SOLDIERS' CONFERENCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12776, 21 October 1919, Page 3

SOLDIERS' CONFERENCE.

SITTINGS CONTINUED,

REPATRIATION COMMITTEE’S REPORT.

[Pan Press Association.!

"WELL IN GTON, October 20. CLAIMS OF FIT ALEX. The Repatriation Committee reported that it found there was a tendency to overlook the claims of fit men. aiid it recommended as follows ; (a) Unskilled men.—These should he eligible for training in a trade under a subsidised wages system. (b) Dying trades—That men whose trades are dying out owing to industrial progress be eligible for training under subsidised wages. (c) Men discharged as fit but who contend they are not in fact in the same physical condition as they were before enlistment.—These men ’ should be allowed an independent medical examination at the expense of the Department as to whether a change of occupation is desirable. Men whose former trade has become distasteful owing to war service should he eligible for training under a subsidised wages scheme.

(d) Men who have lost opportunity by war service.

The committee urged that the scope of the Department must be extended to cover the foregoing cases. The committee stressed the principle that successful repatriation does not mean putting a man into the position he occupied before enlistment, but putting him into the place to which he is most suited after his service. The policy of decentralisation followed was, in the opinion of the committee, a most commendable one. and bad contributed largely to the success of the Department.

AIrT. Long (Auckland), chairman of committee, stated that hundreds of men were being discharged as fit when they were really not so. There was obviously something wrong somewhere. He hoped it was not true that instructions were being given bv the Defence Department to medical officers on transports to discharge as many men as possible as fit. The matter required immediate attention.

Mr J. D. Harper, representative of tho R.S.A. on the Pensions Board, said the board could not be blamed if such men did not receive pensions, because the board was guided by the last report of the medical officers. He knew of no such instructions as Mr Long referred to having been given. The committee’s recommendations as a whole were adopted. QUESTIONS OF PAY. The committee reporting with regard to the "Wellington remit that the New Zealand rate of pay be raised to that of the A.I.F. and to be retrospective, stated that it had no recommendation to make, leaving th© decision to the full conference. Mr A. B. Sievwright (Wellington), convener of the committee, moved the adoption of the remit and spoke in support of it.

The remit was decisively rejected, the only delegate who voted in favour of it being Mr Sievwright. The employment of returned soldiers formed the subject of a report by the Repatriation Committee, which stated that it found that many soldiers had been refused re-employment in the Public Service on account of war injuries. The committee urged that employment at a wage comparable to what they would have been receiving bad they not enlisted should be found for them; that a separate superannuation fund, subsidised by the Government, should be established in order to remove any difficulty in connection with superannuation: that no soldier so reemployed shall lose by reason of war service any annual increases to which he would otherwise have been entitled. The report was adopted. The Pay, Allowances and Committee recommended that, every endeavour be made to have the increase in the rate of officers’ par made fully retrospective to soldiers; that financial assistance be made fully retrospective to all members of the N.Z.E.F.; and that legislation be introduced to give effect to this principle; that clause 12 of the Government’s scheme, as passed by Parliament, in. which these allowances cannot he claimed as a right and are issued at the discretion of the Minister of Defence, should be withdrawn. The clause referred to reads as follows: —“ None of the allowances authorised in this order can he claimed as a right, hut are issued at the discretion of the Minister of Defence.” The recommendations were adopted. With regard to gratuities the conference resolved that a period, spent in hospital by returned soldiers in New Zealand should be. counted as active service for the purpose of the gratuitj, provided that the gratuities cease on June 28, 1919. whether such soldiers are discharged or not. It was also decided that, ns a general principle, the gratuities of deceased soldiers should he paid to the legal representatives of such soldiers in every case, and that no deduction should bo made from any soldier’s gratuity for any military offence committed after June 28, 1919. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Tlie conference discussed the (Question of retrospective financial assistance tor men of the (Main Body and early reinforcements. It was introduced by a remit from Waikato, “That, in view of the apparent unsympathetic attitude towards applications made by men of the Main Body and the earlier reinforcements, application be made for statistics setting out since March 31 last—(a) the number of applications made for retrospective financial assistance; (b) the number of applicants to whom assistance has been granted ”

Mr N. A. Chiug, in moving th© remit, said he bad helped 200 ppoptc to apply for financial assistance, and not one application, had boon granted. The applications were turned down in the secrota y’s office. After a lengthy discussion, in which the system was sharply criticised, Air Ching withdrew the original remit and substituted tho following;—“ That, in view of the very unsatisfactory manner of dealing with claims put before the board, the conference demand that the administration of the Financial Assistance Act should be nlac.ed.in the hands of the Repatriation Department. Mid that a deputation wait on the Alinister to place the whole of the facts before him.” Tins was carried unanimously.

The organisation of the association was fm then referred to when an attempt v, as made to definitely interpret the proposals of the Organisation Committee. The matter was introduced ,by Mr j. K. Luxford (Waikato), who went over the previous discussion and claimed that the original clause with the amendment added rendered the clause difficult of interpretation. The committee had again gone into the interpretation of the clause, and bad come to the conclusion that the following should be substituted: —“Provincial associations shall work under a common constitution to be laid down by the Dominion Council, and provincial associations shall bin subject to the control of the Dominion Council, and constitution shall be altered accordingly.” The following was the construction to be placed on the amendment:— “The provincial associations shall be subject to the control of the N.Z.R.S.A. Council (.that is, the conference) in general meeting. The executive of the N.Z.R.S.A. shall have full power to enforce upon the provincial associations the resolutions of the council, but otherwise shall not control th- provincial associations.” This wm adopted.

A LAND SCHEME. A committee had been sot np to refiort on the land question, and an ourime of the committee’s views was given to the conference by Mr J. A.s Cowles <Wairatapa) > convener of the committee. Mr Cowles stated that hunai-eds were drifting about the country, attending ballots and wasting their capital. Suitable land was. not now available in sufficient ouantities to satisfy the demands of soldiers. The committee approved of the land scheme proposed by Mr A. P. Whatman, of Masterton, under which it was suggested that all the land in the Dominion should be classified. Suitable estates of £IOO,OOO and above in value would be taken compulsorily and reduced to £70,000 in valuation. When the estate* of a value of £70.000 were exhausted, then estates valued at £50.000 and so on should be takni, until the demand wa.s satisfied. Landowners would have the right to retain land of reasonable value. All big estates should be at once valued and tabulated with a view to giving the owners fair notice of resumption by the Government. band being acquired should be taken at a value determined on the basis of productivity. A valuation board, consisting of a representative of the Government, two representatives of the R.S A., and three of the fanners’ community, should be set up in each land district, to value estates. The reason of this provision was to make it clear that returned soldiers were not. after the blood of landowners, most of whom were desirous of helping returned men. The Government would require to pass legislation to acquire estates at a price determined on by the Valuation Hoard with nit recourse to arbitration. The scheme as outlined bad the following desirable features (1) It would minimise com pel it ion in the purchase of land: (2- it would stimulate instead of reducing production : (3) it would provide sufficient land for the settlement of all soldiers. The committee was favourable to the extension of the principle of communal settlements for tubercular and permanently disabled soldiers The principle of appointing supervisors nf soldiers’ settlement s was also approved by the committee, which considered that when advisable local advisory hoards should be established to assist and direct soldiers. It. was felt that, if the scheme as outlined were taken up by any enthusiastic Mi Jster it would mean that the land problem | would be settled on a satisfactory j basis. The report will be discussed by the conference at a later stage.