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1930. NEW ZEALAND.

EX-SOLDIERS REHABILITATION COMMISSION. REPORT OF COMMISSION APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO AND REPORT UPON THE POSITION OF PHYSICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY INCAPACITATED SOLDIERS.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO AND REPORT UPON THE POSITION OF PHYSICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY INCAPACITATED SOLDIERS. Charles Fergusson, Governor-General. To all to whom these presents shall come, and to John Saxon Barton, Esquire, of Wellington, Stipendiary Magistrate ; Sir John Pearce Luke. Knight, of Wellington, Engineer ; and Sidney John Harrison, Esquire, of Wellington, Secretary : Greeting. Whereas it is expedient that inquiry should be made into the condition and circumstances of persons being now residents of the Dominion, whether men or women, who were engaged in military, naval, or air service in the late war, the South African Campaign, or the Maori War, whether beyond New Zealand or not, and whether in the New Zealand Forces or in the service of the Crown in any part of the British Empire, and who at the present time are not in a position adequately to maintain themselves and their dependants, and into the adequacy of the present provision existing to meet the requirements of such persons as aforesaid, and into the necessity or expediency of making further statutory provision in the premises : Now, therefore, I, General Sir Charles Fergusson, Baronet, Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, in pursuance and exercise of the powers conferred upon me by the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, and of all other powers and authorities enabling me in this behalf, and acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said Dominion, do hereby constitute and appoint you, the said John Saxon Barton, John Pearce Luke, and Sidney John Harrison, to be a Commission to inquire into and report upon the following matters : —■ 1. The present condition and circumstances of such persons as aforesaid, their approximate number, and the nature of their disabilities ; 2. The adequacy of the sources at present available and the sufficiency of the methods employed for the alleviation of the condition of such persons as aforesaid, whether by pension from the Crown, by allowances from funds created or available for the purpose, by existing statutory facilities for land-settlement, establishment in business, financial assistance, special training and treatment, and otherwise;

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3. Generally the means by which the remaining capacity of such persons as aforesaid can best be utilized so as to enable them in whole or in part to maintain themselves and their dependants, and the advisability or otherwise of adopting any particular means which may be proposed to or by you for that purpose ; 4. In cases where no means are likely to enable such persons to be able by their own efforts either partially or wholly to maintain themselves and their dependants, the best means of affording assistance to them ; 5. The classes of persons who should come within the scope of any of your recommendations, and the principles governing such classifications ; and 6. The necessity for legislation to enable all or any recommendations that you may'make to be carried into effect. And with the like advice and consent I do hereby further appoint you, the said John Saxon Barton, to be the Chairman of the said Commission. And you are hereby authorized to conduct any inquiry under these presents at such times and places as you deem expedient, with power to adjourn from time to time and place to place as you think fit, and to call before you and examine on oath or otherwise such persons as you think capable of affording you information as to the matters aforesaid, and to call for and examine all such books, papers, writings, documents, and records as you deem likely to afford, you the fullest information on any such matters. And, using all due diligence, you are required to report to me, under your hands and seals, not later than the tenth day of February, one thousand nine hundred and thirty, your opinion on the aforesaid matters. And you are hereby strictly charged and directed that you shall not at any time publish or otherwise disclose, save to me in pursuance of these presents or by my direction, the contents or purport of any report so made or to be made by you. And it is hereby declared that this Commission shall continue in full force and virtue although the inquiry be not regularly continued from time to time or from place to place by adjournment. And, lastly, it is hereby further declared that these presents are issued under and subject to the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908. Given under the hand of His Excellency the Governor-General of the [l.s.] Dominion of New Zealand, and issued under the Seal of that Dominion, this 14th day of October, 1929. Thomas M. Wilfokd, Minister of Defence. Approved in Council. F. D. Thomson, Clerk of the Executive Council.

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BEPORT OF EX-SOLDIERS REHABILITATION COMMISSION, 1929-30. To ilis Excellency the Governor-General, Dominion of New Zealand. May it please Your Excellency,— PART I.—PRELIMINARY. Your Excellency's Warrant of appointment dated 14th. October, 1929, was served on us on the 15th October, 1929, accompanied by a detailed Order of Reference. We thereupon entered upon the preparations for our work and for taking evidence from interested parties. By arrangement with the Returned Soldiers' Associations and kindred bodies we opened the public sittings of the Commission at Dunedin on the 26th October, 1929, and subsequently sat at Wellington, Auckland, Rotorua, and Christchurch, after giving due notice of our intention to do so, by advertisement; these advertisements were duly published in the newspapers, a list of which appears in the appendix hereto as Table "A." We sat for the reception of evidence on the days and at the places set out in Table " B " in the appendix hereto. We viewed and inspected the institutions and industries described in Table " C " in the appendix hereto. Reporting and Evidence. We heard 166 witnesses in all. In each centre, preparation for our sittings and hearing of evidence was in the hands of the local Returned Soldiers' Association, and, by arrangement, most of the evidence of the witnesses was presented in the form of typed statements, already prepared. As the ground covered was non-con-tentious, being chiefly historical and statistical, followed by the witnesses' recommendations, this plan was found to wgrk well and to effect a great saving of time. The Chairman took a note of all answers to questions and re-examination of the witnesses, and this was subsequently transcribed on the typewriter. These prepared statements and the transcription of the Chairman's notes in chronological order have been bound in three books of " Notes of Evidence," containing in all 743 pages. Three copies of these notes of evidence have been preserved and are handed to Your Excellency herewith. In the course of our sittings twenty-nine exhibits were tendered to us and preserved. PART lI.—QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. We now approach the specific questions set out in our order of reference. Your Excellency's questions submitted to us relate to those persons within the classes of ex-service men detailed in our order of reference who are not in a position adequately to maintain themselves and their dependants. QUESTION No. I. The first question requires us to inquire into and report upon — The Present Condition and Circumstances of such Persons as aforesaid, their Approximate Number, and the Nature of their Disabilities. Answer.—We premise our answer to this question by stating that obviously the answer must be set out in very general terms. The conditions and circumstances of the persons falling within the scope of this inquiry are so varied that a detailed answer to this question could be afforded only by a comprehensive schedule and summary. We shall, in dealing with some of the later questions submitted to us in the order of reference, present summaries and schedules giving some details, and with this explanation we proceed to answer the present question in general terms.

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(a) Present Condition. The first element in the condition of these persons to which we desire to call attention is their age. The average age of all such persons is probably somewhere between thirty-eight and forty-five years of age, but there are many both younger and considerably older than that average age. There are some as young as, say, thirty-two or thirty-three years of age, and there are others as old as seventy. The age of these men is a material element in the problem of-expecting or assisting them to adequately maintain themselves and their dependants. Those of them whose ages range about the average we have referred to —namely, thirty-eight to forty-five years —are men who are perhaps past the period of maximum adaptability, and they are liable by reason of this fact, and of the family responsibilities usually associated with that age, to experience more difficulty than the normal younger man in finding and retaining employment in the community as at present constituted. Those whose ages are substantially below average we have referred to are apt to be under peculiar difficulties referable to their ages. For instance, the evidence taken by us satisfies us that many young men understated their ages when enlisting, with the result that youths of between seventeen and twenty years of age were sent away in our Expeditionary Forces. They were boys who up to the time of enlistment had found no place in our economic or industrial life ; not only had they had no training, but they had never faced the conditions or assumed the mentality of those who take on employment and begin to earn their own living. Their war experiences, which, according to common knowledge, had an unsettling tendency, had a particularly detrimental effect on these young fellows when it was sought to repatriate them. They had never found a place in the economic or industrial machine, and the mentality engendered in them, firstly by their experiences at the front, and secondly by the extravagant expectations with which, unfortunately, many of them were encouraged to rejoin our community, made them difficult material for moulding into the scheme of things. Leave and demobilization found these men with accrued balances of pay, and for a while many spent more freely than wisely. When the necessity for work was realized, many, being then used to spending freely, sought only casual work (as returning the highest wages) rather than to again take up apprenticeships with comparatively small wages. Furthermore, as they had by this time reached the age of, say, twenty-one to twenty-five years of age, they could not bring themselves to face a start at the bottom in competition with boys of sixteen and seventeen in any semi-skilled work, and yet they were not fitted for anything else in many cases. The liberality, organized and unorganized, which was the expression of the country's gratitude to them immediately after their return, and the period of artificial prosperity which obtained for some years after their repatriation, enabled them to carry on without any particular hardship until about, say, the year 1923. Since then many of them have suffered hardships, and by marrying and begetting families have associated the lives of others with them in the experience of these hardships. The drift with very many has been from casual work to casual work, and it is only now, when approaching the average age mentioned above, that the deepest anxiety and despair are being felt at the prospects for the future, not only for themselves but for their wives and children. This anxiety and despair is breaking the nerves of many men, and so deteriorating the material which it is desirable that we should endeavour to rehabilitate. Then there are those at the other end of the scale. One typical case is that of a man who, at fifty-seven years of age, in a good position, enlisted in a spirit of patriotic fervour, stated his age as forty-five, was accepted, passed the medical test, and was sent to the front, only to prove that his spirit was younger than his body. When he came back he was a man of over sixty, his old occupation was gone, and it has proved a hopeless task for him to try to get back into the ranks of those who are maintaining themselves. He put his history pithily and somewhat wittily in answer to a question from a member of the Commission. He said the only comment the doctors made when he stated his age as forty-five was that he showed an unusual tendency towards corpulency, and he added feelingly that the tendency has not been apparent since that date. This, as far as the actual

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age of the man is concerned, may be considered somewhat extreme, but the case is presented as being in other respects typical of a fairly large class. Another element in the present condition of these persons is impaired health. More than one of the medical witnesses that gave evidence before us in the various parts of the Dominion spoke of the mentality of the returned soldier as something recognizable by them as distinctive : as the mentality of a class of men who, in some cases for years, were subjected to a degree of mental and nervous strain, and life under insanitary and uncomfortable conditions, to a degree never known before. This has caused them to be restored to civil life with the marks of these experiences upon them ; they suffer and display lessened nervous control, and many of the symptoms of premature old age. Many of them have had to enter into a course of hospital treatment, and their lives for considerable periods have been alternating periods in and out of hospital. When out of hospital and subject to the ordinary strain of our industrial and economic life their disabilities place them at a conscious disadvantage, and often the result is the necessity of more hospital treatment. This after a time begins to fail in its effect; they become victims of what more than one medical witness described as " over-hospitalization," and these alternating periods begin to create a vicious circle in their lives. It should be remembered that according to a principle of selection the returned soldier should (omitting the results of war service) display better health and more stamina than those of their age who did not go to the front. The tests for military service tended to send our best men (physically) to the front, and retain, without war service, those who were not so fit. If, therefore, at the present time (considering only persons who were by age eligible for service during the period of the war), ex-service men show at least as much tendency to ill health as those who did not serve, there is a prima facie case for the submission that their tendency to ill health is due to war service. We cannot speak dogmatically on the point. None of the medical witnesses was inclined to commit himself to a definite statement of opinion, but we believe that there is some evidence that some forms of ill health are more prevalent among returned soldiers than among the equivalent units of our community who did not see war service. One point on which the medical witnesses were almost unanimous was that experience is teaching us that at too early a date the Government of this and other belligerent countries assumed that all the sickness and impaired health due to war service had manifested itself, and that any to be suffered or revealed thenceforward was not to be considered attributable to such service. The opinion was strongly expressed by practically all the medical witnesses that we have now reached a period when latent results of war service are becoming apparent in varying degrees of impaired health amongst ex-service men. Many of these men who were discharged as fit on their repatriation, and who until recently have had no particular ground for complaint in the matter of their health, are now developing and suffering from rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, neurasthenia, respiratory diseases (asthma, bronchitis, and tuberculosis), colour-blindness, bad eyesight, deafness, heart trouble, and the after-effects of knocks and bruises. We feel justified, as a result of the evidence we have heard, in placing these appearances and developments of impaired health amongst the typical conditions of the persons concerning whom we are asked to report. We desire also to include in this category the physical and mental results of the wearing and use of artificial limbs. (b) Circumstances. In general terms we would say that the circumstances of these persons are to be described as life in that strata of our society that exists just about on but frequently below what is described as the " bread-and-butter line." At the least they suffer the economic and industrial disability of having missed some years of training and regular work, and of spending those years in conditions which tended to deteriorate all those qualities and habits of body and mind which make for usefulness and success in civil occupation. At the most they have the disqualifications just mentioned plus some degree of physical disability in the nature of lost limbs, bodies crippled by wounds or weakened by disease, or a combination of some or all these things.

