SUMMARY.

Colonist, Volume LVIII, Issue 14483, 15 August 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUMMARY.

«i«-

' THE. f SEOOND DIVISION

CONFERENCE

. (From "The Colonist," July 23rd.) - ""Ws do not think that tho Dominion has •ever witnessed a conference- represent-

ing as large or as diversified a constitu-

ency as that which last week brought ' together in Wellington delegates from

brauches of the Second Division League

in every part of tho country. There '- "were over eighty representatives, - who

spoke in the name "or 120,000 Second

Division Reservists, and they were as--.sembled to consider matters of national •urgency. 'The conference is entitled to 3>e .regarded as one. inspired by truly patriotic motives, since it was intended to frame proposals which if carried into;

effect would remove from the minds of

Second Division mon the anxieties for ~ the welfare oE their dependents, who, as one delegate remarked, must be deemed by all men as their first respon-. sibility. Tlig tone of the conference Ava* quite what it should have been. The debates wero in keeping with the

initial declaration of the League's constitution that its object is to assist and not to hinder the Government in -regard to the war. Thci'o was no suggestion of a-desire on the part of any' members of the* (League 1o avoid service; theii whole desire, as expressed by their representatives, was to obtsin conditions that would enable thorn to give their •best to the country Vnvn the call comes to them, freed from the burden of other responsibilities in a great -many cases inadequately provided" "for. It is further to be noted that the decisions of the conference on the most important subjects before <t were arrived at unanimously, a-fact which, in itself testifies to ■ the moderation of. the demandsit has put forward on behalf of the men of the Second Division. We are unabio to :nake more than passing reference to the main resolutions adopted, which on the whole confirm the impression created by the unanmity of the conference. It fdoes not seek, wisely, in our opinion, any increase in the xates of military pay, concentrating the full force of its demand upon pensions and allowances, to which tho liherality of the country can be more beneficially applied. On that subject their claim is

one that admits of no division'of opin- £ ion in principle. The present scale of pensions and allowances is . far from adequate., and it roust <be made adequate . before the Second Division avo called •upon. On the subject of pensions, the conference adopted the principle'of the admirable British scheme, which takes into account the- pre-war earnings and living standard-^ the pensioners, and assists them in other ways than by monetary grants to attain to something approximating their .pre-war position" within fixed financial limits. It provides a fixed rate of pension for various degrees of disablement, and is so framed as to leave as little as possible to the discretion of official administrators. The schedule adopted by- the conference provides for minimum pensions .varying from ■ ■£* l s 3d per eok Tor complete mcapacitatio'n down to'Bs 6d for 20 .per cent., ineapacitation. Tte ! Bntisii alternative is adopted, under which a pensioner whose pension and > children's allowances (if any) together with what.he may be able to earn are less than his pre-war earnings, may be granted temporarily or permanently in lieu of such pension and allowances a pension, which together: with his average earnings shall not exceed-his prewar earnings np to a maximum of 75s per week, plus half of any pre-war earnings between 75s and 160b per week. The soak; of separation allowances, children's allowances, and pensions for Widows and children means a great extension of the E cope of the existing scheme, but it is fully warranted by the circumstances, and the country i s well able to make, the necessary provision i Iho romerence reached interesting de cwions on a variety of other questions. Altogether it has performed a , very valuable service, and has notably simplified the task of tho Government and of Parliament in dealing with the whole question.