The Blyth Standard, 1930-04-10, Page 6Sir Arthur Currie
Asks Improvement
In Pension System.
Almost Impossible to Prove,
Disability Due to War
Service
MANY DISSATISFIED I
Ottawa.—With Sir Arthur Can'rie
and a large delegation of the Can.
adieu Legion present at the first busi-
ness meeting of the Pension Commit,
tee last week, an overcrowded attend-
ance necessitated a move to the largest
room in the house.
A senatorial committee was present
to watch the proceeding and avoid
duplicate. of effort when the hill goes
to the Upper House, Col. "acetic,
head of the Canadian Legion, asked a
hearing for Sir Arthur Currie. Chair-
man Power invited the commander of
the Canadian Corps in the war to give
his views on the legislation.
Sir Arthur expressed his apprecia-
tion of itis consideration of the pre-
sent and past committees on pensions.
He regretted that after 11 yearn there
was still an urgency for the further
consideration of soldiers' probleins.
The feeling was widespread (hot the
oh1igaitons of the country toward the
returned men had not been fulfilled
as they should be.
INTERESTED IN VETERANS
He was profoundly interested in tato
men, whom he knew and with 911001
he -serve(. Ile Junev their strength
and their weakness, knew how they
boree-themselves in battle; intew their
pride in themselves and their faith
• in each other. How,,ver, he did not
appear solely as 0 representative of
the men 10110 served at the front. The
returned men were as much concern-
ed in the welfarg of the country as
any other group. They did not wish
to add one unnecessary cent to the
burden of the country, It was or)ly a
question of setting up the machinery
to fulfil the intentions of the people
of the country.
The returned soldiers thought only
as the public thought,
It was now almost impossible, Sir
Arthur said, for the applicant in many
eases to prove that his disability was
due to war eervi00, '
Sir Arthur did not spear, for any
malingerers in the war, but only for
the deserving. Ire did not appoar to
make any destructive criticism, but,
showed a desire to help out the com-
mittee in its problems,
Ho went on to outline broadly the
British pension system based on 0 con -
It helped their morale to know that
their dependents would he looked after
and a pension would go with any dis-
ability.
NO FAULT WITII SCALE
"We,can find no fault with the Can-
adiau scale of pensions; it is higher
tl:an that of any country I know;" de-
clared Sir Arthur, who said the Pen-
sion Board, in applying the act, was a
court of haw and equity. Many
thought the Machinery was not func-
tioning properly and it was for the
committee to find out wily, One dis-
satisfaction arose from the fact that
the Pension Act is a legal document.
Many applying for a pension were not
aware of this, while people who were
not entitled to it often applied, It
would be better if, when a pension is
rejected, the applicant should ho told
why. Failure to do so bred dissatis-
faction.
Dissatisfaction also arose over the
award of disability, for example, 10
per cent being allowed. When 0 higil-
er awed is glai ted, 11 90150 often
physically inlpossTble to prepare the
ct.se as the forms called for, A ratan
should have assistance fn preparing
his east,
"I ant not convinced that the sol-
diers advisers do their work :18 they
should. I think the services of the
Canadian Logical 0111,01(1 be utilizad,"
DIFFICULTY IN MACHINI1RY
Sir Arthur asserted the difficulty
does not anise in the act itself but in
the machinery for the administration
of the act. It needs revision told 1'0-
n010a1, he said, pointing out the diffi-
culty 0f the board at times in -nter-
preting such things as attrilnittbhhty.
Sir Arthur described the 01 -se of to
man \vh0 was really ill but insisted
on staying in se08(100 •nevertht'0
Afterwards he (developed 013tica,_
and got a ?;(i pension, Finally, when
the case was diagnosed as 011111'itis,
the pension was cut off. He has to
drag himself ;Mout to look after the
chickens that provide him with the
means of a living. Not a man in this
country will say that this was was
fairly dealt with,
The Soldier;.' Allow:mce Bill, in his
opinion, 10018 social 1c, l0lation which
ought not to Me ad11rini$te'ed by the
Pension Board. If it went there, many
a Mason entitled to a pension would
'.1)0 put off by it, The age should Ire
((0 not 55, When a man, with 11011 an
allowance died it 0110111(1 be kept up
for his widow and children for at
least a year. He also expressed the
opinion that in the committee admin-
istering the allowances there should
be one or tu'o experienced sten and a
representative of the legion.