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The evidence satisfies us that the sympathetic interest of the community in the returned soldier is tending to wane, and until it is again stimulated and organized cannot be relied upon by him as tending to offset his economic and industrial shortcomings. (c) Approximate Number. We would state the number of these persons as about five thousand. This number is approximate only, as we know of no means existing at present whereby any approach to accuracy could be secured. We pursued the question of the approximate number of men within the scope of our order of reference on every occasion when we examined officials of the Returned Soldiers' Association or similar organizations, and we obtained the assistance of the Pensions Department in an endeavour to trace their numbers. It seems to us that the only way in which these figures can be accurately obtained would be by the inclusion of appropriate headings in the census returns of the Dominion. (d) Nature op Disabilities. Loss of adaptability due to age ; loss of economic and industrial value due to war experiences and the abnormal conditions that existed in the Dominion after the war ; physical disabilities due to war wounds ; impaired health due to war service; impaired health due to causes associated with war service — e.g., neurasthenia and mental breakdown ; and impaired health not definitely traceable to any cause, and the wearing of artificial limbs. QUESTION No. 2. Report on the Adequacy of the Sources at present available and the Sufficiency of the Methods employed for the Alleviation of the Condition of such Persons as aforesaid, whether by Pension from the Crown, by Allowance from Funds ereated or available for the Purpose, by Existing Statutory Facilities for Land-settlement, Establishment in Business, Financial Assistance, Special Training and Treatment, and otherwise. (A) ADEQUACY OF PENSIONS FROM THE CROWN. (a) Pensions payable by the New Zealand Government. (i) To Neiv Zealand Veterans of the Maori War. The provisions for payment to these jjensioners are to be found in the Pensions Act, 1926 ; only those who received a New Zealand War Medal for service in any Maori War are eligible. The amount is fixed at £49 per annum, without regard to the income or property of the pensioner. A suggestion to increase this amount was submitted to us, but we are of opinion that no case was made out in support of the claim, and we have no recommendation, to make. (ii) To New Zealand Veterans of the South African War. The provisions for payment to these pensioners were originally set out in Part IX of the Defence Act, 1909, the qualifications of the pensioner being set out in that enactment. By section 13 of the Finance Act, 1919, it is provided that a pensioner under Part IN of the Defence Act, 1909, shall be entitled to a pension under the War Pensions Act, 1915, in the same manner as if his eligibility had arisen out of service in the Groat European War. It was made clear to your Commissioners during the hearing that this more liberal provision was not at all widely known amongst South African War ex-service men, and the lapse of ten years since the provision was made will make it difficult if not impossible for an applicant now to prove the necessary attributability. The Pensions Act, 1.926, by section 45 makes a further concession in favour of the South African veteran, where he is eligible for the old-age pension ; it is that an extra old-age pension grant of £13 per annum be made to him, but so that his aggregate receipts from all sources shall not exceed the sum of £97 10s. in any year. The evidence as to the number of South African veterans now in New Zealand fixes the total at about four thousand.

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Kepresentatives of the South African Veterans' Association appeared before us and urged upon us three recommendations : (a) that a service pension of £50 per annum be paid to all such veterans irrespective of health or financial standing, and purely as a reward for services rendered in South Africa ; or (b) the granting of a service pension of-£5O per annum to all such veterans on attaining the age of sixty-five years (or earlier if any disability should become apparent) ; and (c) the reduction of age for eligibility to the old-age pension in the case of such veterans from sixty-five to sixty years. We are not prepared to make recommendations (a) or (b) set out above. In so far as these men are disabled by their war service we think that they are sufficiently provided for by being placed on the same footing as men disabled in the Great War. In so far as they are not disabled, their condition, circumstances, and claims do not fall within the scope of our order of reference. As to recommendation (c), it is equivalent to a loading of five years on the age of an applicant for old-age pension. We think that, prima facie, such a loading is not unreasonable on the life of one who served in such a campaign as the South African War, and may be viewed as a species of disability. We therefore recommend that where a, South African veteran is otherwise qualified for the old-age pension his age should for pension purposes be increased by five years to make him eligible at an actual age of sixty years. (iii) Those who while domiciled in New Zealand served during the Great War. Our law makes two pension provisions for such persons. They are to be found in the War Pensions Act, 1915, and its amendment Acts of 1916, 1917, and 1923 ; also in sections 12 and 13 of the Finance Act, 1919, and sections 2 and 3 of the Finance Act, 1920. The pensions defined and granted by these statutes fall into two divisions : firstly there is the war disability pension, which was defined and granted by the 1915 Act, and secondly a supplementary pension known as the economic pension, which is defined and granted by the Act of 1923. (1) Physical Disability Pension. This is a pension payable to persons who suffer physical disabilty as a result of service in the Great War. It is granted as of right to all persons who have the necessary qualification of a physical disability, and is granted without regard to any financial or economic necessity or effect. The qualifying disabilities are of two kinds : firstly there are a number of specific physical or bodily losses which are set out in a schedule to the Act, such as loss of limbs, parts of limbs, or loss of an eye, or total loss of sight and hearing ; the second class comprises disease —such as, for instance, rheumatism or tuberculosis — proved to be attributable to war service. With regard to the disabilities of the first class, they are fully described and classified in a schedule to the 1917 Act, and it is as a rule an obvious question of fact whether or not a man comes within this schedule, and, if so, into what division he falls. As to the other class —namely, disease such as, for instance, tuberculosis or rheumatism —the existence and the extent of the disability is reported to and decided by the War Pensions Board, which has in this matter the assistance of the most efficient medical and surgical specialists or practitioners available. The pensionable value of any physical injury is fixed by the schedule of the 1917 Act, which sets forth an arbitrary relative assessment of the various injuries and states it as a ratio or percentage of the maximum pension fixed by the Acts. Thus the loss of two limbs ranks as 100 per cent, disability, entitling the pensioner to the maximum pension, whilst the loss of an index finger is ranked as 20 per cent., entitling the pensioner to one-fifth of the maximum. The degree of disability from disease is fixed by the medical assessors on a study of the facts of each individual case. (2) Economic Pension - "To the above-described disability pension there may be added a supplementary pension known as the economic pension. This .pension was first created, defined, and granted by the 1923 War Pensions Amendment Act, and it was enacted as the result of a Commission of inquiry appointed to inquire and report upon the working of war-pension legislation as it existed in the year 1923,

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This Supplementary pension is granted on economic grounds, aftd only tllos. who are already receiving the disability pension are eligible for it. In considering an application for the economic pension the War Pensions Board is required by the Act to take into consideration the ability of the applicant to obtain and retain suitable employment, the personal earnings and other income of the applicant (if any), the property of the applicant, the cost of living, aiid such other factors of economic significance as the Board considers relevant. The Board has a certain amount of discretion in granting or refusing to grant the economic pension, or m fixing the amount of the pension within the maximum limit of £l 10s. per week fixed by the Act. (i) The Interaction of these Pension Provisions. — This is shown in its most satisfactory form when examined in its application to a man who is 100 per cent, disabled and entitled to a full economic pension. Such a man, if single, would get, for instance, £2 per week disability pension and £l 10s. per week economic pension, a total of £3 10s. per week. Another such man, if a married man with a wife and one child, would receive a disability pension of £2, to which would be added in respect of his wife and. child (as dependants) the sum of £l and 10s. respectively, and this would be supplemented by the economic pension of £l 10s. per week, making a total of £5 per week. It was generally considered by the witnesses, and we also are of opinion, that this provision is satisfactory, and is a reasonably liberal discharge of the State's obligation to these men in all ordinary cases. The position, however, is not nearly so satisfactory, and many difficulties and complaints are brought to light, when the degree of physical or economic disability fluctuates or may be more or less temporary or intermittent. In such cases the War Pensions Board has from time to time, in the light of altered circumstances, to review in relation to the physical disability pensions the percentage or degree of disability, and in relation to the economic pension the various factors of economic significance. Two typical cases would be supplied by (a) a man whose economic factors are varied by the obtaining of temporary employment, and (b) a man whose physical-disability factors are varied by illness, a period of hospital treatment, and discharge from the hospital as a cured man. The problems thus created and evidenced are intimate human problems, and into them there now enters consideration of scheduled factors according to the stereotyped provisions of an Act of Parliament. We invite Your Excellency's attention first to (a) the man who has obtained temporary employment after a period in which he has been receiving an economic pension of £l 10s. per week. He must, in accordance with the statutory requirements, when he next appears for his monthly instalment of pension, declare the fact that he is at work. Inquiries are made by the Pensions Department to verify his statements as to the extent of the work and the payment, and the usual result is that in future there will be deducted from his economic pension the amount he has thus earned. What might be called the arithmetic or the logic of this procedure is something that cannot be gainsaid. By working and earning money the pensioner has proved that his economic disability is not as great as it would appear to be, or that for a time it ceased to exist or operate ; therefore the State, which undertook only to compensate for loss traceable to that economic disability, withdraws its grant in respect of the time when the disability ceased to operate. We are satisfied, however, that all the elements in this problem are not capable of statement in arithmetical or accountancy terms, for it is, as we have pointed out, a human problem working itself out in a man's domestic life. We are satisfied that, as deposed to by many of the witnesses, the procedure we have outlined tends to destroy initiative and incentive to work on the part of an appreciable number of the pensioners. The work obtained by the pensioner may have been purely temporary- -in some actual cases we investigated it was work for a few days in respect of which good pay was received, say, £4 for four days' work. This is received in, say, May, and coming into a household which has been existing on a small income it is almost certain to be looked upon as something in the nature of a windfall; and, human nature being what it is, particularly if the pensioner has children, it may be spent on something outside the ordinary run of household expenditure, and therefore something outside the strictest

