PARLIAMENT AND PENSSIONS

NZ Truth, Issue 570, 20 May 1916, Page 1

PARLIAMENT AND PENSSIONS

NEED FOR AMENDING THE AMENDING MEASURE

The present Parliament Its* ehown us several times, that the type of mind possessed by Byron's Donna- Julia, who, •Vowing she would not consent, conBen ted," was hot peculiar to her neither as an Individual nor air a woman. Time and. again the National Government, the Pensions' Committee, and* to ccme to the individual, the Defence iflnJater, declared that they, lit, or he would not, and, 10, they, it or he immediately went and did. The most flagrant instances of this volatile.Quality, of mind In our pr»r, ierit ''-^Aj^cD^ißaS^^i^^iiij^ m connection with their p»a^ibus^and varied declarationa In connectioa with pensions to returned woldlera When the first complaints were made concerning the inquisition to which widows, mothers and other dependents of dead soldiers were subjected on applying far pensions, yrv were! told that it wao necessary that the fullest inveotUfation should be made Into the roeourcce of the applicants for relief In order not only to obviate fraud, but also to determine the amount of the pension to be granted. As the] volume of protest grew against a system which compelled the widows and mothers of our fighting men who hod made the supremo sacrifice, to coine pleading, ■•If forma pauperis, the Goverhnfenl instructed the Pension Board to ejpse '.-. off a bit; The public, however, jvere not satisfied. "Truth^'' from the first, had espoused the causo of the soldier and tho soldier's dependehtflV | Thia paper, therefore, demanded pensions, not as an act e£ grace, not as an act of charity, but as a right Many oif the day-lies, while sympathising with, the proposal, could not ccc their way to Join m making a straight-out demand for such a concession. Thoy printed explanations showing that our demand on beMlf o£ the or our dead and wounded \j. "braves" was , rathca* a tall order, and publlsned excuse after excuso from Cabinet Ministers which presumed to show us why such a demand must be considered unreasonable tf not impossible.! The excuses of Ministers wore turned into accusations, and they stood condemned by their own logic. So now Ye s>e that, before Parliament has been opened a week, the Cabinet that sold it couldnt, tho Government that wiid it shouldn't. Including the Minister who sold he wouldn't, brings down a Bill which concedes that principle for which "Truth" pleaded over twolve) months ago—^Pen•ions for our eoldlcirs' dependents, not tut paupers, but as a Right! Now the wife and children of tho soldier who flloo In the servlee of the country will have no doubt as tiij> what will be dono tor them. Their right to a opeciflo pennton ts to be fixed by Act of Parliament, and there will be b|o more higgling or finqulsUoriaV tactlca indwigod In by a bowolloHS Pensions' Board. "Truth" Ja glad for the widows' aad orphans' aakes, all too many of who|a thia dreadful war will leave on a logaoy of an Emperor's blood-lust and foollith ambition. • ■ • ■.■ • ■'■ / ■ '■■ ■■' •^Truth* would like to congratulate tho Government on thlg, concession, but the grudging manner Ui which it has yielded to what >vciry individual whooe wells of compassion aro not arid and dry, adraiU» In but Just, itatraina u». This measure of reform suffers by reason ot the unfair limitations .which' the Government still insist shall be part ana parcel ofi any ponmon Act. One KiUa to 000 why tho Oovtsrnraent rcfuaca to grnnt to the molhcr-dopon-dont of a acldlcr tho samo "right" an tho wUtow-dfipendent la tho majority of coAes.the widow-dopendout avIII bo the nbior of tho two to battle with adverflt* fortune. This fact ecxitno to havo escaped tho members of tho Cabinet when K'ivinp Infltructlorw for tho draft* m? of tho moaaur<i. WH? ahoold tho aj;«U# mothor who had been, raoro or J^'in, (i^peibdont on her son who ha* boon ktlttvi m tho service of hie country, ni'H 'hitvo to come iilendlnff as a patter to the Fe'nalota'/'lißoar'd. URttmilvoly turning her poc^t tnaldc out for tholr tleieciation? It tho ra^mbors ot tho I'onslons' Board had any real moral con»clenco, they would feel moro humillatod In carrying out ihla ordnance Bum liwir poor victim, however wjaai-