EASIER APPEALS URGED
h3 all erases an appeal to the appeal
beat'd from the Pension Board should
be possible. In =elusion, Sir Arthur
reiterated that lie did not .10.11 to
make everyone a potential pensioner
or to add unnecessarily to the burden
Of taxation. He said that the problem
was largely one of "interpreting the
act and providing it with the -neves- '
sary machinery,
Sir Arthur thought :he personnel of
the Pension Board ought to be Iner'eas-
cd and it should be made an itinerant
body,
To Chairman Pow00, Sir Al'th'.rr re-
iterated that he did not believe in hav-
ing the act "wide open" to that every-
one could he a potential pensioner. He
will return for examination after the
Legions' 81e880 have been presented.
Col. ',Micelle of the Canadian Le-
gion stated that for the first time ail
the soldiers' a'gmniz.ttiotl0 appeared
las one body. Ho spoke of the esir-
abilit-y of speedy action by Parliament
in the final disposition of the case.
Regarding the onus of ,proof, Col.
',Micelle stated that without actually
putting it in the law and perhaps
paving the way to the payment of "two
or three billion dollars," the returned
men (10011101 "the substance of the
benefit of doubt;' in all applications
for pensions an the ground of their
attributability to war service.
The committee 111110 also addrriserl
briefly by Col. Wood, president of
The Canadian Army and Navy Vet-
erans, and Capt. Rev, Sydney Lambert
of the Amputation Association, who
both expressed appreciation of the,
work of the present and previous Lom-
mitlees, 'Chubby" Power, the chair -
00n, and Col. Latleche, who "knows
his business," were praised.
Ex -Soldier
Finds Nurse
After Ten Years
Brighton—After a ten year's search
a Brighton man has 1001111 the pre' ty
tvardime nurse 011000 careful and de-
voted nursing probably saved his life
when he was wounded during the war.
The other day lie was admitted
into a private nursing hone for an
operation for appeadicilis. '1'110 nurse
who attended hien was the girl who
served in the war hospital, 'file an-
nouncement of their marriage 1141s
just been made.
liar, Janes Spelghlon, a Loudon
business matt living la Brighton, told
me the romantic story of the happy
finish to his long quest,
, Her Devotion
"I h'as pretty badly wounded with a
piece of shell lit the back 101 11 was in-
valided lanae to England In a serious
condition," he stated.e 11y night
nurse was a pretty girl anal we soon
became firm friends,
"One night I reached a crisis and it
was touch and -go whether I would
pu11 through, It was only her de-
voted musing that saved my life.
"I got better and was removed to
another hospital. Wo corresponded
for a time and then I was passed fit
for duty agalu and rejoined my regi-
ment."
When he came out of the Army Mr.
Speight0n attempted to Had the 1(11000
and advertised in several newspapers
for news of her, Finally lie learned
that she had gone abroad in the cepa-
0110 of nurse to an invalid.
"1 had given up all hope of ever
finding ber again_ when I was admit-
ted into (he nursing home at Brigh-
ton," he said, "You can imagine my
surprise when the nurse came in and
I discovered it was she.
"We were not long in making up
our minds to get married 01111 011 00011
as I am lit again tea 1111011(1 to cele-
brate the wedding."
The Civilian and
The Next War
"11'0 have 60011 I 1111 military 00111101
16 urging the point that modern wea-
pons are most effective when directed,
not against the eneuny's arm;, only,
but against the heart of his nation;'
Writes Mr, C. P. Strace.y in the
Queen's Quarterly, "And if war is
allowed to break out once more the
contending nations may certainly be
expected to use their weapons In the
most endive manner possible,
"Those who expect the civilian to
go scot-free In a possible encounter
between Croat Powers 111 the future
would do well to 001101(1er an observe -
11011 01310 a year or two ago by a
most disingulshed 131111011 general ot-
herr, in the 0010'00 of n. lecture on
modern tendencies in military theory
delivered to a group ofl7ugiish under-
graduates: "Well, gentlemen, in wars
up to the present gime the civilian has
gone out on the pavement and cheer-
ed as the (terms 01810(10(1 away, and
then he has gone in and broken the
top alT 1110 egg and read all about it
in the now0jrapers. Well, gentlemen,
. , , 110's neve' going tendo it again."
"1n tine event of the 810(00100n of
Ibe world falling to avert another
great year, It is probable that that
summation of the halter will Provo
to be higli1y a..,'ote,
New British Ambassodor Calls On Hoover
SIR RONALD LINDSAY PRESENTS LETTERS OF CREDENCE AT WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON
The photograph here shows a scene at the White House, Washington, D.C., recently when Sir Ronald Lindsay,
11088 British ambas.ad00 10 the United States, called to present his letters of credence to President Hoover, Left
to Right: Capt. Allen Buchanan, ,Sir ll0nalil Lildsay"and Francis WVldle of the stale department,
War Secrets eat material -material which was
ten makeshift As the material fell
away 11(1)11 1110 first class, so did our
men.
