REPATRIATION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9756, 4 September 1917, Page 3

REPATRIATION

* ■ V SOLDIERS AND MINISTERS LAND SETTLEMENT- AND OTHER QUESTIONS DISCUSSED. A large deputation from the Returned Soldiers’ Association waited upon tho Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey), the Minister for Finance (tho Right Hon. Sir J. G. Ward), the Minister for Defence (the Hon. Sir James Allen), and the Minis--tor-in-Chargo of Returned, Soldicis Affairs (the Hon. A. L. Herdman). Tho deputation was introduced by Captain Pitt, who stated .tho, of tho association in resard to soldiersettlement, and tho provision of homes on easv terms for those) who could not go inro the country- :• Major Boxer (Hastings) urged the claims of the a*r sedation for recognition as the official mouthpiece of the returned Mldicrs. Mr J. I. Fox (manager of - the Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Club) emphasised the need for tho immediate appointment of a Repatriation Munster, or Minister - for Returned . Soldiers; Mr J. D. Harper (Wellington*, voiced tho claim of the association fo have a representative oh the Pontoon Board: ; Mr H. N. Hayward (Palmerston North) advocated the pooling and centralised administration, though not nationalisation, of all- patriotic funds; Maiov Mcßillop (Dunedin) otfesaed tho importance of technical instruction,*for returned soldiers, and protested against men being .given throe weeks’ notice on thoir .arrival in tho Dominion; Mr D. J. Seymour (general secretary to the association) dealt with the question ofand other points wore raisedJjy Mr C. W. Batten (Wellington), Mr W. B. AlcCallum (Christchurch),' and ’Mr v> • Clarke (Dunedin). PRIME MINISTERS REPLY. ANXIOUS TO REDRESS GRIEVANCES. 1 Mr Massey said that'hd and his colleagues had been very pleased to hear what the deputation had to say, and so far as it was possible to do so they wore quite willing to redress - their grievances. Tho people, the oGvernment, and Parliament were not only willing but anxious to do what they could for tlio returned soldiers. He was very glad indeed to have the offer of assistance from the association in regard to such matters, as it was much better than individuals coming to tho Government. They: had : got ;a De--piartment of Repatriation as nearly; au possible now, in the department under the control of Mr, Herdman,. which looked after the returned soldiers from tho time of ' their arrival, and found them employment. He thought that the department had been ’particularly successful in this. 1 If; it was necessary to extend the functions of that department, ho had no hesitation in saying that they would bo. glad to ,do bo. ' As to the recognition of the nssochtion. the fact that they had had four Ministers of • the Cfpwn to meet 'thorn that morning • Was proof that the Government were willing to rocogm|c fho association. . (Hear,' hear.) ; SETTLEMENT QUESTIONS.

The Land for Settlement ''Act, -he added, would need' to.vbe amendedwto deal with soldier-set tlemeiit,< because it would not give them the areas they required. As a matter of fact, . the Soldiers’ Settlement Act was ah amendment of this, earlier Act, and land could be acquired'for ' soldier-settle-ment under, the' Landfor Settlement Act if necessary.! ' That the.'Land .Settlements Finance' Act; should be made applicable to soldier-settlement. .. htfd been already decided upon,/and ’a bill for tho purpose was either' drafted-or being drafted. Th«> matter! of increased advances to soldier-settlers Had'been approved, and he believed 1 that' it ‘ had been agreed ’to!exlcnd the 'advances up to £750. Ho ■ did not promisethat that amount would he advanced in every case. It would be. given only where required and' where the land boards thought that the settler would make' good use of it. The matter of fencing-wire had been attended‘to. Ho had place';!-' an order through the Lands Department for iquito: a large quantity of wire at a reduction of' £ls a lion as compared with the price then, being charged locally. - - hear.) Tho Govern me wa* not. making a profit out of tl# wire, but was handing it over to the returned soldiersyat cost price. The same was also being done In regard to galvanised iron, and other requirements of soldiers going on tho land.; (Hear, .hear.) _ The questiou of pensions,- again, was coming' before Parliament .this session. .In fact, he did noil think there .was a. single point mentioned that morning that was not being dealt with! At. tho . same time the Government were very pleased to have their views. , He had no' objection to retting np a Parliamentary Committer, but they , had set up _ ;a great number this session in addition to tho ordinary committees,- and be ras not sure if they could bud a suitable personnel. ButCftbinet would take tho mattcif ipto consideration and see what coub’3 bo done. He hod seen what had been 'done at Home in the way of instructing, wounded soldiers in new occupations, and had - already expressed the opinion in Parliament that something of tho sort would need to bo done here. Conditions.bote were. not parallel to the conditions in England, blit hie was sure that tho returned soldiers could pick up some palling by which they could cam a considerable sum of money in addition to .their pensions. Ho did not think’ that .their pensions should be, decreased on account ol : such , earnings. It was cot done at Home, . and he. thought: it should not be done here. (Hear, hear.) Sir James Allen: 'Tth is not done here.” (Hear* hear.) . ~ ' - -. Mr Msssey added .that at Roehaoiptpn men who had lost, a leg, for . instance, were being trained as. ohauf-. feurs, and the same might be done here. / HOMES FOR R.EI’UENED SOLDIERS. Tho matter of providing homes tar returned soldiers hud received the attention of the Government, and he had been thinking whether they should not be able to do something for returned soldiers on the same lines as the workers’ honios were now provided, and also on the lines than they were x>roviding homes, 1 with five dr more acres attached, for farm workers.- They had built a number of sikoh farmworkers’ homes in Canterbury,’ and he was glad to say that they hai not had one failure in the lot. tie tould not, of course, commit the Government to such a scheme before it had been eon. siderod by Cabinet; hut, if, they cb'uld make It a success in the cate of wageearners, there was no reason why they

