SOLDIERS’ SUBJECTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12636, 22 May 1919, Page 5

SOLDIERS’ SUBJECTS.

HEEDS, HOPES AND TRIALS. THE CLUB QUESTION. (Written for tho “Star.”) The refusal of the Hon G. W. Russell to turn over the sum of £3OOO to tho R.S.A. for the purpose of assisting to establish a Soldiers’ Club in Christchurch is causing the local association to “ think luriously.” At first sight much of th© indignation expended upon tho honourable gentleman would appear to be justified, but. on looking into the wholo question, there is undoubtedly" something to bo said, not alone from the Ministerial point of view, but also in the interests of the donors of tho money and returned .men generally. The primary point for settlement in this matter is tho question of the permanence, or otherwise, of such an institution, It would appear that as men become absorbed by the process of repatriation, so will they rovert to tbo social organisations which held them in pre-war days. Such being the case, a Soldiers’ Club would seem to be practically an ephemeral establishment whose usefulness must necessarily bo determined by tho time occupied in repatriating all returned men. _ It may reasonably bo contended that in five or six years the necessity for a Soldiers’ Club will have ceased to exist, although, admittedly,.in tho interim, that necessity is im urgent one, It may bo urged that the spirit of camaraderie which has shown itself so markedly in the history of the New Zealand Division abroad will be sufficiently strong to maintain indefinitely a social institution embraeng all classes of the community. The element of sentiment, however, enters top largely into this supposition for it to no considered sound reasoning. In such an organisation ns the Returned, Soldiers’ Association, which is primarily a business proposition, this argument will undoubtedly hold good, because in’this case wd have an organisation' maintained in' common interests, and no doubt stimulated by associations. But in the instance of a social club there is a plentiful lack of those mutual interests which will make for success in the R.S.A., and it is undoubtedly this drawback which will limit the usefulness of a. Soldiers’ Club, per fee. This being so, it would appear to be rather a waste of money to iustal A temporary institution in permanent promises. Take the case of Auckland (as being the most recent) in this respect. There a sum of £14,000 has been raised by the Women of tho district, and is being expended on the erection of suitable premises. Tho site has been provided by tho municipality at a peppercorn rental—ls net* quarter is, I understand, the figure. Assuming' and it is a, fairly large assumption—that the membership is sufficient to pay maintenance expenses for five years, What is going to be tho, position at the end of that,period? , Hither tho funds ox the association will have to bo levied upon for that purpose, or that a further appeal will require to he made to the public—the former being obviously unjust, and the latter rather undignified for returned soldiers as a body. To the ordinary man in the street the satisfactory solution of The difficulty would seem to be the loosing of suitable promises which could be surrendered as Eoon as the need for the club ceased, , THE OFFICIAL VIEW. In conversation with Mr O. T. J. Alters. chairman of the Christchurch association’s Building Committee, tho official view of this question was presented. Mv Algers said:—From the very earliest days of tho association its members have set their hearts on a club, which was first associated with, the idea of a memorial hall, but tills had to be abandoned owing to the poor public response. lam fully acquainted 1 with the stock arguments against it, but when they are advanced by, a critic who is himself a returned soldier they merit more attention' than when they are put forward by fat and pursy citizens who have never grasped even the elements of a ire turned maxi’s wants. 5 T here is one answer which ha<» always been, and still seems to me absolutely conclusive. A body representing between, two and three thousand returned Canterbury men say, and continue to say with emphasis and insistence, “We want a club, and we ask the Canterbury public to .give us the capital cost of it.” Can there be an qther‘’answer than to say, “It’s yours”? Then there is the permanency argument. The citizens of Christchurch put up £15,000 to build a Y.M.0.A., and, as tho members of this institution benefited by the benefaction, so would returned soldiers benefit by a club. It is true they have divergent local Interests—l don’t anticipate they will all use the club, but allowing that only 25 per cent use the club, that fourth is probably just the lot wo want to do a good turn to and to look after. Should membership fall ©S in numbers, the trust deed provides that if and when the'number of active financial members falls below 1000 the premises rovert to the trustees for such other public purposes as they may decide upon under the sanction of a Judge of the Supreme Court. When the returned men cease to care enough about it to pay for its upkeep they lose it. “As to. the Ministers attitude on the £3OOO gift, he talks about the need of conserving such money for the sick, wounded or dependants; hut the Liverpool Fund was not subscribed for this purpose, but practically to say “ oheeroh' to fighting men while still fit and fighting. The Liverpool subscribers want to give £3OOO of their surplus to what appeal's the strictly analogous purpose of saying “cheer-dh” to men who have fought hut are no longer fighting.” Mr Alpers acknowledges the paramount claims of sick and wounded, claims which - were acknowledged by all returned men. He instanced tho collection of £SOO on Soldiers’ Day, and reviewed a suggestion made by one enthusiast that this amount should form tho nucleus of a huildm-v fund. “ The returned men,” continued Mr Alpers, “refused to touch one penny of public money for the benefit of men returned to New Zealand while there was a sing]© man still fightmg. With regard to the Liverpool gift I refuse to behove that the subthis voluntary fund will ultimately• suffer any Government to dictate to them how they shall spend their own money, except in so far as their executive hold it ott trust to spend it honestly and wisely.” pena n From Mr Alpers’s views, then, it is effivions that there are here from two to three thousand men who are keenlv desirous of establishing a club. With a prospective membership like this, there should bo no difficulty in putting it on n sound financial basis by the rime]" means of floating it as an ordinary limited liability company, and limitinoeach member’s holding to prevent an? one man obtaining control. If the list of applications for stock fails to fill MthZr Wll! be fairl y obvious, S it" 1 ™ *® nt a permanent! itAt m,t prcs " r<,d to w *»■ PERMANENTLY DISABLED. T characterised as undignified the possibility of organised .appeal to? public support to clubs by returned men as A body. In some cases, however returned Soldiers are forced into the faat-m-hand attitude by the inof the Government, and no class JUtfere so greatly in this respect as permanently disabled men. Th s en p- r6 satienil appreciation of these men’s sacrifices, as manifested by the National Government, consists in the granting of a pension based Upon a twenty-shillings-in-the-pound purchasing value, at a time when the official Statistician of the Administration estimates the alleged value of the I sovereign at Lis Id! Becenilv a, j prominent member of a northern' l Patriotic Association used the per- I mniently disabled as an argument