Revealed by
i j -Boat "Towards the, end of the war we
�J Kingrisme training urw 1r sic months--
altogether too shot atime. Our sub-
marines then were of such a class
that after a month t sea they needed
two months for refit 011(1 repairs.
"Tins, altogether at one time 800
hail a total of 300, we never had more
than 100 111 readiness.
"Wo were short of torpedoes, short
of everything, -Our requirements in
torpedoes at one period -were 180 a
week, We could not find that num-
ber. I remember I had to go to Aus-
tria to Iry to borrow torpedoes,
"'Pie Austrian Navy nsel1 only fifty-
eeren torpedoes dining the whole
course of the war, but ever 00 they
were never able to provide us with
any for our submarines.
"1011y, when we sent four small sub-
marines to Poland in sections for the
1100 of the Austrian Navy we had to
send 0110 0y717 wunitnnen to put them
together! We, had to send food from
Germany for our (termini workmen in
the Austrians dockyards. The Aus-
triatrsw'unld never provide them with
rations. Then 'when the submarines
W000 built; the Austrian Navy never
look thein out against the enemy.
They lacked the nerve,
Canada's Lumber Industry
Of tire`$ 170,000,000 Invested in the
lumber industry in Canada, 004,000,-
000 le ht British Columbia, 815,000,000
in Ontario, rind $37,000,000 111 Q110110,1.
Insect Control
198 German Submarines that,
Did not Colne Back—Yost
by Mines, Gunfire—Lost
in Nets
Every 0en'mmn submarine width put
to sea In the Wal' years of 1915-1S
owed its equipment and a large pert
of its fighting efficiency to a grey.
hatred, broad -shouldered man who sat
the other night in the lounge of a'Lon-
don hotel.
Ho was Captain Gustave 1.uppe,
formerly Senior Staff Officer in the
Department of Submarine Operations,
in charge of personnel 1(11,1 replace-
ments.
Captain Luppe is no longer a Ge' -
man naval officer with a high eom-
1111t11(1; ho Is 1(015' it commercial (man
engaged in negotiatioi0 with a group
of English friends, but 110 carries in
his memory more secrets of the Wen -
sive submarine warfare against Eng-
land than any other (ler01011 living,
Six Months' Training
"No oro 111 your country—or 111
Germany for that matte',' lie said to
a representative "has any real idea
of the difficulties under which we la-
bored to keep our submarine, warfare
in force.
"We Jost In all 19S U1(0013. 1Vliat
happened to many of 1110m we never
knew. They did not comm hack, that
was all. They were lost by mines, by
gninfire, in nets—fat r0 variety of differ-
ent ways,
"And as host we could we built to
replace our losses, but from 1916 on-
wards we were building with 111dilfer-
..
,,,errs are costly, their «nand one
of the greatest problems with which
any country is confronted.
Western Notes
11'iunipeg--11'ailace 1V, 1101)1110011,
formerly employed in the local branch
of Stehle, Forking and Matthews, was
released on two years suspended sen•
tense after pleading guilty in pollee
court to theft of several thousand
11011ars worth of mining stock from
the company. Fall restitution had
been made,
Winnipeg — Unemployment has
swelled by 0110,1111rd during the past
week, according 10 records at the 'Um
employment Service 01 Canada, About
1.500 men are now registered as seek-
ing work 110 the city. Return of
workers from lumber canape in tine
north and east Is given as reason for
the increased idleness,
Winnipeg.—Convicted, of a serious
charge against a girl, (1101100 (]010113',
was given h 10 -year term in penitent.!•
toy by Air.Justice Dysart. A previ-
ous sentence of 10 years and 10 lashes
w1tcr 0310110 was. found ,guilty last
fall Ind been set aside by the Court
of p.
WinnipApeo1eg.—J00es Grant, president
of the Manitoba Association of Un•
employed Ex -Service Alen, has resign-
ed front the position. 3. Feeney, act-
ing -president during Grant's absence
at Ottawa recently with an unemploy-
ment delegation, 16 1.110 new lead.
Grant was remanded for one week on
a charge of converting funds of the or-
ganization to 1110 own- use,
Water•Fow1 Suffer from
Drought
Owing to drought conditions in Can•
aria's Prairie Provinces during 1929
manly ponds, prairie 141011,0118, and shal-
low lakes used for Breeding purposes
by w'aterfow'l were dried up.
Shamrock V Will Make the Fnal. Effort of the Sporting Knight
A New Menace
To Canadian
Wheat Farmer
Australian Growers Are Now
Asking for a Bounty on
Export Wheat
Ott Wil, --A 11010 nnemco to Ilse
Canadian wheat. grower 1001110.