tive, possibly could. In fact, so repugnant should such an injunction be that men, -real men, men with a true sense of the fitness of things, would refuse to acton the feoard -while such a clause remained m force. ' Surely the fact that & wol^jahv* on *^ |^fy !t *' r Hi*n'f' Ttaw n&oood his mothor, sister or brother as his dependent ought to be sufficient to satisfy, anyone as to the justice and legality of a claim lodged. It seems so hard for certain types of mind to get away from that ol& world bJunbledo^thaJt la -th«L plague of the poor and Che shame of the rich, rrruth* ; trustß that, despite the Cabinet's hankering to retain the methods of ' the English Board of Guardians m the administration of our Pensions Act, the members of the House who sincerely desire to see the dependents of our eoldiera not only justly but generously treated, will refuse to allow ttoe measure to pass through the House until this pauper blot to removed, ;■'■"■■ •. ';••./•'': •■'." • ' But these are not the only weaknesses m the War Pensions' Amendment BUI. When we were told that it was the Government's intontion to bring down an amending measure, it was hoped that the Cabinet would take its courage In both its hands and show not only that It understood, but that It appreciated .and approved of the peoples' desire. Nay, it would have been more readily forgiven had it outdistanced the public's demands than it will bo now that^f again it has fallen short of that measure of Justice which It was fondly hoped it would bestow. If this war has taught us anything, it has taught us the value of children, strong, healthy, robust children. It has taught us that the State rests on the clnVld, and that the State that will poralat through th* agea is thai which' best «ms©ryes the health and happiness of ite children. If tho State is allowed to ohlrk its responsibilities m this matter, especially when that other— the father of the child— who might have shouldered them, has given his life for the State, there can be only one result. That particular State is destined to decay, and to shed blood now In its defence is not only useless, but criminal. Does the National Cabinet think that flva shillings per week will meet all the seeds of a child herein referred to? Ig there a Cabinet Minister or member of Parliament who would care to Bee his child housed, clothed, fed and educated at an expense of five shillings per week? And if this la not sufficient for the upbringing of the child of the man who receives wealth and honor for hta servlcee to tho State, why should It be considered sufficient for tho child of the man who died that the Stato might continue to uve? to it not a fact that tho children being reared m our various orphan homes cost f more than five shillings weekly per head? Do not theao institutions pay.... a larger weekly sum to people who take boarded-out orphan children? Cabinet Ministers, if they do not know these things, ought to knew them. "Truth" | asserts them as facto. Ministers and members can verify our statomont by applying to the matron of any orphan homo m Wellington. And theee are "pauper" children, and soldiers' orphans ore to be treated ware©. IWol Wo do not believe that any child should be caused to Batter becauso of the misdeed* of Itfl parent, but. suroly. It Is a thousand times worse to allow a child to suffer m spite of tho goods deeds of ths father! And this lost: just about aums up tho position m which the War Pensions' Amondment Bill leaves the orphan child of tho aoldlar— the man whose pralfloe we have sung for tola bravo deeds at Axumc, "whew© work at tho Western front will bo extolled when thoso who now arc grudgingly granting hi* child a pittance on which to live, hay© passod from praise or biarao, leaving neither a memory nor a name. ■'•'■ ■■"•"-. "■ • ■ '. «■ '■'■''■ Presumably tho Ponslons' Board's I duty 5b to safeguard tho intormts of the -State;, to inquire Into th© claims mad* nod determine whether ihwe aro, or aro not, bona fldo: to prevent any fraud, whothor of tha State by

returned incapacitated soldiers or their dependents, or qt the Individual by impersonation. So tax, its purpose is commendable, but-in the execution or such duties the Board, if unchecked, must almost of a certainty drift Into an unsympathetic official attitude towards all applicants, an altitude justly resented by all men of spirit, especially when their claims ■ are backed by a conscious sense of right. Wsiy should the returned soldiers not have the privilege of electing at least one member of the Bo«rd «b tlveir direct reparessivtatlvA* If tttfe Gav*tram&kt would graai Una concession, it would go far toward m<ninn4wfng» other, weaknesses In the present amending measure. But the duty of the State towards the returned wounded soldier znuaifr not be allowed to end with the granting of a pension. It must see that employers of labor are not, allowed to filch any part of It, however small, n«t only to the economic -hurt of this iwircafaTH"* . 'him«t«if 1 : but to the depressing: of the wages of other workers , who have no pensions. It is quite possible that many wounded soldiers who will be drawing small pensions from the State, will be able to follow their old callings ac efficiently as before A *it* <g fT T> < wv^. _ | O fl ?yi TT >'pr (^ n^p Tn and competition befog what tiiey ar* employers, will offer such men a sligJbtly reduced wage from what, they earned previously. SJald wage, plus their pension, makes their pay metre than formerly, and they Consent m order to get their old billets back./ But the introduction, of a cheaper article on the pension, make their pay more than formerly •fetching higher prices. It is the same with labor. Labor Is & commodity, and its value ia depressed by the same economic law that -depresses butter or bacon. Some employers may honestly 'lmagine that the proper thing to do is to employ the men who have \ bhsd for th«^^^ebimtO^^hat;"tzieia^t&U* ly. he continues to be "bled 1 ? for the special behoof of bis patriotic employer is a mere circumstance and not worth mentioning. This danger all the more caps for some attention now/ m that many are of opinion that an industrial crisis win follow on the heels or wax. From this it will be seen that it la not sufflceat that the state should grant a pension more or less (generally less) adequate to the returned BoWier, and then abandon him to the tender mercies of the industrial machine. The State must continue to shield, if not sustain, its defenders. , Unprincipled employers and profit-pinchers must not be allowed to pilfer their pension by using them to force down, not only their own wages, but the wages of their unpensloned fellow-employees. As has been said by those who have the welfare of our returned soldiers at heart: It Is unthinkable that the State should break our young manhood on tho wheel of war and then fling it back Into the competitive scramble for jobs. Or it would be unthinkable if we had not the evidence before us that already. It is being done. Ministers and members of Parliament have sounded the praises of our brave boys bo volubly, and have paraded their admiration so ostentatiously, while providing very little of a t&nglbld nature to p»ve th«ir eittc^rlty m so doing, that one begins to have doubts as to whether or not some sinister purpose does not lie behind all their piping and praising. The introduction of the War Pensions' Amendment BUI provides Parliamentarians with an opportunity of legislatively emphasising their admiration and gratitude Let them seek to amend this amending measure m such a way as to moke New Zealand's War Pensions' scheme ihp most impjtrtiaJ, just and equitable, and, therefore, also the most admired, pension scheme the wide world o'er! -