SOLDIERS' BRIDES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14610, 21 May 1918, Page 4

SOLDIERS' BRIDES.

. . » — . THE LAW AS TO PENSIONS^ Among the remits approved by the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association for consideration by the New Zealand Conference of Returned Soldiers is one as follows:— ' That if a 'soldier marries after his return his wife be eligible for a war pension, irrespective of evidence of / pre-enlistment engagement or timelimit. The War Pensions Act, as amended m 1917, does not retain the "pre-enlistment engagement" stipulation previously adopted by Parliament. The original rule was that if a returned soldier, who had ! qualified for a war pension, married after his discharge, his wife would bo qualified for a pension only if she had been engaged to the soldier before he went to the front. The present law provides that a war pension may be paid to a woman who becomes, by marriage m New Zealand, the wife of a, member of the Forces after and within two years from the date of his discharge; provided that m the event of the death of such, member his wife shall thereupon cease to be_ a dependent within the meaning , of this section, but m any such case there may be paid to her a gratuity of an amount not exceeding twice the nnnual value^f her pension. Under this fpmsion any disabled or partially disabled New Zealand soldier may marry within two years of his discharge and; then receive, at the discretion of the Pensions Board, a pension for his wife on the usual sca'e. If a completely disabled man, who had been receiving the full pension of £2 a week (possibly with the additions authorised by the* 1 Act) married within! two years of his discharge, his wife could receive a pension of £1 a week as long as he lived. But the marriage must take place "mi New Zealand." The words "by marriage m New Zealand" are important, since there have already been cases where disabled men have married outside New Zealand and then applied for pensions for their wives. The applications have had to be refused under the ptestnt law. '