in favour of the usefulness of Soldiers' (Hubs. 1 ‘ By the cheap meals and comforts supplied at such places,” said he, “ many men who are drawing permanent pensions are enabled to eko them out when otherwise they Would be quite inadequate.” There are, X am informed, approximately five thousand permanently disabled men in the Dominion at present. The recent European brawl was in progress for some four and a quarter years, during which time it might have been supposed GTafc even the National Cabinet would have realised the certainty of a percentage of totally disabled men, and Would have made adequate provision therefor. But the temptation jof the Gilbortian attitude apparently proved too strong and, as far as these men were concerned, the Administration "did nothing in particular, and did it very well.” This is ono of the questions which will merit considerable attention at the hands of tho annual conference of the R.S.A, In the meantime Sir James Allen, when speaking at the Town Planning Conference it. Wellington regarding national memorials, apparently overlooked the permanently disabled men, who, at the present moment, themselves constitute quite a striking memorial—a monument of cynical incompetence as far as the Government is concerned, and of absent-minded indifference as far as the nation is concerned—which is, apparently, not at all! WAIKATO R.S.A. AND LAND. A resolution has been passed by the Waikato Association that, prior to the Government purchasing laud for subdivision under the JXS.S. Act the approval of the R.S.A'. should bo obtained. _ The association, to obtain outside information as to the suitability or otherwise of tho block. The natural retort of the Government will, of course, bo that they hare the pick of 'the best men available for judging suitability. In any case this resolution savours somewhat of tinkering with symptoms instead of getting down to the root of tho disease, which may fairly he defined, as far as the D.3.5.. Act goes, of consisting of red-tape and insufficient representation of returned men on the different hoards dealing on their behalf with land settlement. There are several remits for consideration by the R.S-A. Conference dealing with this very important matter, and it is to bo hoped that the delegates will not only ho able to arrive at some satisfactory conclusion hut will also be able to formulate some means of speedily and efficiently putting their theories into practice, —LOUTS GUNN.