SOLDIERS' PENSIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20562, 13 May 1930, Page 6

SOLDIERS' PENSIONS.

SPECIAL GRANTS IN CANADA. CASE OF WAR-WORN VETERANS. [FROM OUR - OWN CORRESPONDENT.3 VANCOUVER, April 16. The Government of Canada has decided to grant a special pension to thoso soldiers of the Great War who have developed ailments directly traceable to war servico that fores them int:o the unemployablo class. Such assistance will be quite apart from tho regular ex-service man's pension. - Known as " attributability" in Britain, this problem of the war-worn veteran has for years engaged the attention of Governments and ex-service organisations. It is becoming particularly acute in the case of men who were in their forties when they responded to the call for service. They are now reaching an age when their physical capacity is reduced by causes ; that originated chiefly in exposure and . dampness winch. was their lot in tho field, also to a general decline in health which has afflicted them many years ahead of the normal period of physical decay. Many of these men are now prematurely aged. Their disability could not be accepted as a national responsibility under existing legislation. When the Government, at the instance of the Canadian Legion, introduced a bill to help them, it had the unanimous endorsement of Parliament. The qualification for assistance in the new measure is " unemployable by reason of intangible results of their war service." The bill, which, docs not interfere with or displace in any way tho pension rights of tho individual, provides for tho payment of allowances for ex-soldiers who have attained the age of 60 years, if they are unemployable, or 65 years, otherwise; married men not earning £l5O a year; single men not earning half that amount. Members of tho Allied Forces are eligible, an well as ex-service men who have rebided three years in Canada. The scale of payments is'about £8 a month for married men and £4 a month for single men. Canada will spend £11,000,000 this year in war. pensions," treatment and repatriation, apart from private benefactions, notable among which is the big Quebec lottery, whose profits go to lighten the lot of the t'x-soldifcf. Widows niu! 'dependants are duo for special consideration, according to views widely expressed on their behalf. To extend ihe wai-widow's pension to the willows nf ex-soidicrs would-cost approximately £150,000, and i.ho Government is loth to go so Jar,""-pointing out the prospect of tlin deathbed marriage among other difficulties in tho way. To this the reply is that the mariiage must have some status in tiino before a widow would bo entitled to it. llieie is every reason io believe some concession will bo granted eventually, as there was never a time when tho cause of the ex-soldier and his dependants held the interest and tho sympathy of the community as it docs now. "Velvet Ribbons. Just received, silk and satin back, widths for sashes or millinery ; wanted colours.—Milne and Choyce, Limited.