A CASE OF DISTRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3877, 3 July 1928, Page 23

A CASE OF DISTRESS.

' Reference in parliament. DISTRIBUTION OF PATRIOTIC ' FUNDS. ; / WELLINGTON, June 29. V i • *’ If such a state of affairs exists the knowledge of those who have the handling of the enormous sums subscrißed by the people during the war perod, and fh,ey have withheld assistance, it very little credit on them,” said the Minister’of Lands (Mr A. D. M’Leod) in. the House to-night when .commenting on the case of the returned soldier who was. found in ill-health and in distressed '.circumstances with his family in an almost empty house in St. Paul street, Auckland. Attention to the case was directed by Mr W. E. Parry (Auckland Central) in his speech on unemployment, ind he contended that it very little credit ’on the Government that a. returned soldier should be in such straits. “One would like to : hear the history of that case,’’ said Mr M’Leod. “ One can hardly believe that assistance would no be forthcoming . from the. Patriotic Association until .the Government had had time to make inquiries. An/extreme statement of such a nature leads ;.one |o believe that the statements in the prCSs concerning acute distress are not? to pe credited.”, . . U “ The law will not permit thg Patriotic Association to give relief unless the djs« tress is caused by war injury,’’- interjected Mr J. A. Lee (Auckland; East)-. “ You know very well that/th/e position is very different from that,” the Minister replied. “The law/does lint compel the trustees of the money that wps liberally subscribed to be kept so confined. I feel quite sure that th.e facts were not brought to the Patriotic Association’s notice before they were; rushed -

into print. Something woiildSfiye bepn done immediately; to; help the man;” ■? ’ SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT COM . 1 . . ■ FLEXION. . AUCKLAND, July 1. . The case referred to in Parliament on Friday night of a returned soldier who, with his family, was found in ill-health and, distressed circumstances in an almost; empty .■ house .in Auckland is well known to sevrii al of tlie ‘ organisations charged ' With _ the administration of charitabie relief moneys in Auckland. He . has been ,in receipt- of aid .from- both .the. Patriotic . Association arid the Hospital and Charitable' Aid Board, but was -re- ' fdsed further consideration’ ’by the Patriotic Association a few weeks ago because he .failed to present himself at a job which had beeri found for him, Mr T.- B. Kay, of., the Patriotic Association, speaking from memory of his experience of the case, said that tliri irian went abroad as far as England, He' had applied, -to the Pensions Board for a pension, claiming that he suffered from. asthma; but thb pension was refused on the ground that the complaint was nbt induced by war service or his s(ay in England. ' He - submitted his case to the Appeal Board, which, in turn, upheld the Pensions Board’s decision. Arriving ’ in Auckland from the south, he applied to . the Patriotic Association .for relief. As the association’s. ’ main, fund was available only for sick and; wounded soldiers he was given odd sums amounting to £5O from the secondary fund, which only amounts to £5OOO, and is available ’for the relief of distress among able-bodied soldiers. , The man ' was' a painter-by. trade, but apparently he could not get sufficient work to pay his rent arid keep his wife and children properly. - He had been turned out of one house by the bailiffs, who had removed the furniture into the garden and his wife arid three children had been obliged to sleep in a shed at the rear of the premises because they had nowhere else to go. The woman subsequently broke into the house and took her children there, and when warned by the police that she had coirirhitted an offence she approached the Patriotic Association for, assistance. She was given £2 for food and 30s with which to pay the first week’s rent on a house in St. Paul street. The association then found her husband a labouring job with the City Council under the unemployment relief scheme, but the man : - never used the order on the council which the association gave , him, his ex* cuse being that he had found ; casual work. When next he approached the association he was refused further assistance on the ground ’ that he was able* bodied and had declined work that was offered to hirii. : Mr H. A. Somerville, secretary of the . Hospital Board, -said the man had;been paid 17s 6d a week for several yeajs out of the charitable aid funds to'enable him to purchase groceries, and money was still being paid to him.