WAR DISABILITIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18468, 3 August 1923, Page 10

WAR DISABILITIES.

NEW PENSION PROPOSALS. APPARENT :\ SATISFACTION. ' IMPORTANT CONCESSIONS. Although the proposals '■'■ of the .War. Pensions Amendment Bill fall far short of 'the increases' requested by the Returned ,';■ Soldiers' Association, it \ is likely that they will be accepted /without much complaint. A general increase in ; the. /whole scale was. requested, but in view of the anomalies that would thereby have been created, it /can hardjy be believed thai, success was .anticipated in that direction. .*, '■.-',' \ '• But , very important results have been achieved. An appeal : board y 'has ?: been conceded, and considerable (satisfaction is felt over this victory. The association failed to persuade the Government to appoint a judge of the Supreme Court or ■a , King's counsel as chairman of the board, but it. has secured representation on it which has been most ;. strongly urged.. ; . ?';■??'_ ,/'■'?■-:/- ;■""":■:'''-:: v The, powers to be given; this board .concede another vital claim—that of the reconsideration of the cause of. a soldier's disablement or of his. death. Very frequently the association has?, been . at variance with the authorities on this question. Under the 'new? system •■;' pensioners or the dependants of ex-soldiers will be in a much betters position when the point,, of attributability is raised. No one supposes that the possibility of the injustice will -ever be oremoved, but the proposals of, the. Bill must greatly lessen the danger that has existed. i .In establishing the right of soldiers, whose '; ability':' to -~ earn a • living; has h_ been impaired, 'fo economic ;. pensions the ( Bill, it is believed, will be / the means of removing many . anomalies. ?; The capacity of disabled men to earn their own. living varies ;to a marked degree, differences ■; in '■■'% • natural ability, education and the nature 01,? disablement considered in , relation to occupation, being factors which make elasticity in a schedule '' imperative. -..??. The authorising of economic pensions will provide the necessary elasticity /and; many a family will be able to face life with much better heart, provided the ■administration is carried out with patience and sympathy] ; '•'■'; ;•;■ /?, '-:/, \':'l\T:y: f C :: ~' : ;■ ? '.') 1 The extension of economic pensions to widowed mothers ■:■•' is whole-heartedly approved, as also is the. provision to increase the allowance to a; disabled soldier requiring the services? of an- attendant from £1 to £3 weekly. • ; Totally incapacitated men and the blind soldiers will find this increase a very considerable help. .''Taken all round," .% said -a disabled soldier ; yesterday, "the ■; /new . pensions scheme must bo regarded as satisfactory. Certainly the maximum amount /anyone may receive will not be conducive to idleness., . Unfortunately, , many r disabled men are at present idle because they cannot find ■ employment, and mostt of them would fax rather have work ; than an economic pension. If the problem :/pf their employment cannot; be solved, however—and lr it cannot there is something very,'wrong with our civilisation-—• then economic pensions are essential." NEW 'APPEAL BOARD APPROVED. ASSOCIATION GRATIFIED. : [B? TELEGRAPH.—PRESS : ASSOCIATION i] V? ■ '' ' DUNEDIN. Thursday. ' "■."■ If the present proposals are brought into effect, the Returned Soldiers' Association will.have amply justified. its existence," stated Mr. Laing, secretary ,of the R.S.A., in reference to the amending. pensions legislation. ■ It was solely through the . association that the • proposals took the present form. . \ '?;:/'■/-. • ? ?/ ; The Appeal Board' was a big advance on> the former, medical board,' taking, no notice ?;''; : bf .?/■ economic disability. . /.'Tho> economic- pension, should ?hpV be considered in the nature?of an unemployment,- dole, . but as ,an equitable thing so long as men could not get employment suitable to their disability. ■-/ ":• ' ''"''■' *- r/';/'; 1 v " ;;•"