GRATUITIES APPROVED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17275, 26 September 1919, Page 9

GRATUITIES APPROVED.

DECISION OF THE HOUSE, AMENDMENT DEFEATED. 50 FOR AND 37 AGAINST. DEBATE ENDS AT DAYLIGHT. B Y TEI.EGRA.rn. -PRE>3 ASSOCIATION,] WELLINGTON-. Thursday. The Government's proposals in regard jo pr-i'Uities for soldier* were endorsed by the House of Representatives, which rose, at five o'clock this morning. The amendment moved by the Leader erf the Opposition ;.>ir Joseph Ward) that the proposals be referred back to the Goverrjnent for further consideration was defeated by 37 votes to 30.

Continuing the achate after the tele-.-■apb office closed. Mr. W. T. Jennings (Taumini'-u:) appealed to the Prime Minister to reconsider the position 0 f carried men and those who had , l «en kiil"d and had left dependants.

The Hon. J. G. Coates (PostmasterGeneral) w* l lie spoke with a certain amount of diffidence. He regretted ex oeedingiy that the gratuity had not been sett'-d before the National Government dissolved so that party questions would not hsvo obtruded upon such a matter of national importance. He. pointed out that payment cf the gratuity did not mako an. end of the country's obligations, which would cot Uiiue for many years to come. It was not the gratuity that was going to help the soldiers, but what the country was prepared to do in the future in the oon&iiued care of it» incapacitated defenders.

The soldier must not bo misled into the belief that this was the country' final effort on las behalf.

The Hon- G. W. F.ussell (Avon) criticise,; the method by which the proposals had '-jeen brought down. He thought the amount of the gratuity ?hould be 2s 6d per day. Mr. 0. J. Parr (Eden) said that if Mr. Russell thought it fair to use the surplus for gratuities it was equally fair to use it for repatriation, as the- Government proposed. Ho regretted the discussion on the point, because the proposal of Sir Josßiia Ward meant delay, and it would have beer, a gracious act if the House could have come to a unanimous agreement fa the proposals, about which he felt sore 90 per cent, of the soldiers and Chilians were agreed. Mr. J. Craigie (Timarii) thought -no Government: hud done pretty well. Mr. 8. G. Smith (Taranaki) said that wbila he liad no desire to embarrass the Government, he intended to support the amendment. The division List. A division was taken, when the amendment was lost by 37 votes to 30. The division fist' was as follows :— For: Agairis&_: Amtey Allen Brown Anderson Bnddo Bollard Carroll Coates Calvin Craigie Dickie Dickson, J. M. Forbes Dickson, J. 8. Fraser, P. Field, T. E. H. F-aan Field, W. H. Holland Fraser, Sir W. Isiti Guthrie Jennings Harris WsCaUum Henara McCkaabs Henries Myers Hiao Poland Hornsby Poole H carter Russell Leo Bed don Luke Sample Malcolm Sidey M&nder mith, B. W. Masse Smith, 8. G. Nash Talbot NoOTPOrthy Thacksr. Parr Veitc?- Pierce Walker Pomare Ward Reed Wilford Rhode*, R. H. Witty Rhodes, T. W. Scott Smith, G. H. Statham Sykea Urn Wright .Young Artrther Amendmant Moved. Mr. J. McCombs moved a further amendment to the effect that without rertricfebig the minimum periods provided for, the Government be recommended to WKinga <he proposals to make the gratuities payable from the elate of goinz into camp until the date A discharge, at a rate of 4b per day, 2s to be paid in cash ar.d 2a m & per cent, war bonds, redeemable in five years. Mr. Massey : Is net that an aTf>ropriatoon?

The Speaker held that til© amendment fag it order, as it merely contained a vaggestion. Mr. A. Walker fDunedrn North) seconded tin amendment. Mr. p. .Fraser (Wellington Central) supported t.-e amendrrent He trrged that home servic '. men should receive consideration. Mr. W. A. Yeifcch (Wanganni) said he thought th*,t when tie House refused to waeider 2s it was sin-ply trifling to move iw a<nendrr,ent for double that amount, and was not in the interests of soldiers. He agreed that conscription of wealth should have accompanied the conscription of men. If labour, instead of simply not preventing men from going to the war, had taken a strong stand in helping the men to go. it would have stood on a pinnacle. The people wished to hp represented bv Labour, hut thev were afraid to trust them. Mr. G. ißiccaHon) said he would Pot vote for 4i>, but would hare voted for the amendment had it related only to the period of payment. . Mr. H. E. Holland (Grey) supported the amendment.

