On This Day, 17 September 1918

Birmingham Mail 

Tuesday 17 September 1918

SOLDIERS’ PENSIONS.

Sir,—l am a discharged soldier, and was present at the opening of the exhibition at the Town Hall by Mr. Hodge. I feel that your leader of the 10th follows the general line of argument, giving the impression that adequate facility is given to a disabled man to fit him to take his place in society again providing he places himself in the hands of the Pensions Committee. The whole root of the trouble lies in the fact that the allowance during training is not sufficient. Let me ask those who are impressed by the provision made to make the experiment of trying to live on the allowance for say two months. After the experiment they will realise why the men find “blind alley jobs.”

The solution is to give a disabled man his pre-war earnings plus the amount to allow for increased cost of living, and the training facilities will become popular. In the same way the alternative pension should be based on the purchasing power of the money. As things are, the men have no confidence in the existing machinery of the Pensions Department. Mr. Hodge frankly stated he was not satisfied. How can we be satisfied if that is the case. We boys gave all and we want fair and generous treatment. We shall get it, in spite of existing difficulties, even though we wait till the boys come home.

Alderman Chamberlain struck a note in his speech, which is worth serious consideration. He did not want one class of the community set against the other—in other words, the men who have fought against those who have not. Quoting Mr. Hodge, the men who paid the piper have a right to call the tune. God forbid the necessity. The greatest brotherhood in history is the British Army of to-day. They will not allow the weakest to go to the wall, so it’s up to the other section of the community.— Yours, etc., N.C.O.