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necessities. A declaration is made in respect of this earning, inquiries are instituted, and probably in June or July the economic pension, which by now has come to be looked upon as part of the household income, is reduced until this £4 is repaid to the State. This repayment then comes out of the fund for current necessities of life, and the man and his wife wonder if he would not be better off if he did not look for temporary work. May we take now the case of work which lasts somewhat longer —work as to which it may be doubtful whether it is to be described as temporary or semipermanent. The pensioner " declares " his employment, and inquiries begin to be made by police officers, and we may assume that these inquiries are tactfully made ; nevertheless, as a general rule they have an unsettling and probably irritating effect on the employer, and, coupled with the fear of the end of the employment, they tend to create a state of mind in which the pensioner is less fitted to do good work. We are satisfied that in many such cases the procedure is the cause of the work ceasing. Even where men have earned a small wage during a period of vocational training, the inquiries have been made, and the amount of this wage deducted from the amount of economic pension. The sense of grievance and of interference enters into the pensioner's mind in his relation to his work, and the effect is often harmful. We wish now to refer to (b), the case of the pensioner who, assessed as, say, 30 per cent, disability, is sent into hospital for treatment whilst granted the economic pension, and to assume that neurasthenia is an ingredient in his trouble. Many such cases were cited to us. After a period he is discharged as convalescent, and immediately his increased pension is stopped and he reverts to the amount of pension that preceded the qualification arising out of his illness. It may be that this reduction or cessation is temporary only, for the Pensions Board in its task of assessing the physical disability and economic factors gets the best medical evidence and reassesses the pensioner's qualification for pension ; but the intervening period may be one of four weeks. This, for a neurasthenic patient, is bound to be a period of considerable suspense. When we consider this cycle of operations applied to the life of a returned soldier with dependants, and one who, temporarily at least, has the mind and outlook of the convalescent, we may well believe, as we were assured by many witnesses, that the effect is most detrimental, and produces a state of mind in which satisfactory work is impossible and complete convalescence is hindered. As more than one witness put it, " The pension is quickly reduced or ceased, but it is apt to take a longer time to have it reinstated." These two typical cases exemplify fairly well most of the objections urged to us against the present working of the system, and we are of opinion that most of the objections are well founded. It was established to our satisfaction that in many cases the procedure we have described in relation to the grant and withdrawal of the economic pension tends to destroy the initiative of the men and their incentive to accept work. Cases were quoted to us, illustrated by the actual figures, in which a man with a family, having undertaken work, finds that even though he is earning quite an appreciable amount in wages, he will be only about, say, ss. better off than if he were idle and on the pension. We are quite aware that to a normally-minded man there should, even on such figures, be only one choice —namely, for work, self-respect, and the extra ss. The problem, however, exists in relation to a discouraged man, a man with, at least, the temporary self-pity of the convalescent, a man who may feel that the employment which he has taken* under spur of necessity is uncongenial and he feels, firstly, that he may not much longer be able to stand up to it, or, secondly, that it will not be available to him for long. This brings about a .state of mind in which the increased self-respect due to work can find no place ; and most if not all of the medical witnesses who have been before us stressed the point that worry about employment and the fear of unemployment is almost as bad in its effect on the mentality of the man as actual unemployment. Taking all these factors into account, we think that the evidence justifies the statement made by many witnesses that as at present administered the economic pension tends in many cases to become a premium on idleness and does not encourage the taking-up of work.

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Again, it was urged against the system that little attempt appears to have been made by those responsible for the administration of the Act to assess workingcapacity. Witnesses declared that, on the other hand, there seemed to be a general policy in operation of the arbitrary granting of the economic pension to those applicants with 50 per cent, disability and upwards. In other words, they depose that, in course of time, and after dealing with hundreds and thousands of applications, the procedure tends to become a codification of set rules, and to be governed rather by the spirit of the schedule of disabilities than by the exercise of an individual discretion applied to individual cases. (ii) The Inherent Weakness of the System. —In our opinion the inherent weakness of the system, briefly stated, may be said to be that since the work of the Repatriation Department ceased there has been no attempt to link up rehabilitation with the payment of the economic pension. The factors on which eligibility for the pension are based are the economic factors of employment, earnings, and other income ; but the operation of these factors in individual lives has been left to the untrained, unguided, and haphazard methods of the pensioners themselves, with the possible exception of the benefit of registration as unemployed at the Labour Department bureaux. In the report of the Commission on which the Economic Pensions Act was enacted the following appears : " Every effort should be made to procure work for these men in their own interests and in the interests of the State." This portion of the recommendation has apparently been lost sight of, and, as we have attempted to state above, that would seem to be the basic cause of most of the weaknesses and causes of dissatisfaction brought under our notice. (iii) The Remedy. —The remedy is, in our opinion, to link up the State's duty in the matter of pension with the State's duty in the matter of rehabilitation, including assistance in the matter of finding employment. Medical witnesses said with great unanimity that the class of men we are considering would be better off physically and mentally if they had work ; that if the State could find them woik, and take away the fear of unemployment, many who otherwise would want the economic pension all their lives will soon become self-supporting. Many men appeared before us as typical cases, and assured us that what they wanted was not the pension, but work ; whilst officials of the Returned Soldiers' Association, the various patriotic societies, and the one-time rehabilitation officers all assured us that among a very large body of the men there was a strong desire to know the security of life and the self-respect that can be associated only with steady work, and they assured us that the men would welcome any scheme that would give them not a " dole," but work. We are convinced that this is a correct statement of the case of very many of these men, and our suggested remedy is that the assessing of the economic disability of men and the granting of a pension should be linked up, firstly in policy, and secondly by actual organization with the duty of training men for work and finding work for them. We recommend in another part of our report, as our major recommendation, the formation of the Soldiers Civil Re-establishment League, and we recommend that the administration of the economic-pensions scheme be worked in conjunction with this League. This League, with its branches in every centre, will know the men who are subjects of the present problem, and will have employment and rehabilitation officers in touch with them and with the executive of the League. As to those men in the class of 50-per-cent. disability or over, the League's officers, with full knowledge of the individual men, will report " These men are unemployable ; they are quite unable to support themselves ; we recommend them for the full economic pension." As to others, their cases as potential pensioners will be considered by the League in connection with its efforts to find work. The League's committees will have knowledge of all these men ; they will know their capabilities, they will know the work they are fitted for, and the work they are doing : they will therefore be able not only to take into account the economic factors in the lives of these men, but largely to govern and control these factors, and their policy will be to reduce the need for pension by increasing the economic and. earning factors in each man's life. We recommend that as a general principle the finding and recommendation of the appropriate committee of the League should fix a man's right to the economic pension.

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In our opinion, in applying this policy, the various objections and difficulties now apparent should be met in the following way : — (a) No declaration and no police inquiries will be necessary. The man's position in relation to employment will be known to the employment officers, whose work as employees of the League it will be to assist these men in their employment. (b) When employment is obtained, or when a man is discharged from hospital and is to be encouraged to take up work, the economic pension should not be stopped abruptly and automatically, but should be " shaded off " at the discretion of the League, whilst the man is encouraged and helped out of the mentality of the convalescent into that of the permanent and sound worker. (c) There will be no period of financial suspense and uncertainty following a period of illness. (d) The incentive to work and the discouragement and reproof of idleness will operate intelligently at the instance of men who are studying the problem in the pensioners as individuals, and not, as at present, by the operation of an arbitrary rule which cuts the pension off under prescribed circumstances. (e) Working-capacity and other economic factors can be more exactly and quickly assessed, and corresponding adjustments in pension made promptly and reasonably. (3) Mental Patients and the Economic Pension. —The evidence discloses the fact that there are many ex-soldiers who are afflicted with mental unsoundness, and many of these are committed to our mental hospitals. Our attention was called to some anomalies that peculiarly afflict this class. They are based on the fact that whilst mental unsoundness may be just as truly attributable to war service as bodily unsoundness (and, indeed, " lunacy " is included in the schedule of war disablements in the War Pensions Act of 1917), differential treatment is applied, in the matter of economic pension, to inmates of ordinary hospitals and inmates of mental hospitals respectively. For instance, if an ex-soldier is admitted to and detained in a T.B. sanatorium for two years he is maintained and treated by the State ; he receives or is credited with his full disability pension, and, on application, with economic pension for that period, and the amount credited is payable to him in a lump sum on his discharge. If, however, his admission is to a mental hospital he will be maintained and treated, and the whole of his accumulated disability pension for two years would be paid to him on his discharge, but the economic pension would be paid only subject to proof of economic loss or need being supplied on a fresh application. If these men were married, the T.B. patient and his wife and children would draw their scheduled pensions throughout (including pensioner's economic pension). The wife of the mental patient would receive a portion of the total of her husband's disability pension and the children's scheduled pension, and the balance would (excluding economic pension) accumulate, to be paid on the patient's discharge. If the wife of the mental patient was in these circumstances forced to work to eke out the family income, and earned £l 10s. per week by doing so, her earnings would be taken into account as economic factors and would tend to offset or " cancel out " any claim for economic pension for that period. This tends to bear hardly, particularly on the wives of mental patients, in certain cases. We confess to experiencing difficulty when we try to formulate remedies for these anomalies or set rules to meet the cases of mental patients. We are ready to subscribe to the proposition as academically sound that if two men equally fit in mind and body served in the war and returned, one with two limbs shot away and the other with his reason unhinged, each disability is equally the result of war service and each has an equal claim on his country's sympathy and help. It is also, we think, quite obvious that mental unsoundness is an economic disability. The logical outcome would seem to be to abolish all distinctions and to pay arrears of economic pension to a mental patient on the same basis as that on which they would be paid to one with a bodily disability. We do not think, however, that it is a logical conclusion to these propositions to formulate rules that, whilst possessing the merit of uniformity when applied to cases of which the above are typical, will give to a mentally weak man, barely fit to be discharged from a mental hospital, a sum that may run into some hundreds

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of pounds. Neither have we found it possible to formulate satisfactory suggestions of general bearing as to measures of control in the care and spending of such money. The degrees of mental weakness and the combinations of relationships and other circumstances are too diverse to permit of that remedy. We have called attention to the anomalies, and we recommend that the remedy be left to the discretion of the Soldiers Civil Re-establishment League —a discretion to be exercised in the light of the circumstances of each individual case, and including the right to divert the money to the War Funds Council where the said mental patient dies without dependants. We further beg to call Your Excellency's attention to the fact that in Schedule 111 of the War Pensions Act, 1917, "lunacy" is classified as a 100-per-cent. disability. If a mental patient qualified for pension as a single man under this provision were held under restraint in a mental hospital for five years, he would apparently be entitled on his discharge, in the application of the foregoing procedure, to demand the payment to him of £520. We think that this position calls for at least the provision for some safeguards. (4) Old-age Pensions and Ex-soldiers. —On page 7 of this report, when dealing with the case for South African veterans, we recommend that the age-limit for eligibility for the old-age pension should be sixty years and not sixty-five years. For the same reason (mutatis mutandis) as there advanced, we recommend that the same concession be made in favour of all New Zealand ex-soldiers who served in the Great War. (5) Pensions to Dependants.—Dependants are recognized by the War Pensions Acts, and a wide range of relatives by blood and marriage is included in the definition of " dependant." The only dependants whose claims were put before us for consideration were wives and widows. We assume that in the case of all other dependants the pension arrangements are adequate and satisfactory. (i) Wives: Those who were wives of the pensioners at the time of war service are dependants, without qualification, and in such cases no grievances were set before us. In other cases the eligibility of the wife depends on the circumstances of the marriage contract in relation to the qualifications set out in the defining sections of the Act. These qualifications are designed to disqualify wives who are parties to an improper, improvident, or mercenary marriage, and they consist in (a) time-limits on the interval between the discharge of the soldier and his marriage, and (b) general circumstances of the parties to the marriage. Only one such class presents itself to us as calling for comment and a recommendation. It includes those wives who are defined as " dependants " by section 12 of the Finance Act, 1919, in the words " any woman who becomes by marriage in New Zealand the wife of a member of the Forces at any time after the expiry of two years from the date of his discharge, if, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the Board is of opinion that she should be entitled to the benefits of a dependant." In the exercise of their discretion the War Pensions Board appears to have established a policy of declining application for pension by a wife in this class if the marriage was contracted (1) in New Zealand, over two years after the discharge of the member of the Forces, and if the member is in receipt of his war pension for any serious or progressive disability; or (2) after the expiration of, say, five years from the ex-soldier's discharge. Your Commissioners strongly recommend that the time-limit in all such cases be abolished. We suggest that if the War Pensions Board is satisfied by inquiry that a marriage was contracted (a) when the soldier was in a reasonable state of health, and (b) with the intention and with reasonable prospect of the parties living together as husband and wife, the case is a proper one for a pension. We are of opinion that application of the two considerations suggested by us will effectively block improvident and mercenary marriages designed to secure pension benefits. We recommend further that on such applications being refused the applicant should have a right of appeal to the War Pensions Appeal Board. There is also the case of a wife married out of New Zealand to a member of the N.Z.E.F. A time-limit exists in her case also, as a qualification of eligibility : it is that the marriage must precede the pensioner's discharge from the Forces (see section 12 of the Finance Act, 1919). We recommend that this time-limit be