• v r. C. .7. Talbot fTemnkal agreed with w» proposal as to the period of payment, wit thought the other part of the amendment futile

Only Supported by Labour. The amendment was defeated by 37 ote« tr ~ the Labour members only Tot ing f'.r „ &'r James \!'en replying at 4 am, 'aid he l, a d don- everything possible to nave the rn.itt.-i dealt with by (lie National "Overnmen Hi? statement" as to the origin,. derision having been approved by "le C'-ab.iieL, had been questioned. He would quote a Cabinet minute in support of_ what h<- had Hated "I p.-.-.-, the Leader of the Or.nosition and hfvgwi i. ~, to get this question settled h. fore «. broke up. Will he denv that?" Sir J. • pi. Ward- I denv it. put in that .*ay. Sir J.*, A",r. n ■ \fter we had broken I tt). I'r i ip Minister to see the Leader of Ml* I), ~.. ;. ■; . m d sen if we ,-„,jV| , „, , ft "- -'I with' » Part, wmii-le. i J. »Nt - •■ ,_- to ,i„. leader of the Kaposi' . ■ ~ .' 1 ~ ~,, p t., nix ,o,.rn. I «*■??< -<■:, •,. ,„),,. r|IN confidence and ■ "ear »': | t ,.,.| ~ ~r fN j «a* ~,epared i £> bea- .■!:.,, he h..d'w, ~.v and adopt ! h '» pr 0,,,.. , „ ; , lf „,l,l, j will not khv ; *'ut " •■ le : - •.r:,;.,. gentleman said to *)*• He .1,1 . , ; ,„,,.,., mt confidence, j Nothing !,.,ri...|i. I Th.'* nil-men who hav P 1„ »., , . ;;,.,.-.. th. \;.t,o. ~! („,\e,i> ! m «t i . ~ .;.,.'■■.. ..s.th th!.- matter j now }~, ~ toe h.«Um. ! regret exceed*>|ly tn.., •.,,. did not deal with it. I Sir .Jan " add' <i th.it tl,e\ had dropped the \ offerer:.-,• . ■ between married and sincl* I men >" .'., - p., .- the original proposals *«re made th. v had approve.] retrospe. . *»• pav ar d ~!iov a.nce>. w hioh placed ' tho married n M,*- >n „ \e-\ much he-tcr posit i<- r. As to - hp crit:>:. s m of .vhat the-v w«r«» MVRg for widow., Mid dependants he

quoted tB« individual cases of widows r oJi'L 611 receiving pensions totaling £260, £338, and £330. la each case this was much more than the civilian earnings of the husband. The Mercantile Marine. The members of the mercantile marine ■ nad received a war bonus of 30s per month since 1916 and an additional war tonus of 30s when passing through a danger zone. He appreciated the work of the sailors very highly, and New Zealand had done what it could to provide for tnem in pensions as well as pay. Hs admitted that the pav of the Expeditionary Force officers had not always been what they would have desired, but the position had been considerably misrepresented. When the draft Budget came to him it showed an expenditure four millions greater than last year. Where there was a surplus there would instead be a deficit of £934.000. He could not under these circumstances recommend a gratmtv that would involve increased taxation. The proposals by the Leader of the Opposition meant the provision of £8.775.000 (including what was provided last year) against £6.903.000, the total for gratuities and allowances as proposed by the Government. Other gentlemen had proposed 4s, which, meant increasing the total sum to £16.660.000. If taxation were increased it would very seriously hamper every industry in New Zealand. They ought to endeavour to avoid that. He regretted exceedingly that they had not been able to arrive at a decision unanimously and make the gift, to the. soldiers freely. Minister and Sir J. Ward. Sir Joseph Ward said he had been misrepresented. He was not consulted in the Cabinet as to this matter before the Minister for Defence made his announcement in the House last session. The Minister spoke to him on the evening of the day on which he made the announcement, and informed him that the Prime Minister had authorised him to announce the amount named. '• T did not. object, because T had not controlled war expenditure, but 1 did not acquiesce. I do not believe that 1 was present at the meeting on December 10 Will the hon. gentleman stand up and read my name as one of those present.?"' Sir James Allen made no reply. Sir Joseph Ward : The honourable gentleman cannot do so.

