C- E. Statham (Dunedm Central) i urged that a wife with children should ret ceive £1 83 a week instead of £1 Is, and ' that every child should receive an allowance of 10s 6d per week. i r Squandering and Waste. a Mr. J. V. Brown (Napier) said thoy „ were talking about saving pennies and »'pounds in connection with allowances and 'pensions,' and yet were squandering nun-

dredß ot tnousanas oi uuua ... ....=- management. The people wanted the money to be gjven to provide for the dependents of married soldiers, and it was not for the Minister for Defence or for the Prime Minister to say the money would have to be found - or otherwise. The Government should go to the people. The, I Government had consented to provide 10s ! a week pension for children, and yet re-1 • fused to increase the allowance from 7s. What was the difference, he asked. Mr. A H. Hindmarsh (Wellington South) made a plea for a higher allowance for children. ' A . . .. Mr. E. P. Lee (Oamaru) urged the Government to meet members half-way and allow the wife with a child an extra 10s per week, and increase the child s allowance to 10s. He would like to hear , 'something from the Government on the financial question, especially from the Minister for Finance. A Member: You would have heard all about it if you had been at the caucus that morning. Mr. Lee contended that the proper place to make a financial statement was in the House. He would like to hear more about the subject from members of the ; Cabinet. Throughout the session, there ■ appeared to have been a studied slight of members of the House by, the Government. Members had a duty to perform to the children of the country. Sir John Findlay (Hawke's Bay) said that those who attended the caucus that morning, had the opportunity if hearing from the Prime Minister, the Minister for Finance, and the Minister for Defence a frank statement of the position. Not ■ one member present at the caucus but felt convinced that the breaking-point hJ been reached, that they had either to go forward to national disaster or remain where they were. In his judgment,' the resolution arrived at by the caucus honourably bound everyone present. He stood by it because, in his judgment, the, proofs uubmitted were ample. | Mr. L. M. Isitt (Christchurch North) | echoed all that the last speaker had said.: The sneers about their being dragooned i and bullied were utter nonsense, he said. He had changed his attitude because ho had be.i assured by four responsible Ministers that the Government had gone as far as it could possibly go"." Ho saw no reason why they should not be sincere, and he simply had to accept their statement and leave the responsibility with them. The Limit Reached, Sir Joseph Ward stated that between the two joint caucuses Cabinet had re j considered the whole question of allow-1 ances. Cabinet was anxious to go further if it could, but it was unanimously of

opinion that it would not Iw safe. After i referring to the "insulting references of a few dissatisfied members who were_ verydesirous of being on the popular side, ' he said that if the Government was going to be driven at the point of the bayonet by the Second Division, it was time the Second Division was told to go about its 1 business. The Government was not goimz 1 to run the country with danger, even if Eressure was brought to bear by memers. The Government had stretched out to the oxtreme limit in regard ' to its proposals. A great majority ' of those members who urged the 1 increases of old age pensions voted 1 against the duty on tea which was im-; 1 posed in order to provide a portion of I ' i the cost. The requirements of the Second * Division would mean the provision of 1 £1,000,000 more than was provided by ' the Government's financial proposals. If j expenditure was increased beyond a certain limit the whole pension ocheme might ' at some future date be swept away. There 1 werti only three ways in which they could get increased taxation, via., by means of ' an export tax, or a poll tax, or an increase of Customs duties. If they attempted to get it from an export tax they would ' have to immediately reduce the heavy income tax put on the people some time ago 1 and other taxes imposed. He did not 1 think they would get an export tax, .because the country people would oppose it. .' At the same time he was opposed to a poll tax They were driven back to getting the large sum required from the Customs , whether they liked it or not. He for one did not like it. Why did not members have the courage to tell their constituents the -true position instead of sheltering behind the , Government? l. {n the. course, of : further remarks, Sir Joseph Ward stated that an enormous , sum of money had been d.7ert«d from the