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abolished, and that such wives be recognized as dependants if the marriage stands the tests (a) and (6) set out above. (ii) Widows: In connection with war pensions for widows of disabled soldiers who die as the result of war injuries, your Commissioners are of the opinion that all restrictions as to the date of the marriage should be abolished. We believe that it was never intended that the eligibility of the widow of a soldier who died of war injury should depend upon whether or not the marriage took place within a certain time after his discharge from the Forces. We recommend that all such time-limits in this connection be abolished, and that in those classes where the danger is possible the discouragement of the mercenary or improvident marriage be effected by the application of the tests suggested by us under the immediately preceding heading. By a proviso introduced by section 15 (i) (c) of the War Pensions Act, 1917, certain wives who are recognized as pensionable dependants whilst wives lose that status on becoming widows, but become entitled instead to a gratuity. This proviso affects wives who are within the definition of " dependant " quoted in the immediately preceding part of this report headed " Wives." We see no sufficient reason for this proviso, and are of opinion that it may work hardships against a widow whose qualifications as a dependant were fully investigated and approved. We therefore recommend the repeal of this proviso. It is, in our opinion, a disability based on the " time-limit " qualification, and one that therefore should disappear with that qualification. (b) Pensions payable by the Governments of Great Britain, or other Oversea Dominions. (i) Ex-Service Men of the Imperial Forces. Your Commissioners respectfully recommend that Your Excellency's Advisers confer with the Imperial Government and pension authorities relating to the harsh treatment which, according to evidence submitted to us, results from the application of the Imperial war pensions legislation to Imperial ex-soldiers in our community. Several witnesses appeared before us to represent the case of the ex Imperial soldier who is now resident in this Dominion, and some of these ex-soldiers deposed to their own experiences as typical of many of their comrades. This evidence is to the effect that unless an ex Imperial soldier applies for pension for a disability within seven years of the date of discharge from the Forces, or within seven years of the official termination of the war (31st August, 1921), whichever is the earlier, his claim cannot be granted. Your Commissioners are of the opinion that this statutory bar inflicts hardship. In the Imperial legislation (as in the New Zealand legislation) the onus of proof is on the claimant, and this, it is submitted, provides a serious and a gradually increasing difficulty as years pass, without any time-limit. This limit operates not only in regard to applications for pension for disabilities arising more than seven years after the war, but also in cases where disabilities scheduled and recognized as due to war have been latent and have reappeared beyond the seven-years period. It is true that " treatment allowances " are paid in such cases if hospital in-patient treatment is necessary, but, unless on discharge from the institution the soldier is required to undergo further treatment of a kind which is certified to preclude the soldier from working, nothing further is paid. Permanent deterioration in health arising as the result of such a happening is not recognized by grant of war pension. A second difficulty placed before us also arises out of time-limits connected with appeals. The evidence discloses that Imperial pensioners have rights of appeal, firstly to the Ministry of Pensions, regarding (a) assessment of pensions, and (b) deterioration {i.e., where the pensioner considers his pensionable disability has become substantially worse) ; and, secondly, to the House of Lords Independent Tribunals regarding (a) " entitlement," a term practically equivalent to our term " attributability," and (b) assessment, or rate of pension. Our comments relate to this second right of appeal to the Independent Tribunals on the above grounds. Such appeal must be lodged within twelve months of the notification of the award ; the decisions of the Independent Tribunals are final, but on presentation of fresh evidence a case may be reopened.

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This time-limit, your Commissioners find, inflicts considerable hardship, particularly in the case of final awards (these come under the heading of " Assessment "). In the event of a pensionable war disability becoming permanently worse more than twelve months after the notification of the final award, it is not possible for the war-pension grant to be increased. Your Commissioners would point out, firstly, that, according to the evidence, there are now approximately twenty-thousand ex-imperial-service men in New Zealand, and that under a policy which we understand is still in force inducements are offered in Britain to ex-service men to emigrate to oversea portions of the Empire, provision being made in the Imperial war-pension legislation for pensions to be paid in advance or in a lump sum to facilitate migration. The time-limit referred to, apart from the harshness towards the ex-soldier, throws the disabled man in many instances upon the resources of the country to which he has migrated. Your Commissioners received evidence of many such cases, and it is beyond doubt that these men represent an appreciable and growing charge on the New Zealand War Funds and patriotic Funds. (ii) Pension Provisions of His Majesty's other Dominions. Your Commissioners received no evidence that the existing facilities for the war pensioners of other parts of the Empire who reside in New Zealand were in any way inadequate. (c) Sufficiency of Methods in New Zealand relating to Pensions. In approaching this question we feel constrained to say that the witnesses who gave evidence before us on this point, whether as individuals or as representatives of bodies that had much to do with pension matters, were unanimous in making favourable reference to the spirit in which the Acts are administered. These witnesses expressed satisfaction with the fairness and reasonableness of the tribunals, and many of them referred to the officers of the Pensions Department as men who were helpful and courteous, and who gave to the Pensions Acts the most liberal interpretation that was justified by a proper reading of the Acts. Any criticisms were levelled at the legislation, and the regulations and procedures that necessarily grew out of its application. (i) Attributability. Many witnesses referred to the difficulty of proving a disability to be due to or aggravated by war service, especially where the complaint is first manifested some years after the war, or where it is one that ex-soldiers may at any time suffer in common with other members of the community. In the great majority of cases any judgment in the matter can be arrived at only by a weighing of probabilities, and with the passing of years this characteristic of the problem must become more pronounced. For the guidance of the War Pensions Board and the War Pensions Appeal Board, section 11 of the War Pensions Act, 1923, formulates a rule for determining attributability of disability to war service. The rule is that if the disablement occurred within seven years after the discharge of the member, and reasonable evidence is produced that the disablement has probably been caused by war service, a presumption of attributability is thereby established. The period within which the tribunals are thus invited to invoke probability is limited to seven years. We are of opinion that this time-limit should be abolished, and we recommend accordingly. We have expressed the opinion elsewhere, based on the medical evidence tendered to us, that it was assumed too early that practically all war disabilities had manifested themselves. There is much evidence to support the submission that we have now entered upon and are passing through a period in which latent war disabilities are manifesting themselves in the form of bodily and mental derangement. (See page 5 hereof.) (ii) Access to Copy of Medical-history File. As we have pointed out elsewhere, the Pensions Board, in coming to a decision on an application for a pension, is assisted by medical and surgical testimony, which is placed before it in written files. If on a consideration of this and all other relevant information the pension is refused the applicant has a right of appeal to the War Pensions Appeal Board. If he desires he has the right to be represented at this appeal by an advocate. In the majority of cases this advocate is the

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secretary of one of the Branches of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and these men become experienced in preparing and conducting such appeals. A cause of complaint in this connection was put to us by many witnesses. It is that in the preparation for these appeals the appellant and his advocate are not allowed access to the medical-history files. When the appeal comes up for hearing the contents of these files are part of the case on appeal, and the appellant and his advocate are apt to be taken by surprise. Quite frequently the information from the file, disclosed to the appellant for the first time at the hearing, is such that, had it been known, the appellant, particularly when acting under the advice of an advocate, would either never have gone on with the appeal or would have prepared and stated his case differently. The result is that the number of appeals is needlessly increased, firstly by the appeals that are hopeless, and secondly by rehearing of appeals rendered necessary by the element of surprise in the evidence at the first hearing. We understand that objection is raised that the medical reports furnished to the Board are confidential ; but we submit that that should not operate against the interests of the man to whom they relate and whose life and health and prospects are their subject-matter. It is the practice in Britain for two copies of a precis of the medical reports to be supplied, as of right and as a matter of course, to appellants, and we recommend that a similar procedure be adopted here. The present procedure involves the appellant and the Board in delay and expense, and we are of opinion that it does so unreasonably. (B) THE ADEQUACY OF FUNDS CREATED OR AVAILABLE FOR THE ALLEVIATION OF THE CONDITIONS OF SUCH PERSONS AS AFORESAID. In seeking information to supply an answer to this branch of this question we procured evidence from a responsible officer of the War Funds Council, of the Canteen and Regimental Trust Funds Board, from representatives of various patriotic societies and funds, from officers of the various Returned Soldiers' Associations, and from representatives of the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance Societies.. This evidence may be summarized as follows : — On the 31st March, 1929, there existed in the Dominion sixty-three registered war funds, and they may be classified under eight headings as shown below. The total of the assets representing those funds was as at the above £ date returned by their respective trustees at . . 1,063,194 In addition the War Funds Council, a statutory body, held funds amounting to .. .. . . . . .. .. 160,290 £1,223,485 Funds with the N.Z.F.F. Canteen and Regimental Trust Funds Board at 31st March, 1929 .. .. .. .. 199,965 Total (shillings and pence omitted) .. .. £1,423,450 Less special funds — (a) New Zealand Sheepowners' Acknow- £ ledgment of Debt to British Seamen Fund .. .. .. .. 152,854 (b) Trentham Scholarship Fund .. .. 28,873 (c) Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Relief Fund Veterans' Home Fund .. 29,197 210,925 1,212,525 Less estimated 40 per cent, of the above sum of £l, 223,485 represented in lands, buildings, and outstanding loans (this deduction is explained below) .. .. 4-89,394 £723,131 (Note. —The amount of £30,000 held in trust by the headquarters British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John is not included in the above figures, as this has been held by the Supreme Court to be not a " war fund.")

