"MY MOTHER"

NZ Truth, 5 October 1918, Page 2

"MY MOTHER"

Forgotten by the Government

The Penalty of Parentage,

"Men are what, their mothers made them: You may as well ask a loom, which weaves huckaback why it does not make cashmere, as expect poetry from this engineer or a chemical discovery from that jobber." But it is up to the men Avhom their mothers have made to see that their mothers are made also. A fortnight ago "Cambist" had something- to say anent the first annual report and balance-sheet of the Auckland Soldiers' Mothers' League. That hard-headed critic passed an unqualified blessing upon the ladies who are m charge of this important branch of war philanthropy, but queried advisedly why the bal-ance-sheet had not grot the usual auditorial tag expressing- satisfaction with such expenditure as had been made. However, during the week the secretary and president of this league have been on a visit to Wellington with a view to shaking- up the Government on the QUESTION OF MOTHERS' ALLOWANCES, and they took the opportunity of calling upon "Truth" to state that, al-thoug-h the auditor's name had not appeared on the printed balance-sheet, it had been duly audited and passed by a qualified auditor. "Truth" cheerfully accepts this explanation, and hopes that the league will continue to do the good work for which it has been founded. It is an undoubted fact that too many men go away to the front without properly realising their responsibilities to their parents m the matter of allotments. Their best girls — more than one at times — have a portion of their pay allotted to them, but, m many cases, the mothers are either forgotten or inadequately provided for. It was with a view to making representations on this matter to the Government that the officials of the Auckland League visited Wellington, and it is understood that they got a favorable hearing from the Minister of Defence, though whether a "favorable . hearing" will bear fruit is another story. Anyway, there is room for a stringent regulation upon the subject. Incidentally, m this connection another anomaly has been brought under our notice. Under the general orders relating to separation allowance it is provided that an allowance of Is 6d per day Is payable to a widowed mother who is partially or wholly dependent on one son m the New;- > Zealand Expeditionary Forces, provided he makes an allotment m her favor, of not less than 3s a day. But a widowed mother with more than one single son, whether such son is a member of the forces or otherwise, is not eligible for the allowance unless, owing to GOOD AND SUFFICIENT REASONS, such other son is not able to contribute adequately to her support. The general principle is that the allowance is given to supplement the soldier's allotment, which the widowed mother finds is m itself insufficient for her support. Apparently, therefore, the more sons a widow sends to the front the less money she gets. An illustration of this has been brought under the notice of this journal. In a southern township lives a widow with three sons. The eldest, aged 22, is serving with the forces m France ; the second son is with the 29th reinforcements, and the third, a lad of 15 years of age, is learning a trade at the princely remuneration of 10s a week. This woman also provides a home for her mother, who is 75 years of age and m recefpt of the old age pension, but she herself, through ill-health, is unable to work for a living. Medical certificates show that she has been suffering from a spinal disease for the last ten years. She owns her own home, but has to pay rates and taxes and insurance, and all she has to live upon is an allotment of six shillings a day from her two sons at th-e front. An application for relief from the Soldiers' Financial Assistance Board met with no result except a bald quotation from the regulations as indicated above. "I FIND IT HARD," she writes, "to live upon my boys' allotments of 6s a . day, and put something by for my sons should they be spared to return." This little story speaks for itself, and it, at least, emphasises the necessity for the existence of the Auckland League and other' institutions of a similar character. How can a mother put something by for her sons should, they be spared to> return, when circumstances force her to keep her home going on her 'boys' allotments? It is up to the Government to provide for such hardship. , .