RETURNED SOLDIERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9692, 21 June 1917, Page 11

RETURNED SOLDIERS

MENTAL INSTITUTIONS HEALTH MINISTER’S OPPOSITION TO SCHEME. POINTS TO BE CLEARED UP. The question of providing suitable places for returned soldiers suffering from mental troubles has been engaging the attention of the Wellington Patriotic Society for some time past. It was. decided at a recent meeting of the society to acquire a property at the Hutt belonging to the estate of the late John Duthie for this purpose. The society was willing to find the necessary money to purchase the property, and suggested that the Government should provide the maintenance of the same. When interviewed on the matter shortly after the proposed scheme was published, the Minister for Public Health (Hon. G. W. Russell) stated in emphatic terms his disapproval of any such scheme. The Minister considered it unnecessary to provide more institutions of the kind, in view of the number of Gov-ernment-controlled places for similar purposes. He declared that the money collected by the patriotic societies might be placed to better advantage and devoted to some more necessary project for the benefit of the soldiers. The Minister stated that the money could' be more profitably spent in some more practical direction. In reply to a deputation which waited upon the Minister subsequent to the above statement. Mr Russell stated that his remarks had no reference to any existing organisation. Mr Douglas Seymour (general secretary of the New Zealand Soldiers' Association), when seen by a “Times” reporter on the matter, stated that the reconciliation of these statements is not so obvious to the public as might be desiraible, and particularly from the point of view of the returned soldiers. He contended that the Minister's remarks might easily be wrongly construed by the public- In reference to Mr Bussell’s remarks regarding the expenditure of funds in a way which tends to isolate the returned soldiers from the rest of the community, Mr Seymour observed: “A statement like that is naturally accepted by the public as referring to soldiers’ clubs in general.” In regard to Mr Russell’s statement concerning soldiers’ hostels, Mr Seymour said that the questions which arise in the minds of returned soldiers are whether the art union system for such an object is desirable, how the controlling body is to be appointed, whether the hostel is to be used rcstrictively for crippled soldiers, and what kind of building is in view. “What we require,” said' Mr Seymour, “is a statement from the Minister in regard to these points.” Mr Seymour communicated with the Minister, stating that the remarks referred to might cause considerable misapprehension in the minds of the public. Mr Russell, in his reply, stated that ho had nothing more to say in regard to his previous statement to the deputation. With reference to the proposed hostel in Wellington, Mr Russell stated that the art unions iare conducted for the benefit of the patriotic funds under the law, and it is not his business to express an opinion, whether that was or was not desirable. They are matters for the controlling body to decide, and he suggested that communication bo entered into with the executive of the Soldiers’ Hostel now in existence. “You will see,” said Mr Seymour, in conclusion, “how necessary it is for the Minister to be more explicit in his remarks, it is also necessary from the public’s point of view as well as from that of the returned soldiers to have our objects clearly defined. There will be need for further responses from the public to appeals for assistance to returned soldiers, and it is only right and just that subscribers should be assured of the necessity of the projects which they are helping to carry out. We thought Mr Russell would have made reference to my letter through the press, and we still hope he will do so.” _