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For the purpose of our inquiry it has been deemed advisable to deduct the sum of £210,925 appearing under the heading of " special funds " because, in the main, these funds exist primarily for —(a) Flock House scheme of farm training (boys and girls) ; (b) scheme for providing grants for furthering the education of children of ex-service men ; and (c) conduct of the New Zealand Veterans' Home, Auckland. Therefore the position (subject to the obtaining of fuller information from the societies regarding the value of outstanding loans to soldiers, referred to below) indicates that something in the vicinity of £724,000 of war funds remains in liquid assets. The classified list of registered war funds is as follows : — £ 30 Incorporated societies .. .. .. .. .. 832,247 8 Red Cross organizations .. .. .. .. .. 140,251 3 Blind Soldiers' and Veterans' Homes Funds (real estate) .. 57,197 10 Unincorporated societies .. .. .. .. .. 3,778 3 Memorial Funds .. .. .. .. .. .. 39 1 Navy League Fund .. .. .. .. .. 5,739 5 Returned Soldiers' Clubs .. .. .. .. .. 21,754 3 Social Funds .. .. .. .. .. .. 2,188 63 Total (shillings and pence have been omitted) .. .. £1,063,194 A detailed list of these funds appears as Exhibit No. 26. In explanation of the above deduction of £489,394 we were informed in evidence that of the sums included in this list of war funds only about 60 per cent, may be taken as liquid assets available for relief, the balance being included in " land, buildings, and loans to ex-soldiers." Many of these loans are irrecoverable. Many of them are only nominally recorded as loans : they were really made and looked upon as " grants," a form of relief which was and is lawful. We did not feel justified in incurring the expense involved in ascertaining, by the means suitable to this Commission of inquiry, the true proportions of liquid and fixed assets and of recoverable and irrecoverable loans. At the same time we think that, as part of the national stocktaking represented by the collection of the above figures, this information should be obtained and recorded. There is a statutory means of procuring this information ; it is contained in section 10 of the War Funds Act, 1915, in the following words : " It shall be the duty of the trustees of every [war] fund, as and when required by the Minister, to cause to be furnished to him a statement in writing setting forth such particulars as the Minister may require with respect to (a) to (d) [certain information therein specified] ; (e) such other matters as the Minister may from time to time require." We recommend that Your Excellency's Advisers, in the exercise of this power, require from the respective trustees of the above funds the information indicated in the following headings : — (a) What amount of your funds is represented by fixed assets —i.e., land and buildings : (b) What amount is represented by cash, bank balance or fixed deposit, or other similar liquid asset: (c) What amount is held in other assets, specially setting out loans, and debts recoverable under the three subheadings of " Recoverable," " Doubtful," and " Irrecoverable." We further recommend that, to procure information that has a direct bearing on the question of how long these respective funds may last, the following question be also submitted to the said trustees : " What is the average annual amount spent by you in administrative expenses —(1) As an average total during the past five years ; (2) as a percentage of the amount disbursed by way of relief in each of the past five years ? " Expected Life of the Funds. —Estimates of the expected life of these funds can be approximate only, and are based on the experience and policy of past years, which may prove to be an unreliable guide for estimating future requirements. All that can be said is that some similar funds have been exhausted, some in the

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foregoing list are approaching exhaustion, and few of them are expected to last more than ten years. The length of time that will elapse before the money of the War Funds Council is exhausted will depend on the extent of the calls on it by other bodies as their funds become exhausted. The present policy of the Canteen Fund trustees is to reserve their funds to stand behind the War Funds Council as a final source of supply. (C) THE ADEQUACY OF EXISTING STATUTORY FACILITIES FOR LAND-SETTLEMENT. We have to acknowledge the great assistance we received in connection with this part of this question from the Commissioners of Lands in the various centres visited by us, and other State officers who had special knowledge of the subjectmatter. Our answer is that with one exception, noted below, the existing statutory facilities provide all the openings for settling such persons on the lands of the Dominion that are or have been advocated or are reasonably likely to be required. This was the considered opinion of the State officials (at each of the four centres) who in the past were charged with the duty of supervising land-settlement by ex-service men and the administration of the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts. The various methods and schemes put before us comprised the settlement of farmers as individuals, or as partners, or as members of a group farming settlement, or as members of a community farm settlement, and we are satisfied that all the necessary legislation to meet any such scheme of soldier settlement is contained in the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts. Our attention was also called to Part IT of the Land Laws Amendment Act, .1928, which makes provision whereby any two or more suitable applicants may apply to have an area purchased for them, and if their proposition is sound and the price reasonable the Crown will advance up to 95 per cent, of the purchase price on what amounts to an instalment mortgage with a 1-per-cent. sinking fund, and with interest at 5 per cent. net. The one exception noted above has relation to South African veterans and ex-service men from overseas. These men are excluded from the benefits of our Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts by the existing definition of " discharged soldier." In our opinion this is a form of relief that, for the benefit of approved men of the above classes, and of the Dominion, might be extended to them, and we recommend that the definition " discharged soldier "be extended accordingly. By " approved men " we mean men that by training, knowledge, aptitude, and the possession of some capital are within the class of those that elsewhere in this report should be assisted to take up land. (D) THE ADEQUACY OF EXISTING PROVISIONS AND METHODS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SUCH PERSONS IN BUSINESS. Any existing statutory facilities for the establishment in business of ex-service men are to be found in the Repatriation Act, 1918, and the regulations made thereunder. These provisions were found to be effective and adequate when the Act was being administered, and presumably could be made adequate again if the policy of Your Excellency's Advisers involved the resuscitation of the Repatriation Department's activities. We desire to indicate here, however, that the establishment of men in business is one of the activities which should, according to our main recommendation in this report, be placed as soon as possible in the hands of the Soldiers Civil Re-establishment League, the formation of which we suggest for the purpose of co-ordinating this and all similar activities. We accordingly recommend that this method be adopted of providing means and methods of establishing such persons in business. Further, as in the case of land-settlement, we think that the benefit of these provisions should be for all ex-service men who served in the Great War or the South African campaign, but subject to the same proviso as is suggested under the immediately preceding heading —viz., that the benefit of these provisions should be applied only to men who, by experience, aptitude, and the possession of some capital, are reasonably likely to be successful.

3—H. 39.

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(E) THE ADEQUACY OF EXISTING SOURCES AND METHODS FOR RENDERING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, SPECIAL TRAINING, AND TREATMENT TO EXSERVICE MEN. We have grouped these headings together, as in our opinion they are all governed by the same considerations, and they are closely related to the immediately preceding headings. The facilities for granting financial assistance are part of the scheme for land-settlement under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts, and settlement in business under the Repatriation Act, and we have already dealt with that aspect of the matter. This Repatriation Act also contains the machinery which in the past was used for special training and treatment of ex-service men at the hands of the State. We think that for the future these activities (land and repatriation) should be made available to all approved men, but that the actual granting of assistance should depend upon the favourable recommendation of the League already referred to. We recommend strongly that this work should be put in hand as quickly as possible, and for that purpose that, pending the passing of the necessary legislation, interested bodies should by voluntary effort procure the incorporation of the League, and begin work on some of its more urgent problems a.nd remedies. QUESTION No. 3. Inquire and Report upon generally the Means by which the Remaining Capacity of such Persons as aforesaid can best be utilized so as to enable them in Whole or in Part to maintain themselves and their Dependants, and the advisability or otherwise of adopting any Particular Means which may be proposed to or by you for that Purpose. Answer.—ln our opinion no effective answer can be given to this question even in general terms without first making an occupational classification of the persons affected. Farming and Agricultural.—General. We would deal first with those who (notwithstanding their disabilities), according to their own desires or their natural abilities, would serve themselves and the community best by being engaged in farming and agricultural pursuits on a commercial basis. We would preface our answer to this problem by expressing the opinion strongly that more care should be exercised in the future than has been displayed in the past in choosing those who are to be encouraged to take up farming or agricultural work. This is not intended as adverse criticism of the work and methods of those who in the past have administered the Repatriation Act and the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts. A great deal of successful work was done thereunder ; but one lesson that may be learned from past experience is that farming does not offer a certain livelihood for any man who can be placed in possession of a farm with State help in his initial financial problems. Furthermore, we think it is a fact that, as suggested by several witnesses, nearly all if not all the returned soldiers who by natural bent and qualities are likely to be successful farmers have by this time found their way on to the land. We strongly recommend that no person should now be encouraged to take up farming as a means of livelihood unless by training or family connections and traditions and by physical fitness he may be expected to show himself suited to such an occupation. We think further that facilities for taking up land as farmers, with State finance and assistance, should be given only to those who have some capital either in land, stock, or cash to embark in the undertaking. We think it is exceedingly unlikely that any disabled ex-soldier now seeking assistance can be successfully embarked on a farming career 011 a basis that leaves him liable to pay interest on almost a 100-per-cent. advance on the value of his property. We have already indicated in our answer to the second question that the existing statutory facilities for land-settlement and special training and treatment of intending settlers on the land are adequate, and we repeat that opinion. All that is necessary is that the existing facilities and provisions should be wisely put into operation.

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For those who want training and assistance to enable them to secure work as employees at any branch of farming -or agricultural work we recommend the same organization and procedure, mutatis mutandis, as that which we shall recommend in relation to industrial, economical, and commercial pursuits—i.e., firstly, that all State and local-body farms, plantations, or gardens should, to the utmost of their abilities, absorb those persons whose circumstances and conditions we are considering, and that an organized effort be made to search out and introduce others of these persons to openings in private employment. Furthermore, we wish to emphasize the qualification of a sufficient degree of physical fitness. The evidence tendered to us is that farming of all classes must be ranked as hard work and not light work, and it cannot be done by intermittent work. Special Farming Schemes. A great deal of evidence, however, was tendered to us in favour of various farming schemes designed to use the remaining capacity of, and by this means assist, those ex-service men who are more or less disabled irrespective of the desire or necessity of making the undertaking self - supporting. These various schemes comprised State farms for the temporary training or more or less permanent employment of such men ; group farms whereby the benefit of co-operation and common service and equipment could be combined with individual interests and holdings of land ; also community settlements whereby, in varying degrees, communal ownership and administration extinguished or reduced the area of individual enterprise in groups or settlements of farmers. The claim of the ex-service man who as an individual would desire to be assisted on the land on the above basis was also presented to our notice. Some of the witnesses have given a great deal of thought and study to the problems involved in such schemes, and some of them went to a great deal of trouble in preparing detailed schemes for presentation to us. We have preserved their original statements and a record of their answers to our questions relating to these schemes in the notes of evidence. We do not think it necessary or proper that we should load this report with a description or discussion of these schemes, but with the safeguard we have already advocated we place the recommendations before those persons who will be charged with the duty of carrying out any plans or schemes which may result from the presentation of this report to Your Excellency's Advisers. We set oat in the appendix to this report, in Table E, a summary of the schemes above described, in an endeavour to place useful information and means of guidance to fuller information in the hands of those who will be the administrators of future schemes of rehabilitation of ex-service men. We suggest that in the League (hereinafter referred to) which we hope to see formed to co-ordinate all the activities and provisions designed for the assistance of ex-soldiers there should be a department or branch devoted to the farming and agricultural pursuits as a means of such rehabilitation. Unskilled Labour. We come now to consider the means by which the best use can be made of the remaining capacity of such persons as must seek their livelihood as labourers of various classes. It seems clear from the evidence tendered to us from all parts of the Dominion that this class will comprise the greatest number of all of those whose conditions fall within the scope of our inquiry. Firstly, there is the unskilled manual labourer. We recommend that he should become the care of the employment and after-care officers of the League which we hope to see created to carry out our recommendations. It will be the duty of these employment officers to explore all possible openings for employment: firstly, all openings that exist or may be created in the activities of the Central Government of the State ; secondly, openings that exist or may be created in the activities of local and public bodies ; and, thirdly, avenues of employment that may be provided by private employers. As we shall point out in that pa.rt of our report in which we develop our main recommendation, a great deal can be done by the energy, tact, and skill of competent officers whose duty it will be to find openings for the man whose interests they are required to watch. The problem has many difficulties inherent in the