This matter, he added, was not brought before the National Cabinet after his return to England.

Sir James Allen. I mentioned it to yon. Sir Joseph Ward : Tt was not discussed in th* National Cabinet. Afterwards the. Minister came to me and I went to see him at his request. Sir Joseph said he was rrtrit© willing to discuss the matter while he remained a member of the National Cabinet, but bad he done so aft-exwards he might have found himself in complete disagreement with the party of which he was the leader. He could not accept such a position. The Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Defence continued to discuss the position, accusing each other of quibbling and splitting hairs, until, at 5 am.,

The Speaker intervened by putting the question that the paper he tabled. This was carried on the voices, and the House then adjourned until 7.30 in. today. PAYMENT BY POST OFFICE. APPLICATION NECESSARY. OFFICE OPENED. Details of the method of payment of the soldiers' gratuities have been announced. ,The gratuities will be paid by the post office, and except in the case of r-ext-of-kin the payments will have to be credited to an account in the Post Office Savings Bank or some other bank. If a soldier has no account at any bank, one will be specially opened for him at the post office. It is necessary for applications lor the gratuity to be made to the post office, and a special office has been opened in the basement of the Chief Post Office in Auckland. Soldiers are advised to take their Post Office Savings Bank books with them when they call at the office, as the books will require to be held by the post office bo that the gratuities may be entered in them immediately they arrive. Alter the application forms have been filled in, they must be posited to the Officer-m-charge of War Expenses. Wellington. The authorities state that when the forms are received m Wellington they will be numbered and dealt with strictly in order of receipt. Owing to the verv large number of applications, it will be some time before < nsy can all be investigated, so that applicants must not expect payment at once.

PLAT SATE APPRECIATED. FEELING AT KAWAKAWA. [BY TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION.] KAWAKAWA, Thursday. A well-attended meeting of the Bay of Islands Returned Soldiers' Association "last night passed the following resolution:— " The Bay of Islands Returned Soldiers' Association appreciates the generous action and forethought of Parliament in adopting the Is 6d flat rate for the war gratuity." PROTEST AGAINST PROFITEERING. CHRTSTCHTTICH RESOLUTION. (BY TELEGRAPH. — PRESS ASSOCIATION'.] CHRJSTCHURCH. Thursday At a largely attended meeting of returned soldiers held to diK'u?? the gratuity scheme, a motion was carried to the effect that if the gratuity must be paid by the country Is 6d per day was considered sufficient, but at the same time it was thought that mean? should he available, to the Government for deriving from war profiteer? sufficient to pay th" amount of gratuity asked for by the deputation in Wellington.

The tone of the meeting was good and orderly throughout. The general feeling w-i.s that Is 6(1 aft a gratuity was adequate, but the. motion win carried a." a protest against profiteering.

SICK AND WOUNDED MEN

! REPRESENTATIONS SUCH 'ESSFUL.

I The action taken by the soldier patients I in the Auckland Military Hospital in re ■ gard to gratuities for t-ick and wounded , men who returned to New Zealand hefote, ; the signing of the -armistice has borne fruit. At a meeting held on Monday it was decided to ru-k the Auckland mem- , hers of the House of Represent at to 1 bring the matter before the Minister for I Defence. On Tuesday the chairman of the Soldiers' Committee, Mr. T. A. Bishon. received the following telegram ; from Mr. C. .7. Parr. M.P. for Eden : — j " 1 am pleased to say that I have snoi ceeded in getting the Minister for Defeme to favourably reconsider the case ; ,f the wounded men in the. annexe for 1 graluit