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THURSDAY, JULY 24th, 1930 THE HAILEYBURIAN OOOO Og tii mT cncTTTTTTTcTcmTcnc WAR VETERANS! IF YOU WANT IF YOU WANT READ THIS Back in April, 1927, Hon. R. B. Ben- nett called the attention of the House of Commons to the injustice that was being done a great number Fact No. 1 of disabled war veterans as a result of the inter- pretation and application of the Pension Act. Following this he moved an amendment, one clause of which provided that the Act should be construed as "remedial legislation" (that is, to be construed in favor of the applicant) and that if there should be any reasonable doubt as to the right of a soldier to a pension, he should be given the benefit of the doubt. Another clause provided that in cases where a man was discharged from the army with a disability, and had not wilfully concealed such disability if ex- isting at the time of enlistment, then such disability should be attributed entirely to war service. In the debate which followed, the Fact Solicitor-General and the Minister No. 2 of Soldiers' Re-establishment, speaking on behalf of the Govern- ment, opposed the amendment, and ona vote being taken it was declared lost by 95 to 78. Every Liberal member in the House at the time, the Prime Minister included, voted against it. Thirty-one months slipped by -- Fact tere months of growing re- No. 3 sentment at the Government's con- tinued inactivity. Then on November 27, 1929, from his sick bed in Montreal, Sir Arthur Currie wrote to his comrades- in-arms, in convention at the time in Regina, urg- ing them to insist upon a complete redrafting not only of the Act itself but of the regulations under the Act. That letter, when released for publication touched a responsive chord in millions of hearts right across Canada, and created a sentiment that the King Government realized it could not afford to ignore. On December 16, 1929, with the Fact probability of an election drawing No. 4 near, Premier King, speaking at London said that he and his Govy- ernment felt the existing legislation should be in- terpreted by the Board of Pension Commissioners in a liberal manner, to the end that disabled veter- ans might obtain, not merely cold justice, but the most considerate treatment possible. ® TO KNOW WHOM TO THANK FOR ALL MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS EFFECTED IN THIS YEAR'S REVISION OF THE PENSION ACT.... TO KNOW WHOM TO REPROACH FOR THE FACT THAT DISABILITY VICTIMS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO WAIT SO LONG FOR SIMPLE JUSTICE... Fact Mb the House met, the Syn aes rom the Throne said that the oper- No. 5 ations of the Pension Act had been studied and "your attention will be invited to legislation to make more adequate pro- vision for the needs of the veterans of the Great War and their dependents." Fact oe February 26 last, before there was any indication of the details of No. 6 the Government's policy, Dr. Mc- Gibbon (Conservative) moved a resolution to the effect that in any amendment of the Pension Act the onus of proof of disability be lifted from the veteran. Mr. Ernst (Conservative) moved an amendment to widen and strengthen the resolution in the interests of the soldier. While the debate on this resolution was still in progress, the Minister No. 7 of Soldiers' Re-establishment (Dr. King, who has since been retired to the Senate) brought down on March 4th the Pension legislation referred to in the Speech from the Throne. Instead of the liberal treatment forecasted by the Prime Minister at London, all it contained were provisions Fact a.--To bring ex-service men under the Old Age Pension Act at 65 inftead of 70, and at an earlier age if they were entirely unemploy- able. ; b.--To give the veteran, in lieu of a war pen- sion, a dole of $20 a month. Asked by General Clark (Conser- vative) if these were the major Fact No. 8 matters to be referred to the Spe- cial Committee that had previously been appointed to report on the Bill, the Minister said they were. Asked again by General Clark if there were any other specific matters to be refer- red to the Committee, the Minister said there were none. These questions and answers remove any doubt that that was fully as far as the Government in- tended to go. The debate on the McGibbon reso- lution and the Ernst amendment Fact No. 9 lasted all told ten days, with de- nunciation after denunciation of the Government for its indifference to the veterans' problems. Finally Premier King enforced closure, but only after first capitulating and agreeing that the scope of the Special Committee would be broadened. STORY OF INSIDE FACTS FROM THE OFFICIAL RECORD, AND THE AMAZING SEQUEL THAT MARKS ITS CLIMAX ! Out of nineteen members on that the were allowed returnéd soldiers. Out of ten Fact No. 10 Liberal members, only four were returned soldiers. Thus a majority of the Committee had seen war service. And a majority of that majority were Conservatives. Committee, Conservative party seven--all Everything that was done by that Committee, was done in spite of Fact No. 1 1 the Government's policy as laid down by the Minister of Soldiers' Re-establishment in his Bill of March 4. The findings of the Committee as reported to the House, ina form immensely Fact No. L2 broader liberal than the original Bill, were unanimously adopted on May 20. Speakers from both sides (including Dr. King and Major Power for the Liberals) agreed that the legislation was not to be considered a political matter, and that no party was to attempt to take credit for it. The House unanimously concurred in this state- and more ment of principle that soldiers' problems were, for the future, to be left entirely out of party politics. And Now for the Amazing Sequel! Fact No. 13 and a score of private members at once claimed for the Liberal party parentage of all the legislation adopted at the session just closed for the relief of war veterans and their dependents. At Brantford, on June 16, the Prime Minister said "It was the present administration which took full responsibility in the matter." At the very opening of the cam- Minister, at least one of his cabinet ministers paign, the Prime On June 17, the Owen Sound Sun-Times carried a half page advertisement in support of the candida- ture of the Minister of Trade and Commerce, where credit for every reform effected this year in the in- terests of returned soldiers was blandly claimed for the Liberal party. Major Power, Chairman of the Special Committee, who from his seat in the House had spoken in favor of the arrangement to keep the matter out of politics, has taken_the platform at political meet- ings to explain the legislation and to purposely create the impression that the Liberal administra- tion was to be given full credit therefor. BECAUSE OF THE DELIBERATELY MISCHIEVOUS AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS THAT ARE BEING MADE EVERYWHERE BY LIBERAL SPEAKERS, IN DIRECT VIOLA- TION OF A UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT TO KEEP THE SOLDIERS' PROBLEMS OUT OF POLITICS, THE LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO HAS AUTHORIZ- ED THE ABOVE STATEMENT, IN ORDER THAT THE PUBLIC MAY HAVE AN OPPOR- TUNITY TO STUDY THE FACTS AND TO DRAW THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS. VOTE FOR W. A. GORDON Conservative Candidate IIIT UU nn i