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nature and condition of many of the men whom it is sought to help. Many of them are casual labourers by nature —they would have been casual labourers had there been no war. Their casualness has been somewhat increased as the result of war service. The mental and physical quality that we intend to denote by the word "casualness" varies in all degrees, from those cases- quite an appreciable number —to whom any long stretch of steady work seems to become irksome, down to those —fortunately few in number —who would be classed by the most charitably disposed person as " non-triers." In lieu of these disabilities, and in some cases in addition to them, there are those which arise from impaired health and physical disability, such as loss of limbs. In such cases men break down under the stress of work and are continually requiring the provision of a lighter class of work ; others become intermittent workers only ; in fact, many are physically incapable of doing more than intermittent work, the intervening periods being those of idleness due to nervous, mental, or physical breakdown. The difficulties of working these men into our existing economic and industrial machinery is apparent and should need no stressing. In very many cases, however, the evidence has satisfied us that the position is not as hopeless as it would seem. The care and attention of an employment or aftercare officer will in many instances, if pursued with patience, work considerable improvement. The men have to be studied as individuals, and often the result is that they make good. In all the centres we heard of men who were thought to be hopeless until, in some cases accidentally, it was found that if put to work quite alone they would work well, but would immediately cease to do good work (perhaps cease work altogether) if some other person worked with them, or in some cases even in sight of them ; the mental or nervous balance being so frail that the presence of another individual brings about distraction or complete inability to work. Others again show the opposite tendency. Frequently, in both cases, a period of patient and lenient treatment by employers is followed by considerable improvement. The same remarks are, of course, applicable to those who would be classified as being in the ranks of more or less skilled manual labourers. It is, however, we think, obvious after a moment's thought, and it was made clear to us by the evidence, that as we rise in the scale of work, judged by the skill and the personal qualities it requires, so are we apt to find a better response among the men therein employed when their training and betterment are sought. Artisans and Skilled Tradesmen. Members of this class can also be assisted greatly by putting into operation again something closely akin to the work of the Repatriation Board. It is in this class, perhaps, that an employment officer doing the work that was formerly undertaken by the Repatriation Officers can do his best work. The difficulties are still temperamental—unfitness for steady and sustained effort, aggravated in some cases by nervous, mental, and bodily unsoundness in varying degrees —and this expresses itself industrially in intermittent work. It is quite obvious that it is difficult to take 011 such a worker as a unit in a well-organized factory or workshop without running the almost certain risk of periodical disorganization. Nevertheless the experience of Repatriation Officers in the past, and the assurances of support that we have received from responsible representatives of employers and of manufacturers' associations, warrant us in assuring Your Excellency and Your Excellency's Advisers that a great deal can be done to convert men of this class into reliable full-time workmen. A great many witnesses stressed the point that the removal of the fear of unemployment would result in a great increase in the efficiency and reliability in many of these men, and, if coupled with this there is continuous sympathetic and tactful help as part of an organization designed to assist ex-service men, much can be done to better the conditions of men of this class. As to the possibilities of finding employment for men of this class by enlisting the assistance of an employment officer, we desire to call special attention to the evidence tendered at Christchurch of Dr. I). E. Hansen, Director of the Technical School at Christchurch. This gentleman deposed to highly successful work in the past in the direction of training partially disabled ex-soldiers, and also expressed on behalf of himself and the institution he represented his willingness

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to render all possible aid in the future. Tlie modern technical school has, as a rule, equipment and facilities for such training, of a quality and to an extent that could not be provided in any temporary scheme for training and assisting men, and we recommend the suggestion made by Dr. Hansen to the serious attention of Your Excellency and those who in the future we hope will be charged with the duty of acting on our recommendations. Messengers, Porters, Liftmen, etc. We respectfully advocate that the possibility of preserving as far as possible such posts as those of messengers, porters, commissionaires, watchmen, caretakers, liftmen, and light hand-porters should be reserved for more or less disabled exservice men. This is a point at which the State Departments can render good service, firstly by the example of being ready and free employers of such workers, and secondly by the large numbers that they should be able naturally to absorb. We are satisfied that there are many instances of whole and hearty men holding jobs such as those we are at present dealing with, who are physically well qualified to take on more strenuous and exacting work. We do not suggest here or at any stage of this report the dismissal of any man to make a place for a returned soldier, but we do suggest that, as far as possible, by transfer of fit men, and by reserving such posts in the future for more or less disabled ex-soldiers, a considerable avenue of employment for ex-service men should be opened. In this connection we call attention to the evidence tendered in Auckland by General Sir George Richardson advocating the formation of a Corps of Commissionaires. This idea is dealt with in more detail in Table Ein the appendix. We mention it here and now for the purpose of saying that we advocate it as one part of the scheme for finding and providing work for men within the present class. Employment and After-care Officers. We wish to enlarge on the references we have made in the present answer to the work of the suggested employment and after-care officers. Many witnesses appeared before us and deposed to having had considerable experience as Repatriation Officers, or as those who had in some way or other assisted in the work of repatriation. These witnesses all spoke with a remarkable degree of unanimity as to the successful work that can be done by a skilled and tactful employment officer. We have already called attention to the evidence of Dr. Hansen, Director of the Technical School at Christchurch, referring to the work of such an officer, and it must be remembered that his reference had relation to a period when there was much unemployment and work was hard to obtain. He said that any grievance his school might have against this officer was not so much, failure to find work for the students as the danger of depleting classes by his ready placing of trained men in employment. We would refer also to the evidence relating to the work of Probation Officers, and we submit that this need only to be mentioned to point an obvious lesson. In one respect the work of a Probation Officer and of a rehabilitation officer working for returned soldiers is the same. Each is seeking to win back into normal industrial or economic life members of a body of men who are suffering from a disability. The disability of the proteges of the Probation Officer is obviously greater than that of the men whom the rehabilitation employment officer has to care for ; positions of trust and all branches of the Civil Service are closed to them, yet the evidence is uncontradicted that the Probation Officers manage to keep over 90 per cent, of the probationers in employment. Their explanation is that this is the natural result of the work of a skilled and tactful man who devotes his whole time to the rehabilitation of those who need his services. This being so, we think it is reasonable to'expect and believe that an employment officer working for those whose disabilities are purely physical disabilities incurred in service to their country should not be more difficult or less successful. We suggest that the work of the employment officer should include some degree of after-care when employment has been found. The nature and extent of this must be decided by individual needs, but it will never do harm to let the subject know that a kindly interest is taken in him, while in other cases a little tactful advice and intervention will often prevent a simple misunderstanding from developing into unemployment.

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Under-rate Workers or Subsidized Workers. Some monetary supplement or compensation will have to be introduced into the arrangements made for the employment of many of the disabled men. There are numbers of tradesmen, artisans, and more or less skilled labourers who are not able to turn out an average amount of work per day, and who are therefore not competent to earn standard wages. We see no escape from the position that in such cases the difference between their true earning - capacity and the standard wage must be made up by the State. This has been recognized in the past, and, so far as members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force are concerned, provision for it is contained in the regulations under the Repatriation Act. It is a scheme which gives rise to difficulties, but we are satisfied that with intelligence and tact these difficulties will not be insuperable. Labour unions and labour leaders will be watchful and jealous of anything that may tend to lower the existing standard of working conditions and pay, and the scheme we are advocating will be a success only if their co-operation is obtained. Several Repatriation Officers gave evidence on this point, and assured us that the provision for under-rate permits was found to be workable, and provoked no unreasonable opposition from the unions if it were applied with due regard to the rights and standards we have drawn attention to. The evidence of these Repatriation Officers was that if there was no suggestion or desire to unduly load an industry or undertaking with under-rate workers, or to apply unnecessarily for under-rate permits, there was no difficulty in procuring the acquiescence of the union authorities in the obtaining of under-rate permits in all necessary and reasonable cases. Our Major Recommendation. " The Advisability of adopting any Particular Means which may be proposed to or by you for that Purpose." This subheading of question No. 3 seems to us to invite our statement of constructive policy. We read it accordingly, and tender the following as our major suggestion for the rehabilitation of the disabled. Briefly, we advocate the formation of a new body to have and to undertake as its function the creation, organization, development, and administration of all branches of activity and all schemes designed for the rehabilitation and betterment of ex-service men in this Dominion. The advantages we aim at are, firstly, co-ordination of efforts that are now divided amongst various bodies ; secondly, uniformity of operation within the Dominion as far as possible and consistent with the necessary elasticity to meet local conditions ; and, thirdly, the creation of a body that can negotiate promptly and authoritatively with the Government of the Dominion, local bodies, and private employers in the interests of returned soldiers. Our idea is that this central body at its headquarters should have an executive that can watch, deal with, secure, and promote all matters of principle or policy affecting the interests of returned soldiers ; that it should be capable where necessary of negotiating with the Government of the day, with local bodies and other corporations ; that it should promote and watch the promotion and passing of legislation, and discuss and advise on policies adopted for carrying out legislation, and policies and methods for the social, industrial, economic, health, and general welfare of returned soldiers. We suggest that this body should have departments or committees each designed to take in hand some specified part of the whole work of the body ; that branches of this body should exist in all the large centres of population where the branches will themselves function, to carry out the objects and aims of the body, and also have power to co-operate with and, if necessary, affiliate with sub-organizations where it seems desirable to work in that fashion. We suggest also that this body should, in addition to its foregoing activities, be in appropriate cases the employer and the trainer of men, the negotiator of contracts for employment with other employers ; that it should engage and control the employment and after - care officers ; assist in the establishment of policies for settling returned soldiers on the land, and in the carrying-out of those policies. We think it desirable that for this purpose it should co-opt on its various committees State officers from the Departments concerned. We suggest that it should deal in principle, and to some extent in administration, with applications for and the granting of pensions, and for this purpose should have power to co-opt officers of the Pensions Department on the appropriate committees. We think that it shoidd eventually control all funds available for the alleviation of the conditions of ex-service men.

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We set out as Table E in the appendix to this report a suggested constitution for this body, for which we suggest the name of " The Soldiers Civil Ke-establish-ment League." In Table D we set out for the guidance of the proposed League a classified summary of suggestions and information tendered to us by witnesses, and we direct careful attention to this useful list, and recommend its contents as a valuable contribution to the rehabilitation problem made by many citizens who appeared before us at the sittings of the Commission. Most of them spoke on aspects of the problem on which they were particularly well informed ; all of them impressed us by their ability, their earnestness, and their sympathy for the disabled ex-service man. The Industrially Disabled : A Collateral Advantage. We beg leave to refer, without labouring the point, to the possibilities offered by the formation of the League and experience of its working, of providing a useful object-lesson in view of the necessity of dealing with the problems of the industrially disabled and unemployed. A Distinctive Motto, or Seal, or Trade-mark. We have already stated in this report that there is evidence " that the sympathetic interest of the community in the returned soldier is waning, and, until it is again stimulated and organized, cannot be relied on by him as tending to offset his economic and industrial shortcomings." We desire, however, to communicate to Your Excellency the many hearty assurances we received of a willingness on the part of the community to redeem in full its promises to ex-service men, by a sympathetic and intelligent co-operation with the present rehabilitation inquiry and its outcome. These assurances came from responsible and representative citizens of all classes, and from all centres of the Dominion, and the witnesses convinced us that they meant earnestly what they said. We believe that the engagement of employment officers will be one effective step in the stimulation, amongst employers, of the required sentiment. We are of opinion that another most effective means of organizing this sympathy amongst citizens generally and directing it into useful channels would be the adoption by the proposed League of some distinctive motto, to be incorporated into a seal, or badge, or trade-mark to be used in connection with the sale of products, the sale of which will assist the employment of discharged soldiers. We suggest that if a carefully chosen and designed symbol is adopted, and care used to ensure that the public may rely on the authenticity of its use and the quality of the goods with which it is associated, an extremely valuable asset will be acquired. We suggest that the League sell goods as principal or as agent, or take part in campaigns for stimulating the sale of goods, and for such purposes authorize the use of its symbols, under the following circumstances or conditions : — («) Where the goods sold are the product of the labour of ex-soldiers : (h) Where the goods sold are manufactured and marketed pursuant to a scheme which involves the employment of ex-soldiers : (c) Where the League receives a commission for assisting in or stimulating the sale of goods which represent (1) new lines involving the minimum of interference with existing trade, or, (2) a policy to encourage the use of goods made or produced in New Zealand or the British Empire. In this connection we beg leave to refer Your Excellency to the trading suggestions and openings set out in Table D. QUESTION No. 4. Inquire and Report in relation to Cases where no Means are likely to enable such Persons to be able by their own Efforts partially or wholly to maintain themselves and their Dependants the best Means of affording Assistance to them. Answer. —Cases that fall within this category are, we think, naturally divisible into two classes. The first class comprises those who come within the provision of our Pensions Acts and are pensioners. As to those of these persons who are totally disabled, we have found that the pension provisions made by this country are adequate. As for the other pensioners*? within this? class —i.e., those whose total disability is not entirely due to war service—we have made recommendations