should not in the case of soldiers. He just wanted to say that wherever the returned soldiers had a grievance the Government would he very glad, if possible, to remove it. The Government and Parliament were very anxious to do their duty by those who had fought for their country. (Hear, hear.) FINANCE MINISTER SYMPA- , THETIG. Sir Joseph Ward said that the general desire of the association would he sympathetically received by the Government and by the people as a whole. (Hear, hear.) Ho did not know that it; would bo possible to do in detail all that they were asking for, but the members of the Government were all anxious to do what they could for t'ho returned soldiers. They could not do too much lor them. DEFENCE MINISTER’S REPLY. Sir James Allen suggested , that as there seemed to be a difference.of opinion as to what repatriation meant a private talk between the officers of the ' association, Mr Herdanan, and hiiiiself would be most useful. Mr Massey: “1 should say it means getting them back to civil life.” (Hear, hear.) , Sir ; James Allen thought that it meant more than i securing employment for the men, and' they should get together and consider the question. (Hearhear.). His .experience and reading showed that much was to bo done. He did not think . that they would get much help from a Parliamentary Committee, as the problem was' a - constantly-changing one. A groat deal of educational work was being ’..done at tlie technical schools in England in regard to the returned soldiers, and the universities were also providing facilities New Zealanders. It was quite possible that many men would come back with valuable experience, and how the best use was to bo made of that remained to be seen. An amendment of tho Pensions Act was being brought down this session. Ho would bo glad, if it was found possible, to have a medical 1 man on the Pensions Board to represent the returned soldiers. With' regard to the mufti for returned soldiers, ho pointed out that tho Government. returned the soldier’s mufti to his home on his going into camp, clothed him in camp, and while on service; and, besides giving him 80s for a mufti suit on his: discharge,; left him a considerable parti of his equipment—tw;o; pairs of boots,._ underclothing, eto. The men returning gto New Zealand on- furlough, generally speaking, and as-far as possible would retain their seniority. ■ Dealing with promotions, the Defence Minister said that the proportion , of commissions given :to men at the .front and to returned soldiers had been considerably increased; but he did not think that it would be fair to shut out territorial officers and reinforcDfflont non-commissioned officers altogether. Territorial officers had ail been warned that they had either got to go into camp and take their chance of going to the front or they would ; not be considered territorial officers any longer. Only 50 or CO commissions were to be given to tho men how in camps, and those who did not get. commissions would have to revert to the ranks. The number of commissions given to reinforcement non-commissioned officers had averaged 20 >pe r drafct, but owing to tbe reduction in the quota the number had nowj been cut down to six. A very.' large percentage of commissions was no«r 'given to men at the front, and wore now in the officers' training camp in England. He did not think, however: that it would be a good thing fbr the‘reinforcement non-commission-ed officer to be cut out altogether. . C Avmember of the deputation: “Our point-is that he should make good as against .the men at the front when ho £ets to' the front.” v < ■ Sir James Allen replied that it would not,be right to shut.the door on the man who had not been at the front. Besides, they must have commissioned offieors iit charge of the men on the transports. STATEMENT BY HON. A. L. HERDMAN. ' The Hon. A. L. Herdman said that the Discharged Soldiers’ Department organisation was now fairly complete .throughout the Dominion. , Besides the'hoad office they had 36 branches in as many centres; and that, they, had been successful in finding employment for. the; men was shown by the tact that biit of the 10,000 who had returned', there were only 160 now seeking employment. Much of the work, however, ; was necessarily only of a temporary character, and he urged that ■discharged soldiers' should endeavour tbi learn a trade, which would ensure their always getting employment and niako- them independent. Arrangements had been'made with-the various technical colleges throughout tho Dominion -to provide" facilities for ■ men learning various trades, and from 50 to 60 men were now engaged in that way; and were being paid £1 ® week in addition to their pensions while undergoing training.' Similar arrangements'had been mado with the State experimental farms for those desiring instruction in agriculture. He was in favour of making use of the existing institutions instead- of -spending tons oi thousands of pounds in establishing a huge technical institution at one central point. ; .