REPATRIATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12636, 22 May 1919, Page 3

REPATRIATION.

WORK IN NEW ZEALAND. SPEECH BY GENERAL RICHARDSON. General Richardson, accompanied by Colonel G. ,1. Cooper, attended tho meeting of the Canterbury District Repatriation Board lust night, and discussed with members tho work of repatriation. ihe General, after he was welcomed by the chairman (Mr A. AV. Jamieson), said that it was tho first time ho had attended a meeting oi a District Repatriation Board, Ho had boon in -sew Aeaiaini only fourteen days, and pressure ot nusmess dad prevented him uom gosling into tenon with some of trie important questions, it was necessary to got tno nund concentrated on utiugs tiiat niatteied, and to leave the sliauows alone. Tne thing which mattered lor the moment, and to which everything else must give way, was the uivil re-establishiiieiu. of the returned soldiers. He hod given tho subject oany tnougat. .almost two years ago no had written to the Government on civil re-establishment and demobilisation. Ho advised the Government that tho only way was to set up throughout the Dominion committees composed of men of high character, whose only ambition was to help the returned soldier ami the country, and who had no axe to grind. By means of committees of that nature the work would be decentralised. Tlie committees wore appointed, and after making inquiries in Gliristcluirch that day and talking with Mr Charters, District Repatriation Officer, he felt quite certain that the Canterbury Board was imbued with tho proper spirit, had the proper motives, and was trying to attain the ideal ho had in his mind, namely, the interests of the men and of the country Tne question was what to do with the demobilised men. Every member of the Expeditionary Force before demobilisation had been asked to supply information as to whether ho was married or single, tho occupation ho had followed before the war, tho occupation he wished to follow, and so on. Every man registered was supplied with a card, which gave certain information The system had proved to be very useful. Nothing of the kind was adopted ir. Australia or the Old Country, but he believed that Canada now was doing something similar. It was the only means by which the committees were able to know everything about men who went into their districts. Registration in the Old Country, lie thought, was not nearly as satisfactory as in New Zealand. Returned men might be divided into three classes — (1) Fit officers. (2) fit men and (3) the disabled, sick or wounded. In the Old Country fit officers could use the Officers’ Employment Bureau. As soon as a fit officer was demobilised there lie communicated with the bureau, which advised him, gave him assistance if necessary, helped to educate him and brought him into toucli with employers. He, could not say if that scheme was working well or not, but quite a large number of men in the Old Country were being placed in educational institutions. D hen a fit man was demobilised in Britain there was a local committee to get into touch with him and place him in werk as soon as possible. The man went to the bureau and asked for a job. If there was no job available he waited until there was one. There was a system of unemployment insurance, and a very large number of men were drawing from it. In tho third class the disabled man was handled by the Tensions Department. All the hospitals were handed over to it, and it was responsible for medical treatment and vocational training. After the man Mas discharged from hospital it still i attended to him. After his training was completed ho went to the Labour bureau and secured a job. The machinery the Government had set up in New Zealand to deal with civil re-establishment was sound and good, and the work would be carried 1 out satisfactorily. Everybody was anxious about it; all tho officers of tho , Expeditionary Force had looked for--1 ward to this period as Hie most difficult period of the whole war. It was satisfactory to him to find men like members of the Canterbury board—good citizens and representatives of local i bodies—doing their best to get the men back into civil life. The most difficult men to restore to civil life were those who had lost one arm. He would advise the Canterbury board to get into close toucli with each case individually and to give it tho sympathetic attention which he knew Mr Charters would give. It should be the wish of all those engaged in repatriation work to replace every man in that position in civil life for _which, by education, training and ability, he was fitted. The board should impress that fact on business men who, no doubt, would conform to that view. He did not think that it was necessary to sot up a separate Department to deal with officers. The organisation and liberal legislation already provided should enable all the officers to be reestablished in civil life. He bad come to get into touch with the board to see what it Mas doing, to discover its difficulties, and to help it. If the board ■ found a job for a man and he did not take it, the board should not say that it could do nothing more for him. That man must be got back into civil life; he must be made a good citizen. In reply to tile chairman, the General said that it would be a great advantage to have a senior officer of the Expeditionary Force on each district Repatriation Board. It might give confidence on the part of some men. •"Whether it Mas necessary to have an officer of the Defence Department also on each board was another question. Mr C- H. HcM'lett said that a Defence officer would not help the board, but an officer of the Expeditionary I'orce would give a certain amount of confidence to returned soldiers. Mr A. F. Drayton said that a coordination betivcen the boards and the Lands Department was a very important onestion. Tho department settled soldiers on land, but the boards knew more about that business than the department did. Mr I. AY. Hobns said that a Defence officer would bo useless. As the General had suggested, an officer of the Expeditionary Force might be very useful indeed. Mr AA. E. Leadley expressed the same opinion. Ho said that he had not much faith in or admiration for tho Defence Department, but a really live Expeditionary Officer, who could tell the board what the men wanted, could do a great den] of good. It, was a mistake to suppose that the board’s duties were ended when a returned soldier was placed in a job. Ho wat pleased to boar the General’s views on the point. Air D. Jones said that the Canterbury board’s principal difficulty at present was training men afresh for jobs- It bad not be°n very successful in that direction. The hoard did not know whether it should establish workshops cf its own or place the men in workshops already esiabudied. The General said that in England men who were kept in hospital -'foi a. long time were subjected to an educational scheme. They were trained in tho. actual factories and workshops in order that they might breathe the atmosphere of tho industries concerned. Temporary chops were* • established in which limbless men were given preliminary instruction until they were able to begin real work. That was the onlv way of getting satisfaction. It would not be satisfactory for the beard to establish workshops of its own. He would advise them strongly to use present industrial institutions:. Mr F. T- Eklridcc said that the only solution of the problem was to follow ‘ tv; PeneraTs advice and place Hie men ..mcngsl men As to ihe constitution

of the Canterbury board, lie thought that the soldiers already were well represented on it. Mr N. B. M’Cullum (president of the Returned Soldiers’ Association) said that sufficient was not done for partially disabled men. The position was serious. Something should be done to train partially disabled men in basketmaking, bee-keeping or other industries. or to place them on poultry farms. There was no reason why basket-making should not he begun amongst those men at once. Special workshops might be erected for the purpose. The General said that ho had ascertained that a. great deal of money could be made in basket-making. The secretary of the Post mid Telegraph Department had told him that the Department would require large numbers of baskets. • Mr W. Goss said that the help of the General would be of groat value to the board. Jho General said that aa far as ho could see the members of the Canterbury hoard wore the right men, hut ho thought that, for the sake of the returned soldiers, an officer of the Expeditionary Force should tie on the board. Mr Leadley said that tho Returned soldiers’ Association felt that it had not sufficient representation on tho disjl hoards. After all, the returned soldiers were tho men most concerned, ibe Canterbury association had onlv one representative on the Canterbury board. He would welcome on tho hoard an Expeditionary Force officer in whom the men had confidence. •• Charters, District Repatriation Officer, said that it would be better to continue with the present constitution. Aiter further discussion, General Richardson thanked the members and retired.