SOLDIERS' PENSIONS

Southland Times, Issue 17663, 22 February 1916, Page 3

SOLDIERS' PENSIONS

PROVISIONS OP THE ACT. QUESTION OK AMENDMENT. STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS. The Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. I'. .Massey) and the Minister of DeI'onee (the Hon. J. Alien) both commented on Tuesday last on the snh.jeet of the pensions and allowances paid to soldiers and. their dependents. A resolution was adopted at the recruiting meeting held at the Wellington Town Hall on Monday night to ask that an absolute declaration should be given by the Government that pensions should go by right, tn the course of some discussion Captain Barclay, who is in charge of the recruiting office in the Town Hall, said that if pensions were given by right, many men would come forward who at present were prevented by their duty to their dependents from doing so. This he could say from his daily observations. .Mr R. A, Wright, M.P.. c.nid that it would bo an undoubted incentive to recruiting if men knew that those whom they had been supporting would, in the event of their non-return, obtain, without question and difficulty, sufficient to keep them. Captain Barclay supported this view. If a pension was by right a soldier's, it should equally he by right his dependents'. A soldier going to the front should be relieved of all doubt on tin; point. It would mean thousands of recruits to them if this inconsi.-teney could be rectified. The Mayor declared that the people of New Zealand would not bo satisfied until there was a pension bestowed by right. INTENTION OP THE GOVERNMENT. The Prime -Minister made the following statement to a Dominion reporter on Tuesday:— "In cases of total incapacity, from the private to the Genera', the pension is provided by Act of Parliament, and goes as a right to the soldier. But in cases of partial incapacit) - , where the soldier may be able to attend to his business or earn a certain amount of money, the Pensions Board may take such facts into consideration. Now, with regard to the soldier's wife, a pension is not provided by right for the wife, because the Pensions Board may reduce the pensions where the wile is possessed of an income or property. Whether rightly or wrongly, that was agreed to by Parliament without a single objection by any member of the House. I may say this is one point which will be taken into consideration when the amendment of the Pensions Act is submitted to Parliament.

"The view has been expressed to me that although the .Act in Australia fixes the amount of the pensions for the widow, the average amount a.lowed by the Pensions Hoard in Xew Zealand exceeds the fixed amount in Australia. That statement has been made to me, and 1 believe it to be correct.”

Air Alassey ((noted from correspondence file extracts from letters showing that men who wont from . Xew Zealand to Australia to enlist had done so under a misapprehension as to the relative advantages offered by the two countries. "They went to Australia,” said the Prime "because they thought that the Pensions Act in the Commonwealth was more liberal than ours. One of these men has written to his friends hero stilting that lie was very sorry ho held enlisted in Australia, because he found in some important respects he had been under a misapprehension; and that if he got the opportunity lie would go back to enlist in the country to which he belonged. ”t can give this assurance.—the Government and Parliament of Xew Zealand are not going to lie behind the other countries of the Empire in their treatment of the soldiers. AVc realise the sacrifices that arc being made by the men who are lighting for us on the oilier side of the world, and we arc going to do tlie right thing for them and their dependents. All that we are anxious to do is to make such provision as will stand a depression if it comes along in a few years.” SEPARATION ALLOWANCES. The -Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. Alien) said that while the figures with respect to separation allowances might tell against Xew Zealand in a comparison with other countries, X’ew Zealand had the more liberal scale of pensions. They had advisedly decided to make this belter provision with regard to pensions rather than pay the higher standard of separation allowance. The Government had followed (ho course of attempting to gain recruits from the unmarried ranks. They wanted the unmarried men first—the men without dependents. Of course, they did not want to see men getting married with the object of providing Uicmselves with an excuse for not enlisting.