RETURNED SOLDIERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 21

RETURNED SOLDIERS

CONTROL OF REPATRIATION. MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENT URGED. WELLINGTON, March 7. The Patriotic Associations' Advisory Board passed a resolution to-day in favour of the appointment of a Minister for Repatriation. The executive is to wait on the Prime Minister on the subject as soon as a meeting can be arranged. There are very strong reasons against" the making of such an appointment as the board seems to have in mind, and there are no such strong reasons against the socalled divided control as "are urged. If a Minister were to be appointed with power to deal with all questions affecting returned soldiers he would need to spend! a great deal of money, and occasionally he would have to deoide important questions of policy. For this reason he would have to consult continuously with his colleagues in the Cabinet, and in the end the result would be that the Cabinet would d*eal with most of the matters of importance. Details in connection with repatriation are most effectively dealt with under the present Discharged Soldiers' Information De partment. Now that the lands for settle mont branch and the soldiers' land settlement branch of the Lands Department are hold by the Prime Minister, who also has control of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department, there is virtually no repatriation work done by any other Minister. The preparation of schemes for absorbing a big body of returned men rapidly is one in which many departments rmist have a hand. All the men cannot be made into farmers or clerks or navvies. There must be co-operation among departments and amongst Ministers for the development and carrying ,out of the schemes. No one Minister could ever con trol tho officers of another department, and no efficiency would be achieved by attempting to bring all the control of returned soldiers' affairs under one Minister, who shall, it is suggested, have no other duties.