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which, if adopted, will tend, as far as pensions are concerned, to clear away anomalies and make the provisions more liberal and beneficent. For any extra sustenance that may be deemed necessary we remit these persons to the consideration of the League as persons probably eligible for assistance from the war funds. With these provisions, and with the good services of the employment and after-care officers directed to the assistance of the wives and children of these pensioners, we think their cases are as well met as is possible by any prescribed scheme. In all cases where there is illness due to war service the subjects receive, at the hands of the State, medical and nursing attention free, in addition to the foregoing allowances and services. We now take the case of members of the other class—namely, those who are not pensioners. These would seem to fall into two subclasses —(a) those whose total inability to maintain themselves is due to illness or injury definitely nonattributable to war service, and (b) those whose total inability to support themselves is due to the infirmities of old age. As to the first class, the only practical recommendation we can make as to the subjects themselves is that their cases should be considered by the League for a recommendation for sustenance from one or other of the available war funds which have been created for such cases. We further recommend that the dependants of such persons should receive the guidance and assistance of the employment and after-care officers. There remains those whose disability is traceable to the infirmities of old age and who are not eligible for either war pension or the old-age pension. In relation to these persons we recommend that the League should apply the beneficent provisions of the Rest-homes Act of 1929. It is possible by the provisions of this Act for the League itself to acquire or build homes that may be capable of being registered as rest-homes, and we recommend that the League should act accordingly. The scope of this excellent statute is wide, and the League, in seeking to provide rest-homes within the meaning of the statute, could, adopt in appropriate places the suggestions of the witnesses who advocated cottage homes or group settlements. The provisions of the Rest-homes Act are wide enough to cover the indigent but self-respecting man who would gladly accept the advantages of a cottage home and enter it voluntarily, and, on the other hand, the case of the destitute and infirm man without friends and without resources, and who has almost ceased to care for himself, and who needs the gentle compulsion of the State to secure his living in reasonable comfort and in sanitary surroundings. Several witnesses referred to the establishment of veterans' homes. Practically all witnesses who made a recommendation to this effect did so with an expression of regret that cases existed for which no other remedy seemed possible or available. It may be that the establishment of veterans' homes for men for whom no other provisions seem suitable may prove to be necessary —say, one in each Island : but we are of opinion that all such needs can be met under the provisions of the beneficent statute to which we have already referred. QUESTION No. 5. Inquire into and Report upon the Classes of Persons who should come within the Scope of any of your Recommendations and the Principles governing such Classifications. Answer. —Our recommendations may be briefly summarized as those relating to pensions, cottage homes, veterans' homes, settlement on land, settlement in business, including in each of these cases advances for establishment in the undertaking, special vocational training, and the provisions and assistance of employment officers. (1) War Pensions. We recommend that there should come within the scope of our recommendations as to war pensions only those who at the present time are within the benefits of our War Pensions Acts, with one exception, to be noted hereunder. In particular, w r e cannot and do not recommend that ex Imperial soldiers should come within such provisions. The underlying principle of this classification is that it is the duty of each country and each component part of the Empire to make such provision for its own men. The exception we refer to above should, in our opinion, be one which will meet the cases of certain New - Zealanders who, chiefly as the result of their own zeal in

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the service of their country, enlisted under circumstances that exclude them from all benefit of our pension statutes. One typical case put to us was that of a young New-Zealander who was temporarily in England when war broke out, and who enlisted with the Imperial Forces at once rather than wait to see if facilities would come later for enlisting with New Zealand troops. Another typical case was that of a member of our New Zealand Forces who volunteered and was accepted for some special service which required him to rank as a unit in the Imperial Forces. Whilst on that service he was wounded and discharged. Each of .these men comes, in consequence, within the scope of the Imperial pension provisions, which are less liberal in amount and somewhat harsh in administration at certain points. There are not many of such cases, and they differ so much that they could only be comprehensively referred to here by including a brief statement of each case. In the nature of things, therefore, no rule of general application to them can be stated, but we strongly recommend that their cases be met by allowing a discretion to Your Excellency's Minister of Defence or Minister for Pensions to grant them the privileges of our Pension Acts on receiving a recommendation to that effect from the Soldiers Civil Re-establishment League. The principle underlying this recommendation is that these men, domiciled New-Zealanders at the outbreak of war, have as great a moral claim on their country as members of the N.Z.E.F., but are excluded from the benefits enjoyed by their brother New-Zealanders because it has been found impracticable to state any rale of general application which will include them. (2) Old-age Pensions. We have, in making certain recommendations under this heading, indicated our opinion that these benefits should be available for New Zealand's ex-service men of the Great War and the South African campaign. We are of opinion that these benefits should be confined to these men : the underlying principle is, in our opinion, the same as in the case of " war pensions," referred to above. (3) Land-settlement and Settlement in Business. Primarily all members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces and South African veterans come within this recommendation. We recommend that all ex-service men of the Great War, from any part of the Empire, now settled in the Dominion should also be entitled to the advantages of these provisions, on the principle that if they desire to become New Zealand citizens, and can convince the responsible officers of the League that they have reasonable chances of becoming good farmers or business men, it is in the interests of this country to assist them to that end. (4) Cash and other Advances for Establishment on Land or in Business. Primarily these benefits should ensure to the benefit of members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces only, but we recommend that where by previous training and experience, and the possession of some capital, an ex-service man from any part of the Empire offers the prospect of becoming a useful citizen of the Dominion as a farmer or business man there should be a discretion in the League to recommend him for that assistance, and power to grant it on that recommendation. (5) By Vocational Training and Assistance in finding Employment. We recommend that the facilities and activities of the League's officers in these directions should be granted for the help and betterment of all ex-soldiers of the Empire now resident in New Zealand. The underlying principle is that if these men are admitted here to become citizens of New Zealand after having served the Empire as soldiers in the Great War it is due to them and it is also in the interests of this Dominion that they should be assisted in these directions. This kind of assistance if granted to ex Imperial soldiers differs, in our opinion, from that which is comprised in a pension grant, in that it is tendered to its beneficiaries as much in their capacity of adopted citizens as in that of ex-soldiers. Cottage Homes and Veterans' Homes. We view these provisions as being, in their nature, like cash-pension grants, and this would seem to lead to the recommendation that, in so far as the League creates and supervises them, they be available only for those who are eligible for our war pensions. The underlying principle is the same as that set out under the heading of " War Pensions," above. It should be noted, however, that the Rest-homes Act, 1929, could be invoked in

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favour of all eligible members of the community without reference to their status in relation to the war. When this Act is in full operation it seems likely that all such distinctions as the above will tend to disappear. Maori Soldiers. —One classification naturally suggested when dealing with the persons coming within the scope of our recommendations is, " Maoris and Europeans." We have, however, very little to say in relation to the Maori ex-soldiers as a separate class. In all the matters considered by us the law makes no distinction between the Maori and European, and our Maori ex-soldiers are within the scope of all the foregoing recommendations. In many, perhaps the majority of cases, the life of the Maori is more or less closely woven with that of the European, socially and economically, and we have no more suggestions to make. There will be as great differences found to exist between different classes of European ex-soldiers as will exist between the average Maori and the average European, and these differences are matters to be taken into account by those who will administer the foregoing recommendations. We believe, however, that the Maoris on the east coast of the North Island represent a separate problem, presenting features different from those associated with any other group or class of ex-soldiers. We call attention to the evidence of Lieut.-Colonel Gambrill, referring to the condition of the special funds that were raised for these men. We could not give separate consideration to this problem or make any recommendations without visiting the East Coast and taking evidence and seeing the. conditions for ourselves. We are of opinion that the result would not have justified the expenses incurred in that procedure. If our recommendations are carried into effect the position as to pensions will be clarified and anomalies rectified ; provisions will be made for assistance in various callings for which the Natives in question have shown or may show aptitude. We think that the problem they represent can be effectively dealt with by the League through the officers and branch on the East Coast. QUESTION No. 6. Inquire and Report on the Necessity for Legislation to enable all or any Recommendations that you make to be carried into Effect. In our opinion legislation will be necessary to give effect to the recommendations enumerated below.

This completes the answers to the questions submitted to us. We thank Your Excellency for the confidence reposed in us, and we subscribe ourselves, this 27th day of January, 1930, Your Excellency's obedient servants, John S. Barton, Chairman. John P. Luke 1 „ , S. J. Harrison/

On j J Page Recommendation. Legislation necessary. No. 7 Reduction of age for eligibility for old-age pension Amendment of Pensions Act, 1926. of South African War veterans 12 Reduction of age for eligibility for old-age pension of Amendment of Pensions Act, 1926. ex-soldiers 12 Abolition of time-limit as an element in qualification Amendment of War Pensions Act. of certain wives as " dependants " ; right of appeal for a wife whose application for pension as a dependent is refused 13 Abolition of time-limit as an element in qualification Amendment of War Pensions Act. of certain widows as dependants ; repeal of proviso that certain widows shall receive gratuity instead of pension 14 Abolition of time-limit of seven years in which Amendment of section 11 of War Pen- " probability " may be invoked as evidence of sions Act, 1923. " attributability " 22 Formation and incorporation of Soldiers Civil Re- New legislation. An incorporating and establishment League I enabling Act required. 25 Discretionary power in Minister to allow war pen- Amendment of Pensions Act. sions to certain New Zealand soldiers who served with other British Forces 25 Extension .of benefits of Discharged Soldiers Settle- Amendment to Discharged Soldiers ment Acts and Repatriation Act in certain cases Settlement Act and Repatriation Act. to British ex-soldiers other than New-Zealanders.

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APPENDIX. TABLE A. List of Newspapers in which Sittings op Commission were advertised. Dunedin : Otago Daily Times; Evening Star. Christchurch : Christchurch Times ; Christchurch Star. Auckland : The New Zealand Herald ; The Star. Wellington : The Dominion ; The Evening Post. TABLE B. Dates and Places op Sittings. Dunedin : Friday, 25th October, 1929 ; Saturday, 26th October, 1929 ; Monday, 28tli October, to Friday, Ist November, 1929 (inclusive). Wellington : Tuesday, sth November, 1929 ; Friday, Bth November, 1929. Auckland: Tuesday, 12th, to Saturday, 16th November, 1929 ; Monday, 18th November, 1929 ; Tuesday, 19th November, 1-929. Rotorua : Thursday, 21st November, 1929 ; Friday, 22nd November, 1929. Christchurch: Tuesday, 26th, to Saturday, 30th November, 1929 (inclusive) ; Monday, 2nd December, 1929 ; Wednesday, 4th December, 1929. Wellington : Friday, 6th December, 1929 ; Monday, 9th, to Friday, 13th. December, 1929 ; Friday, 10th January, 1930 ; Monday, 13th January, 1930 ; Tuesday, 14th January, 1930 ; Wednesday, 15th January, 1930. TABLE C. List op Industries and Institutions visited. Dunedin : Montecillo Home ; City Nursery and Afforestation Belt. Christchurch : Rannerdale Home ; Henry Burson and Sons, Wicker and Caneware Factory ; Weston's Leather-goods Factory; Bunting and Co., Ltd., Brushware-factory; W. R. Webb's " Fresh Aire " Flower-farm ; City Horticultural Gardens and Nursery. Auckland : Evelyn Firth Home ; T.B. Huts, Auckland Hospital; Jubilee Institute for Blind ; A. Sainsbury's Rabbit-farming Establishment, Fur-farms Ltd. ; Artificial-limb Factory ; J. Mitchell's Concrete Slabs and Building Equipment; Veterans' Home. Rotorua : State Trout Hatcheries and Fisheries ; State Forests and Nurseries. TABLE D. Summary of the Schemes, Industries, and Undertakings referred to and described in the Notes of Evidence. (1) Farming and Allied Callings. Seed-growing.—Advocated by many witnesses. Large turnover in New Zealand ; fairly heavy importations. New Zealand seed sent to England in bulk, then imported again in small packets. Evidence somewhat conflicting, but we recommend this as worthy of investigation. Particularly suitable for Otago and Nelson Districts. In Dunedin practical information and assistance could be obtained from Mr. D. Tannock, and in Christchurch from Mr. M. J. Barnett. Tomato-culture under Glass. —This industry has been developed in and near Christchurch. Very fair prospects of success, but requires some capital. Market-gardening. —Offers prospects of success near the centres of population. Is hard work and requires a man able to keep at arduous work. Good soil essential. Care necessary —would hesitate to recommend it except in case of man with aptitude, experience, and some capital. Wool-scouring for Sheep-farmers. —It was suggested to us that the League might usefully start wool-scouring works ; that this industry would give employment to a good many, including partly disabled ex-soldiers ; that most of the work needs little experience. This suggestion was sent to us through Sir Andrew Russell by Mr. John Marcks, care of Hawke's Bay Farmers Co., Port Ahuriri, who is willing to give further information. Citrus Fruits. —Recommended by Mr. G. G. Griffiths as part of an interesting and comprehensively planned scheme of group farming on the pumice lands.

