LIBERALISED PENSIONS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13973, 20 April 1916, Page 9

LIBERALISED PENSIONS.

HOW THE ACT IS ADMINISTERED DISABLEMENT CLAIMS. , (Special to Herald.) Wellington, tins daj. The problems faced by the Military Pensions Board are almost as numerous as the claimants. Every man's disability presents some feature which has to bo specially considered m making him an allowance or granting a pension, but having dealt with 895 pensioners up to date, the Boai'd has arrived at a kind of a systemisation which is valuable m affording; a rough estimate of the relief to be given, and enables cases of similar kind to he treated alike-— a fair play all round method which will stand the test of comparison between one man's treatment and another's. Disability claims are hardest to settle equitably, because.; the extent of disability shades off almost by imperceptible degrees from total * disablement down to cases of stii£^ fingers and *sli|rht deafness, or to carry it out to a still ifmer pomt — tho actual position of a, man whoso heart is affected by this shock of an explosion, but not to an extent which will prevent 'him 'from following his old occupation. — Following the plan of the Workers' Compensation Act. the Pensions Board 'has settled upon a scale of payment m respect to personal injuries. A soldier who loses a right leg m his country's service is. v usually granted a pension of £78 per annum". The left leg is assessed at the same rate, while the loss of both is regarded as total disablement, carrying of course the full pension. The Board distinguishes between right and left arms, the loss- of a. right arm usually resulting m a pension of £78, while tho left arm loss is put down at .-665. ; Unfortunately there lias "been a fairly heavy number' of claims' m respect to eyesight. Total blindness results m the full £91 pension, while no man who has lost one eye has received less than £1 per week as a permanent pension. Those who come back mentally affect-

od are given the full allowance while suffering' m that way, and the Board i has had to deal with a soldier who developed; consumption while on active service. To hirri they paid- a .£7B pension.. It is a. difficult question, to .decide whether military f service is fully' responsible for the development of phthisis. A certain amount of easygoing medical inspection at the early stages has let m men who were, strictly speaking, medically unfit. Their latent trouble has become, acute tinder the ..stress of active ' service, and tho State has to ' compensate men who did not 'lose their health altogether m the King's service. Tlie Board endeavors, m these .difficult; cases, 'to adjust the liability 1 with a sympathetic leaning towards the consumptive. There is at least one case 1

I on record of a soldier who undoubtedly 1 had consumption before joining, and j who had to be discharged on tha.t account. His application for a pension ,was ! declined, but the Board- knows that the t man will receive .State medical treatment, and & place m a- sanatorium, so that he is not wholly, "turned down." Neurasthenia, is a trouble highly prevalent among the brave men who have !*> put up with trying conditions for months on end, without relief. A regular system of relief from tho nerve tension and discomfort of the front line ; has been m , operation m ,' France' for many months. Men i'wer? so short ■m Gallipoli that ! they had to. stay m the trenches longer than was fair to their nerves or constitution. They I .have not complained, but their nervous trouble shows what ' they endured, and the Pensions Board is continually dealing with such cases. ■ The- usual method is to gran^ a tsmporaoy allowance m the hope that the man will improve, as, we are glad to say, usually happens. To take one speci--fio case from the records. A .neurosthenic sufferer who claimed a pension was granted 35s for' three months. He got work, broke down, and the Board, granted an extension of the- allowance at the rate of. 30s. weekly so that ho could fake three months' rest as rei commended by a doctor. The expert advice is that aftor three months' holiday, the man will be sound and healthy. Quito ,1 singular case is that of a soldier whoso heart was affected by shock of an explosion. The Pensions" Hoard granted a. pension of £1 weekly. The '-returned soldier .has been able to refiinie his ordinary occupation, but he has bean medically advised, to "go slow" and run no 'risk of excitement. So the Board," to help him to live without too much strain, grants the £l pen- ' sion. ' ■'■]' " Still, another variety of applicant is I tho man who did hard manual work before ho went away soldiering, but who ! cornea back unfit for his old job. ff j , ho cail undertake light wp'rk, the Board i giv<*a him a lift to the extent of 10s j jn. week, and ho usually does -at least as well as before his enlistment. ' We mentioned eai-lier tho differentiation between rifjht and -left arms. But there are . exceptions to every rule. All men are not right-handed, a<nd a c.nst- . iron rule m favor of the right hand or : arm. would be unfair to those individuals who are left-handed. Tlie Board has had to deal with .such a case, and it. has granted the left-handed man- minus his left arm the pension, awarded to those who lose a right arm... > Th/d degree of disability date to deafness is hard to assess, but the Pensions Board has a good knowledge of the various degrees, ; after dealing with many cases. One soldier whoso partial deafiiess can never be remedied ,was granted a. pension of 15s weekly. .Another obtained 10s, but the pension will go up if tho deafness gets woi'se. In the case where m&h have lost fingers the Board has. endeavored to make

up for this partial disability by ■. paying £20 a year as a pension. This sum was also awarded toa soldier who «nffored'from a stiff .finger joint. Jii handling the. claims of dependents much care is taken tb'fniirly assess the degree of dependence. ' Ope case will illustrate how the ■ Board deaJs with this problem. A' soldier has been paying'his father £1 monthly. Tlie father receives a pehaion from aii(rther/Bourca but the Board, on the deatliof the son, decided W continue the monthly £1 which! he had always received from his boy. Section 15 of the Act instructs the Board to take into, consideration the income .of the dependent, and this is a point about which controversy will wax warm when Parliament meets. At first the Board construed this section much more . strictly than it does to-day,, and the mention" of Boms cases where deductions have been wade because of income, will ' illustrate lio\v things . work out under the more : liberal regime which followed public criticism. The wife of a mUjor is .entitled to a maximum! pension: of £155 m ease of his deathl One deceased major's estate w^.s sworn at '£2ooo. .There were two chiitlren.t and* the utmost pension woxild have been £135. The Board made a £5 deduction from that amount. If the estate does not produce the, income curvent at the time o{ fixing tho pension, the matter* will be reviewed, and an increase allowed. This power of review applies m all cases, and is a valuable point about the pension system, seeing tlifl-t New Zealand has to feel its way m this new obligaton. > '_ A /recent re-opening O f » pensinn claim relates to the mother of a late lieutenant ih tiio forces. She first received £1 weekly. T^he son had been her Bole support, and sno found great difficulty m living upon the pension. It is "indicativo of the liberalising effect of public opinion' upon the pension administration that the Board has just doubled the mother's pension. Our financial obligations to our soldiers and' their dependents have already grown to ,an impressive. sisw>. To-day 'there- are 344 soldiers and 591 dependents thawing .pensions, -involving an annunl liability of ,£40,770 . In addition, the Board has gif).nted temporary aliowancfis to' disabled and partially disabled mpn. ! Whicli- awonnt to about £20,000 per anniim. Analysing tho. whole of tho pensions granted, it is found that the afp.rage penßi.on granted amounts to £45 pev annu-ra,' The eoldior. gets £52 on the average, while wiyes, including children get £89, arid other. dependents an average of iG3O.-