Relief for Soldiers

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 444, 28 August 1928, Page 8

Relief for Soldiers

Patriotic Authorities’ Valued Work

IN spite of heavy calls which have been made upon the funds of the Auckland Patriotic Association, much lis still being accomplished for the relief of unemployed fit returned soldiers. Married men are being given tvep weeks work in four, and single men have been securing one week's work in three, though in necessitous eases financial assistance is accorded when work cannot be provided. At the present rate of expenditure the B. Fund, from which unemployment relief is drawn, is expected to last for about a year.

FOR over 12 months the association has been cutting' heavily into its fund for the relief of unemployed returned men by the payment of halfwages cn specified work, and at the present time approximately 200 applications are being dealt with weekly. There has been insufficient work to keep every man going continuously, but from 50 to 100 men are working under the association’s allocation. Preference naturally is given to married men, who are now doing about two weeks' work in four, and the single men are

receiving a little over one week in three. In cases where work cannot be provided, a monetary grant is made to keep the wolf from the door. The B fund, from which all distress payments of this sort are made, was originally £36,000, but the drqin upon it has been so heavy that the amount has been reduced to £4,000. It was supplemented last year by a grant of £SOO from the War Funds Council, and it is anticipated that a similar sum will be handed over during the current year. The association is endeavouring to complete arrangements with the Onehunga Borough Council, to employ a number of returned men upon the enlargement and alteration of a recrea-

tion area, which, if carried through according to the draft plan, will give material assistance to the unemployed In addition, further work is projected in the Mount Albert district, and members of the claims board of the association have arranged to meet the borough council there on Tuesday evening to discuss the proposition. In the execution of this work, the local bodies are in a fortunate position, for the Patriotic Association contributes half the wages, and the remainder is paid by Government subsidy. WILL SPEND ALL The association is prepared to spend all of its B fund in assisting unemployed fit soldiers, though the officers agree with popular opinion that the trustees of the Canteen Fund should accede to the request of the R.S.A. and grant about £IO,OOO for the extension of this purpose. This grant, it is urged, would carry a Government subsidy of £ for £, and as the Canteen Fund amounts to approximately £200,000 a grant of £IO,OOO would not be a drain upon it, but would ’constitute about one year’s interest. The purpose of the Canteen Fund, of course, was to accumulate moneys for use after other patriotic funds had become exhausted, but there is a popular feeling among returned men and among patriotic associations that a small portion of this could be released for necessitous circumstances such as arise in the present economic stress. While the present depression lasts, and while there are funds in hand, the Patriotic Association will continue to carry the burden of the unfortunate exservice men, some of whom already have been given from 13 to 16 weeks of work under the association’s scheme MORE FUNDS WANTED One of the departments of relief in which the Auckland patriotic authorities, under the administration of Mr. TB. Kay, are doing a great deal, is that of providing housing and general assistance to permanently disabled men. Up to the end of March last, 525 had been assisted, at an aggregate cost of £106,000, or an average of £202 a man. In the provincial fund, from which money is drawn for sick and wounded soldiers who are reduced to necessitous straits through war disability, there remains about £120,000, which is expected with careful administration to keep the association’s work going for about 15 years. It is likely that a move will shortly be made toward securing further funds for the benefit of returned men, and if the proposal to place aside portion of the Canteen Fund is not viewed with favour by the board of trustees, other means will have to be evolved of meeting soldiers’ financial requirements.