P. AND T. BONUS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15974, 17 November 1919, Page 6

P. AND T. BONUS.

SIR JOSEPH WARD'S PROMISE,

POSITION REVIEWED BY POST-MASTER-GENERAL. NOTHING ON RECORD. (Per United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, November 15. The qrestion of the payment of a war bonus up to 30th September last to officers of the Post and .Telegraph Department receiving salaries below A 315 a year, and the promise alleged bo have been made by Sir Joseph Ward that the bonus would be paid, was referred to in an interview with the Hon. Coates yesterday. “The facts of the matter,” said Mr Coates, “are that when I took over the portf olio of the Post-master-General, one of the first things I was asked to do was to carry out a promise alleged to have been made by Sir Joseph Ward while filling the Post-master-Generalship in the National Government, that a war bonus would be granted to postal officers from Ist October, 1918. I had not then looked into tho matter, and my reply to Sir Joseph Ward was that if evidence of a promise was on record in the Departmental files, and if I were able to do so, I would meet the promise made. Subsequently I called for all records dealing with the bonus, and went into the history of the whole matter preparatory to submitting it to Cabinet, I found on the file the following minute by Cabinet, dated sth December, 1918, to a recommendation submitted by the then Minister of Finance, Sir Joseph War d* - ‘War bonus to be made for 12 months from Ist October, 1918 to Ist October, 1919, excepting In cases where re-grad-ing takes place or where there have been increases of Salary. Where there have been increases of salaries, the original bonus to be paid to 30th March, 1.919.” _ ~ Further on, among the papers I discovered a Departmental circular by the Secretary to the Treasury, dated 11th December, 1918, in which the following appears; —“I have to advise you that Cabinet has decided to double Hie war bonus for the year commencing Ist October, 1918. In cases where there have been increases of salary for any portion of the above period the increased bonus will not be paid for such portion of the year as may h© covered by the increased pay.” ‘That was the position of the matter,” said tho Minister," “when the Minister left for England. The next stage was reached while the Hon. MacDonald was .Acting-Postmaster-General, and the Hon. Myers Acting-Minister of Finance, when on 15th April, 1919, the question of payment of war bonus again came before Cabinet. On that date Cabinet came to the following decision (vide Departmental records): (1) Cabinet decisions of sth and 11th December are cancelled. (2) The second grant of war bonus to be for ' sis mbntlis, commencing Ist October, 1918. “Those were the decisions come to,” continued the Minister, “as disclosed by the records. I may say that nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see the officers of the Department get the payment which Sir Joseph Ward said it was decided, upon his recommendation, that the officers should receive, but beyond the Cabinet minutes which I have quoted there is nothing on the records that a fresh decision was come to after the return to New Zealand of Sir Joseph Ward, or that the right lion, gentleman made a promise. The matter was before the House several times last session, and I fully explained the position on the 15th of last month, when the bonus question was being discussed. Hansard shows that Sir Joseph Ward said, in reply to an interjection by the present Minister of Finance (Sir James Allen) that his promise was on record in the Department, but I have not been able to find it, and in perfect fairness to the right hon. gentleman, I sent to him, for his perusal, the whole of the files. I have, moreover, paid particular attention to statements made by Sir Joseph Ward bearing on the matter, in the Hope that I could find some reliable evidence of the premise he states he made, and I must confess that they are not very illuminating. Sir (Joseph Ward hae stated that he would not have made the promise unless he was sure the promise would be backed up by Cabinet approval. I may say also that I approached the executive officers of the Post and Telegraph Oofficers’ Association for definite evidence of the promise stated to have been mad© by Sir Joseph Ward, but those members "of the Association that saw me could give me nothing tangible to work upon. I had, therefore, to submit the matter to Cabinet without any direct evidence of a promise having been made, and the decision come to was that in consequence of officers haring been re-graded, all those officers whose increased salaries consequent upon the- re-grading were less than the amounts they received prior to the regrading and when the war bonus was paid, should receive a bonus to compensate them for any loss of remuneration they may have suffered. Considering all aspects of the matter, and the fact that if an additional war bonus were paid to the Post and Telegraph officers, it would have to be paid to members of other State Departments whose positions have also been re-graded and increases given, I am convinced that, in fairness to all parties concerned, the course decided upon by the Government to depute some independent and responsible person to thoroughly invest!gate what evidence exists of a promise to pay the bonus, and other matters touching upon the whole question, is the right one.”