REHABILITATION PLAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25798, 20 March 1945, Page 4

REHABILITATION PLAN

CONCERN EXPRESSED RIGIDITY OF STATE SCHEME (.Special) AUCKLAND, Mar. 19. “ Frankly, I am a little worried about the problem of rehabilitating our servicemen as they return," said the Mayor, Mr J. A. C. Allum, when officially opening a conference of delegates from branches of the Returned Services Association in the Auckland district.

“ When the Government’s rehabilitation scheme is a good one and the local • officers, are doing an excellent job, there is a rigidity about a State scheme which hampers it,” said Mr Allum. “The public wants the best done for these men, and employers, as a whole, are willing to do all they can. I have been sorry to hear some talk that employers are not doing their best, but I am sure that while there may be a few bad employers, the vast majority will answer any call that may be made. “The principal aim should be to reestablish returned men in their own homes and their own businesses. J always stress to a returned man that it is better to obtain a housing loan and build a place for himself rather than go into a State rental house. “I do not like the policy of giving preferences to returned men only when all other things are equal. This may be all right in a few years, but at the moment consideration should be given to the fact that these men have been out of business for some years, are nervy and unsettled. They should be given preference, even if they are not up to the standard of the other man.