Australian farmers are asking then'
t•rrernn10111 10 piny a bounty on the
export of wheat, or guarantee the
price at five shillings ($1.21%) per
bushel, or' both, They have already'
persuaded the government lo appoint
a Board to market their wheat and to
make pooling compulsory,
But they are not content.
They want to bre In the 110011011 Of
the German harmers who hove 110011
111(1 bounties to export wheat to the
British market:
The Australian farmers will 1101 be
exporting 11111011 wheat this year, but
if they have their way, they may be
00181111g bounty -fell wheat to Britain 111
competition will Canadian wheat. 11
would not be the first time Australia
paid export (onuties with 1h0 idea of
encouraging primary production. Some
years ago it pall bounty on the export
of butter. Canada regarded the ea•
trance of bounty butter into her 11181,
1(0115 as dumping and Imposed tt conn
tervailing dtttY.
The Australian farmers have ,11011'
claim for au export hourly on wheat
or a guaranteed price, or bout, on the
uncertainly of the results from wheat
production. Some years, after allow•
lag for interest on investment, the re.
turns from the wheat crop leave 110.
thing Igor the farmer's own, or hired
labor. The average harmer producing
wheat has to rely for one-third of his
Income on side 111100, wool, lambs,
eggs, cream, etc., it is claimed,
!'he average cost of growing' wheat,
011 the basis of the experiments of the
Australian Government Remonstration
faun at 'Purrel((01d over a Period of
seven years (1322-1928 inclusive), Is
40. 111., while the cost of teaming 10
the elevators is 2,5 pence, The Inclu-
sive cost of growieg and delivery (0
the market as represented by the
elevate, is thus 5s. 1t/, d., or 01.211,,
The estimate is for a 300 acre farm
yielding 19.01 bushels of wheat per
acre, The yield per acre on the 'fur.
1'elf1011 Demonstration Farm 93010(1
during waren ci nseeinive years from
9,91 bushels per acre to 23.91 (01011018
per acre, but the average yield teas
19,64 bushels per acre, with (1 range of
21.7 per emit, above and 49.4 per cent,
below,
The cost of production per acre at
the Experimental 0110111 was dislri11u-
led as fellows;
0, cl,
Labor 1. 4. 0
Use of Horses 1G, 7
Use of implements 6. 5
Seed 9, 0
E80ential Materials 12. 9,
Incidentals 4. 0
Int. on 1Vorking Capital 7. 2
Rent 10 months 16. 1
Totals 4, IG, 0
Divided by 19,64 bushels per acre
this manes the cost per bushel on the
farm 40, 11d. or (11,211/3 cents; On that
basis the farmer has to receive a
price of over' $,1.31 to make any net
profit,
Another division of the average
costs per acre on the Australian 170•
11lonet'ation Farm over the period
1922.28 Is given as follows: '
0. r1.
Preparation of fallows to
March 31 1, 0. 6
Seeding Operations ...... , 1. 3. 11,
Harvesting Operations 17, 0
Incidental Expenses 11, la
Int. in Working Capital ,...,7, 1 2
Hent for 18 months 1r,, 1'
1'otni 4, 16, 0
Or 4s. 11d, per bushel on a yield of
19.64 bushels pet' acre,
Last year's production costs, the
AAnstraluur farmers claim were high-
er than the average for 192228, and
that to meet rising costs greater ef-
forts must (10 mane to increase the'
yield per acre. 1f a crop is badly put
in, the chances are that the returns
(till 1101 cover the cost of production,
1197 say.
Australia's none too satisfactory
financial position makes It imperative
that ler government nso every feas-
ible means of encouraging increases
in exp001-0,
WIT AND WISDOM
Re rather (vine than witty; for 11111011
wit hath commonly 1118011 froth, and
'Hs hard to jest, and not sometimes
jeer, too; which 111x01' times sink
deeper that was intended or expected;'
and that wt's designed for mirth ends
in sines. --(t, Tlorrchil.
11 his 1,, ymir le learnt at col-Novelist—"1'1 looking 101 011 I1011-1
ALL THE SKILL OF BRITISH BOAT BUILDERS BROUGHT INTO PLAY est lawyer."
• f ,Mmi'0 n,,. I cur "nay loll you Workmen at, work on dock and keel of 011111(108,11 V, Su' Thomas Lipton'.; challenge craft for coveted America Artist—"Then keep on travelling
what he 1-...t..1;i'.,g," Cup, at Shipyards at Grusport, Eng, T1118 i8 noted British gpo0lmau'0 fifth attempt to wrest away trophy. the Never Never Land ' -