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Cut Floivers.~An industry capable of being made successful near the large centres of population. Mr. W. R. Webb, of Christchurch, satisfied us that he had made a distinct success of it as a whole-time occupation. Might be made a useful side line. BeeJceeping.—Mostly advocated as a side line in conjunction with some other form of farming. Calls for close and unremitting attention. Evidence of successful undertaking of this work in several cases. Poultry-farming.—As a whole-time occupation this stands condemned by a great preponderance of evidence. Worth consideration as a side line for a man of careful steady habits and of sufficiently good health to keep at it. On the whole, caution is recommended. Goat-farming.—Not sufficient evidence to justify any recommendation. Village Settlements, Group Farming, Farm Colonies.—Evidence very conflicting. Success likely only if great care exercised in choosing (1) men who by temperament are suitable (this must include the temperament of wives) ; (2) suitable locality, as to qualities of soil and cost; (3) supervising officers. We recommend that careful attention be paid to the evidence of those State officials who have had the administration of our land-settlement schemes in the past. Medical evidence tends to deprecate the grouping together of disabled men, as likely to retard their return to normal health and outlook. Silviculture and Forestry. —This is an industry that can be undertaken only by the State, local bodies, or special corporations. Does not offer much scope for the work of disabled men, except in some of the initial and incidental processes. Our attention was directed to the possibility of forest belts near large cities as avenues of employment which develop into lucrative ventures. After forest belt is established it yields a valuable annual supply of firewood, whilst by continual replanting it remains continuously a forest. (2) Small Manufacturers. Toymaking.—We believe that there are distinct possibilities in this industry. Equipment may be quite inexpensive. At Auckland an excellent range of ideas and. samples was presented to us by Mr. J. E. Wain. We refer the Auckland centre to Mr. Wain for information and guidance. At Christchurch a returned soldier (E. J. Sheard) was helped, on our recommendation, in the matter of further equipment; we refer the Christchurch centre to this man's experience as an experiment in the industry. This is an industry in which the seal of the League might be used with advantage. It offers possibilities of employment for salesmen. Bon-bons. —Recommended by Mr. A. J. Hutchison, at Auckland. We suggest that Auckland centre try this idea out and advise the League of the result. It offers chances of success as a home industry for disabled men. An opening for use of League's seal. Leatherwork.—We saw disabled men at this work at the various homes we visited. Difficulty is experienced, as a rule, in organizing the selling of this work. When done by disabled men as a home or institutional industry the costs will hardly work out favourably on a competitive basis. It is here again that the seal and motto of the League and its selling organization may help. Smokers' Requisites. —Another line probably suitable for home industry for disabled men. Remarks above on leatherwork are applicable here. Bookbinding.—This is work that cannot be done successfully in competition with the trade. Its possibilities for present purposes will be best made available by seeking the co-operation of employers with a view to finding employment for disabled men. We recommend that inquiries be made of the trade in New Zealand with a view to keeping in the Dominion work that at present is sent overseas. Wellington centre is recommended to discuss this matter with the Government Printer. The Returned Soldiers' Association in Auckland has a scheme in operation for repair and rebinding of used books ; it hardly promises to stand on a commercial basis ; might be organized occasionally to provide temporary work. Stationery and Envelopes for Government Departments. —See evidence of the Government Printer. The Wellington centre is recommended to explore the possibilities of this opening. Basketware.—This has been successfully established in Auckland as an industry for the blind. It offers, in our opinion, good scope as an industry for disabled soldiers. We were courteously received by the managers of the Jubilee Institute for the Blind, shown through the workshops, and all our questions answered. We received the assurance of any further information or advice necessary to assist the movement for rehabilitation of ex-soldiers. We recommend that the Auckland centre investigates this opening, co-operating with the Jubilee Institute to avoid harmful competition, and seek to establish the industry for partly disabled men. We suggest that State Departments be made better customers for such goods. We think that the League could organize a selling department in these goods, to the advantage of its own activities and those of the sister institution. Artificial Limbs. —We have not enough evidence to make any recommendation upon this subject, but we refer same to the League for investigation. (3) Special Schemes and Suggestions. Housing Scheme and Building-blocks. —In Auckland we heard the evidence of Mr. J. Mitchell, an architect, who had experience of standardized house-building in the United Kingdom. We inspected also his patent building-blocks and processes. We strongly recommend this opening to the Auckland centre for exploration and possible extension to the other centres. Corps of Commissionaires.—This scheme as now in operation was advocated by the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association, and put forward by General Sir George Richardson. Information as to details of the scheme and its working is obtainable in a small booklet. We strongly recommend

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this scheme ; it is based on a central idea that should invoke the very spirit of success. We hope the Auckland centre will undertake and develop the idea with the object of extending it to the other centres. The League's seal or badge should be a useful adjunct to this movement. Appointments as Registrars and Inspectors under Arms Act. —This suggestion was made byMr. D. E. G. Cardale. We recommend that the League at headquarters investigate this idea, and, if thought proper, take it up with the authorities. Rangers for Internal Affairs Department.—An opening probably exists here for work of a kind suitable for a partly disabled man. We suggest that the League at headquarters negotiate with the Department. Cottage-home Settlement. —This plan, as a method of providing homes for prematurely aged men, was described and advocated by Mr. T. L. Drummond. We think that this scheme, if men temperamentally and otherwise suited and willing need such assistance, is worthy of careful examination. We recommend this to the Christchurch centre for exploration and report to other centres. Group-farm Settlement with Model Village.—Such a scheme, with details fully worked out, was submitted to us by letter by Mr. 6. G. Griffiths, of Matamata. We followed this up by a questionnaire and received answers. We recommend this to the Auckland centre, to be taken up with Mr. Griffiths for further information. Public Service Commissioner.-—We beg to call attention to the evidence of the Public Service Commissioner, taken in Wellington. It comprises the closing pages of the Notes of Evidence. We are satisfied that the Public Service Commissioner and the permanent heads of the Departments under the Commissioner's control have sympathetically administered the declared policy of the State to afford employment preferentially, wherever reasonably possible, to returned soldiers, particularly disabled soldiers. Where, in the past, there has seemed to be delay or lapses in the application of this policy, we are satisfied that it has been due to lack of organization in bringing requirements under the notice of the Commissioner. We are confident that the Commissioner will co-operate to the best of his ability with the Officers of the League. Technical Schools and their Equipment for Training Skilled Workers. —We wish to draw particular attention in this connection to the evidence of Dr. Hansen, taken at Christchurch. Seal and Motto and Trade-marks.—Wc wish also to draw particular attention to this recommendation on page 23 of the Report. TABLE E. Suggested Name, Constitution, Objects, and Powers of Proposed League. Name.—The name shall be " The Soldiers Civil Re-establishment League." Constitution.—The League shall be a representative body, consisting of a nominee (or. nominees) from the following : (a) The Government; (b) the various war and patriotic funds ; (c) Returned Soldiers' Associations ; (d) Dominion Industries and Commerce ; (e) organized labour. The League shall be an incorporated body, with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with power to own lands and all classes of property. Objects.—(l) To carry, or assist in carrying, into effect all or any of the recommendations of the Disabled Soldiers Rehabilitation Commission, i929~30. (2) To study the summary of schemes, industries, undertakings, and the industrial and commercial openings which are set out as Table D of the report of that Commission, and to test, experiment in, adopt, or procure the testing, experimentation in, or adoption of any of the said schemes or undertakings, and to procure the establishment, maintenance, and furtherance of such schemes and undertakings. (3) To adopt or otherwise acquire by purchase or by registration distinctive mottoes, seals, names, or marks to be used and displayed on goods or in connection with the manufacture and sale of goods produced or purchased for sale by the League. (4) To acquire and to sell, either as principal or agent, any goods or other forms of property capable of being bought or sold in the exercise of the powers of the League. (5) To undertake or procure the collection of such information, personal histories, or statistics as, being recorded, may afford information as to the economic and industrial effects of war on the community or any classes of the community, and to classify or procure the classification, filing, and publication of such information and records as would give a comprehensive and detailed survey of the economic, industrial, and social effects of mobilization, despatch of troops, demobilization, and rehabilitation of civilian soldiers. (6) To endeavour to deduce and state from the information thus obtained within the Dominion and the information obtainable as the result of similar work in other countries such principles and results as shall tend to inform the people of the Dominion fully as to this aspect of the cost of war. (7) To establish rest-homes for eligible returned soldiers, according to the provisions of the Rest-homes Act, 1929.

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(8) Generally to watch, deal with, secure, and promote all matters of principle or policy affecting the interests of returned soldiers which are or may become apparent in the Dominion, and, in particular,— (a) To study and record the principles governing the payment of pensions to various classes of returned soldiers, and the sufficiency and effect of such pensions from time to time: (b) To study and record the medical (including the psychological) aspect of the foregoing matters. (9) To aim at and stimulate a tendency towards uniformity of policy amongst the various patriotic and other societies controlling war funds, and towards the ultimate amalgamation and the concentration of all such funds. (10) To do all other things that in the opinion of the governing body of the League shall be necessary and proper to assist in re-establishing in civilian life ex-service men resident in the Dominion, and unable, partly or wholly, temporarily or permanently to support themselves and their dependants. Powers of League.—(l) To buy, hold, or sell any form of real or personal property. (2) To establish or otherwise acquire workshops or training-rooms, and to equip them and use them. (3) To employ and remunerate such servants as shall be necessary to carry out the objects of the League, and to employ such persons as part-time or whole-time servants. (4) To call for competitive designs or mottoes, and to offer prizes for or pay for successful or suitable designs or mottoes. (5) To enter into contracts with State Departments, local bodies or authorities, and private employers having as their object the employment or the encouragement of the employment of disabled and unemployed ex-soldiers and their dependants. (6) To open and conduct shops, stalls, or booths for the display and sale of the products of the work of disabled ex-soldiers. (7) To co-operate, and, if necessary, to affiliate with or enter into partnership with any other league or body in or out of New Zealand having objects similar to those of the League. (8) To lend, give, or grant money or goods to disabled ex-soldiers. (9) To do all other things that may be deemed to be necessary for the attainment of the objects of the League.

Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given ; printing (1,100 copies), £30.

Authority: W. A. G. Skinner, Government Printer, Wellington.—l93o.

Price 9d.]