THE RETURNED SOLDIERS ASSOCIATION

Observer, Volume XL, Issue 11, 15 November 1919, Page 8

THE RETURNED SOLDIERS ASSOCIATION

By Sappbb

The Secret Terms. WHEN in the world are we to be informed of the terms upon which our dispute with Headquarters was settled? It is ridiculous—ludicrous, in fact—that the members of the Association, which was a joint plaintiff to the dispute, should not be immediately informed of the terms. The ordinary member may not be a very big potato m this affair, but the ordinary member happens to form the Association, and he is not entirely lacking in interest in his own affairs. * • • I do not blame the northern representatives for the silence, but I do blame Headquarters for its attitude. In some clever way Headquarters has extracted some pledge of secrecy which, by the way, bears out all that has already been said in these columns in regard to the methods of Headquarters. This, however, is the first time we have learned that we are a secret society, the secrets being known to a few. * * * Second-class and Steerage. A striking commentary on the country's loud and continueus talk about its gratitude to the fighting men is the fact that 13 sick soldiers transferred from Auckland to Hanmer were given second-class railway accommodation and steerage passages on the ferry steamer. When Kipling wrote his striking lines, ."Fourpence a day! Jolly good pay! Lucky to get it! Fourpence a day," he felt as the Executive of the A.R.S.A. must have felt when it received this complaint. Of course, this class of treatment is no new thing—it is the common thing, and it always will be the common thing until we escape from the damnable tradition which treats the ranker as a number and the commissioned officer as a being of finer clay. * * * Officers and Men. It is probable that on the train and steamer which carried this luckless 13, there were officers who had not an ailment with first-class warrants. I don't suggest they should not have first-class warrants, but I do s.ay that sick rankers should be treated as well. * * * Of course, many of us know that quite a number of the young fellows with "pips" up didn't cut such a fine figure at the front as they cut here. And before anyone gets angry, let me say that we all know hundreds of officers who did. » • • Tradition. The whole thing comes down to tradition, and it would not be a bad idea if we include in the questions we put to candidates one on this subject. The Army Act and its regulations may have excellent intentions, but they require remodelling to suit any twentieth century British Army, and certainly any twentieth century civilian British Army, because in civilian armies all sorts or unqualified, inefficient men obtain commissions, and occasionally such officers can make life a little hell on earth for soldiers. * * * To return to the question of travelling, I recollect a boat on which a bad lot of crocked rankers were on starvation rations while several officers returning in disgrace travelled saloon. , Finer clay! my masters ; and it wasn't broken clay like that in the dormitories.

The Mine Sweepers. Members will, welcome the suggestion of the Executive of the A.R.S.A. that the crews of the first mine-sweepers should be treated as members of the Navy for their period of service. These men of the trawlers performed a great service to the country at risk to their lives, and they are as worthy of the country's gratitude as any man who wore uniform. The cost of paying these men v gratuity would be infinitesimal, but it would be a highly-prized recognition of cervices rendered. Hundreds of men who have done leaf 1 valuable service under well-paid and comfortable conditions have received 0.8.E.'s and other distinctions. Here's a hand to the mineswoopers! • • * Shylock and His Pound of Flesh. It is reported that some of the returned men who have been set up in business by the Repatriation Board have promptly had the rents of their business premises raised. It is another straw which shows how the wind blows in this country, notwithstanding all that is said about the debt we owe to the men who fought. It certainly looks as if the landlords in question could not endure seeing the- soldiers getting this State assistance without getting their cut out of it. Shylock and his pound of flesh was not in it with some of these gentry and their kind. It may be called business, but what if the soldier on his few bob a day had decided to talk business of this kind at the zero hour? * * * Sickness and Death. A Coroner's jury at Oamaru drew attention the other day to the comparatively large number of suicides by returned men. Personally, I don't think that the number of soldiers who have committed suicide is alarmingly high under the circumstances. When we consider the strain they endured, it is rather surprising that the number is so small. But the death rate among returned men is certainly high, and this fact emphasises the need tor liberality by Pension Boards, and the greatest consideration and sympathy by employers and the public generally. .j * » As General Richardson pointed out the other day, the public is too Teady to judge a soldier's condition by his obvious injuries. A man with a limp or an empty sleeve is much more likely to receive sympathy than a man who has a gas heart or chest trouble, the signs or which are not yet obvious. The war is over, but war's wastage goes on, and-will go on for years. It is the business of the R.S.A. not to let these facts be forgotten, however much the general public wants to banish the memories of the war, and enjoy the blessings of peace. * * ■ * Soldiers and Politics. Though conference decided that direct party action must not be indulged in by the Association, we can find some consolation. in the fact that a very fair number of returned soldiers are going to contest varioue electorates, at the coming ■ election., Whatever may be their party leanings, returned - men,, generally applaud their candidature because it means that; they .will be champions ,of patriotism of repatriation activities, and of the bottom, dog, and at the same time will give something of the spirit of the army to

politics. If one is not mistaken, they have a wider perspective and a less servile attitude , " than many candidates, among whom we begin to detect the same old time-serving, place-hunting element.