NEED FOR DISCRIMINATION

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1934, Page 10

NEED FOR DISCRIMINATION

WAR FUNDS EXPENDITURE. 7 ’■ ' • ; ’ A RET JEF WANTED FOR 20 YEARS. Wellington, Jan. 19. While war relief associations throughout New Zealand are anxious to do all they can to assist ex-servicemen who are suffering from distress, such has been the number of applications from men whose position has been brought upon themselves by their own improvidence that a situation has been created, as a result of which it has become necessary for associations to exercise careful discrimination between those cases which are deserving of assistance and those which are not. Although the funds have ' benefited in the past from generous donations, a total of £5,000,000 has been spent in the aggregate since their inception, and at the present rate of expenditure it is estimated that they will ’be exhausted in from eight to Jen years’ time. Owing to the disabilities from which men, particularly those who saw long service, are suffering, it is considered that the need for the funds will continue for another 20 years. In a large number of cases men suffered disability during and immediately after the war,’ and in an equally large number, of instances disabilities became apparent later, or are only now becoming apparent. In the case-of men who gave long service, it is generally considered that their lives have been shortened by ten ’ years. As those men included a large number who were in their twenties and are now in their forties, it is obvious that many will require assistance from the funds for many years to come, even assuming that their lives will fall short of the alloted span by about a decade. The funds are reported to be diminishing rapidly, and even if only the strong cases for assistance are to be supported, the greatest care in the administration of the money will have to be exercised if requirements are to be satisfied.

Day by day the Wellington War Relief Association receives applications which prgve the improvidence of many men, who, when they were in receipt of good incomes, even during the depression, made no attempt to conserve their resources and to provide against an emergency. They have been thrown out of work and have immediately applied to relief organisations for assistance. Such cases, it is pointed out, prove the need for careful investigation by responsible societies, in order that all relief funds may be expended in the welfare of the most deserving persons. On the other hand, many men have been on relief work for two yars and are now submitting their first application.

In one case an application was received from a man, now on relief work, for assistance to purchase clothing for his family. He had been single up to about 1931, and his total earnings from 1924 to 1933 had been £3305. His total earnings as a single man from 1924 to 1930 had been £2244, an average of £374 a year. His total earnings for the last three years as a married man have been £lO6l, an average of £354, or £7 a week. When applying for assistance he admitted that he had earned big money, that he had spent freely, and that he should have saved a considerable amount over the full period. Another case, that of a fellow-worker, a married man, whose earnings had been even greater over approximately the same period, said that he was now destitute. He, too, admitted having spent freely. One method by means of which money has been saved has been by making cases the responsibility of the districts in which the men were resident from three to six months prisr to their enlistment. As a result of this, it is estimated that many thousands of pounds have been saved. Applications are constantly being received by the Wellington War Relief Association from outside districts, but in fairness to those who come under its control, these have had to be referred back.

One case which has come under the notice of the Wellington association is the application from a married woman from an outside district. It is understood that although there is no present proof of her husband’s war disability, assistance has been given to date by a northern association to the extent ■ of £165, and in addition loans totallmg £750 have been made for the financing of a farm. It is understood that no rent has been paid for the past three years, and the arrears now amount to £l5O. The wife is said to ( be in receipt of a civil widow’s pension of £lO 8s a month, and yet, it is stated, she is complaining of “the shameful treatment” which her case has received.