> Post Office Savings Bank, all of whicl ; would go back presently. Members knev i that the ua-vings bank was one of thi - sources the Government had been depend ) big upon to lend money to local bodies » settlers, etc. » Mr. G. Witty (Riccarton) said thai I those who had to spend the money wen • not as loyal to Sir Josepl > Ward' as he was' to •' them I Millions of money had bwn wasted by th< ■ Minister for Defence and his colleagues I He had no time for those who were novi i endeavouring to extract the uttermost i farthing from . the Government. Th< ' trouble was that far too many men hac been sent. What was going to happet i to the women of the country when the ; last man and the lost shilling had beer 1 sent? Premier's Spirited Rebuke. , The Prime Minister said Mr. Witty ha< i made a grosslj unfair statement when hi [ asserted that the Minister for' Defence wen ! responsible for sending far too many met . and was wasting millions of money. Mr i Witty knew better than that, or at w] i rate he ought to know better. During th< • first 18 months of the war people through i out the country clamoured for more mer to bo sent. The Minister was not able te . take the men as fast as they came for ,< ward, and many of them left the Do- , minion in order to enlist in Australia, oi Britain. The Military Service Act was ', passed with almost unanimous approval | in order to enable the country to' do it; . full duty. It was most unfair that e member who supported everything thai was done up to the hilt should now indulge in recrimination and endeavour te place the Minister for Defence in a false t position. The war had already cost the » Dominion a little short of £40,000,000. • Over 50 members 'had beenpresent at the > caucus that morning. "We said many 5 things to them," declared Mr. Massey, t "that it would hot be wise or expedient to repeat in this House. With a certair I amount of caution and good sense we car - got through this crisis without serious l, trouble, but when we have done our best 1 to be fair and do justice, 1 say it is not ■ fair for members to come along with pro- • I poß.ils to considerably increase that exaipenditure. How long do we have fto go on? I am an optimist, ii and I am confident that the i i war will end very soon, but we do not b know. It may draff on for two years yet, and we have to make provision. We have . to keep our troops reinforced, keep the . gaps closed and not leave our boys' in . the lurch. We cannot go too fast eithei . financially or in the supply of men. We a could not tell the caucus everything. There . j were 52 membei3 present and 50 voted for e the resolution. One voted against it and . j one was doubtful." Continuing, the Prime j' Minister *oid the arguments and state»l ments mad': by Ministers must have im--0 pressed tho members with the seriousness or tilings. - " Not Playing the Game." t "References have been made to the i I Second Division. It is not fair to include -1 the whole of them in any remarks, but I s do cay that the Second Division League •I is not playing the game. I do not think ■ it right, fair, or pro er for those people 1 to come along to this House and dragoon -' members aV they have been doing tho • last few weeks. The Government will do 1 the right thing. The country can rest { assured that we shall do everything pos--9 sible, but this bargaining is not the proper j thing to expect fsom men of our own race, 9 especially when wa remember the 9000 - married men. flvho are fighting at the front p. without a word of complaint." c i Mr. P. C. Webb (Grey) asked what was '< the abject of the Prime Minister in keepI: ing information from certain members of I the House. Instead W the Second Divi- )! sion men trying to bludgeon members to " support their proposals, it was the Govi eminent who was using this weapon and, - judging by that morning's caucus they were using it with success. The. Second Division had a right to go to the Houso to demand certain things, the same as the if prohibitionists, the wool kings and others. i Mr. C. J. Parr (Eden) said that months i ago he had advocated the reduction of re- • ' ' inforcements and a board to control waste . in (Via TWnnnn DeTinrtment. He hud h«««

strongly in favour of an increase for the children, but the position placed before the secret session by three Minister*, including the Minister for Finance, had compelled him to modify his opinion. The country's finances must give everyone serious pause. J About £400,000 of the proposed increases would go to the 9000 married men already lat the front and they well deserved it. In view of the financial position, he must admit that the allowances were reasonable though he still hoped the Government would be able to increase the children's allowance. No married man would leave New Zealand before next session began. The present provision was a tentative one. Sufficient consideration was not generally given to the help provided by. the Finan- , rial Assistance Board which was doing its work generously and .sympathetically. Members Not Dragooned. Mr. R. McCallum (Wairau) said he was i anxious that everything possible should be done, but there was a breaking point, and they must stop a little short of that. Ministers had made no attempt to dragoon, coerce, or threaten members. Mr. O. H. Poole (Auckland West) said that when the breaking strain was reached a halt must be called, and if all that was asked for could not be obtained, then they should accept the best that could be got, I and look for more later on. The position. could be reviewed next session.* I Mr. J. Payne said an additional £931,000 would provide all that was being asked for. ,Only another million for one year • would have to be borrowed, and £50,000 or £60,000' would be sufficient to nay the < additional interest arid sinking fund. Mr. W. A. Veitch declared that the country could well afford to do justice to the men who were going away. He vfas not prepared to run riot, but it had been roved to him that the country could not' bear the burden of the increases asked for. I I Mr. G. J. Anderson (Mataura) said I the House must accept the assurance of , Ministers that the limit had been reached. I He would, therefore, support the Government proposals as the best that could be given. Mr. J. McGfcmbs (Lyttelton) said tho burden per head on the population would ' only amount to lOd per head interest, or, adding sinking fund, Is IJd. What right had Parliament to fly in the face of public opinion | Mr. J. V. Brown (Napier) contended i that if the Prime Minister floated a special loan of one million pounds to provide the ' allowances, the people of the country , would subscribe to it ten-fold. I Dr. Thacker said that the Government had either got panicky, or wanted to coerce the Second Division. He suggested

a tax on picture films to meet the £40,000 interest and sinking fund on the Second Division League's allowance proposals. Amendment Lost. At midnight Mr. Payne moved as an amendment that the matter be referred < back to the Government for further consideration. Upon a division being taken, I : the amendment was declared lost by 41: votes to 13, and the resolution that the paper lay on the table was agreed to, the House adjourning at 12.15 a.m. The following is the division list :— For amendment, 13:—Anstey, Brown, Fletcher, Hornsby, McCombs, Payne, 'Poland, Statham, Thacker, Veitch, Walker, Wilford, Witty. Against amendment, Allen, AnderBon, Bollard, Buddo, Buick, Craieie, J. M. Dickson, T. A. H. Field, W. H. Field, Fraser, Glover, Guthrie, Hanan, Harris, Herdman, Herries, Hunter, Jennings, McCallum, Mac Donald, Mander, Massoy, Myers, E. Newman, Ngata, Nosworthv, Okey, Parr, Pearce, Poole, R. H. Rhodes T. W. Rhodes, Russell, Scott, G. H', Smith. Talbot, Thomson, Ward, Wilkinson, Wright, Young. Pairs:— Webb and Hindmarsh. Against: Findlay and Colvin.