nine men were taking training at technical

schools.

By arrangement with the Jubilee Institute for the Blind training is provided for men partially or totally blinded at the front.

To remove any possible financial obstacle to men desiring to undertake training, the government some time ago decided to grant maintenance allowances not in excess of £1 a weekirrespective of pension payments-to men attending classes. These allowances are conditioned only upon approval of the training subject as suitable to the individual case and upon good conduct, regular attendance, and satisfactory

progress.

Related to the question of training for men unable to follow their former trade is that of allowing disabled men to accept positions with private employers at rates of pay less than those fixed by current awards or agreements and minimum wage legislation. The subject was taken up by the Labor Department early in 1916, and under an order-in-council then approved, fourteen under-rate permits prescribing weekly wages of from £2 10s to £1 15s have been issued.

The establishment of special re-educational institutions for war cripples has been urged by various individuals and organizations. The recommendation has elicited from the minister in charge of the Returned Soldiers' Information Department the following comment:

During the last few weeks the question of the establishment of special training colleges for disabled men has been urged on the attention of the Department. The gentlemen concerned in this movement have shown most praiseworthy interest in the welfare of our returned men, and which, in so far as it manifests a lively interest in our soldiers, must command the sympathy and respect of us all. I gather from the correspondence which has come under my notice that the promoters of

the scheme have in mind the provision of training colleges and farms for men still undergoing hospital treatment, and if this is correct the question more properly appertains to the work of the Department of Public Health than to the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department. So far as the latter Department is concerned, I regret that I cannot at present see my way to support a scheme of the character suggested.

The small extent to which existing facilities have been availed of would not, in my opinion, justify the large expense which the institution of special training colleges with expensive buildings, apparatus, and staff would involve. I am supported in this view by the attitude taken up by the Statutory War Pensions Committee, which has been established by legislation in the United Kingdom, and which amongst other functions deals with the training and employment of disabled men. In addressing its local committees on this particular subject it urges them to make use as far as possible of existing institutions, specifically mentioning the technical schools, and adds that "as the number of men for whom training is needed will diminish year by year after the war, expenditure on the provision of buildings and apparatus, which will only be required for a temporary period, should be kept within strict limits."

In addition to the foregoing, I doubt whether an institution of the character proposed, involving a considerable measure of control and discipline, would be appreciated by the men for whose benefit it is designed. I am inclined to think that the younger men would before very long find the necessary restraint distasteful and irksome. In this opinion I am supported by the views of a prominent member of the medical profession in New Zealand-one who I may say has had special opportunities of forming an opinion through daily contact with the inmates of one of our large convalescent homes. Speaking on this very subject of a training college for men out of or nearly out of the doctor's hands, he says, "I am a little dubious as to whether the men would be content to remain long under institutional control;" and again, "I feel sure that the feeling of independence from control, impossible in any institution, is an essential factor in any scheme designed to appeal to the average man, and not to the exceptional returned man." I am entirely in accord with these views, and for the reasons given I could not, for the present at any rate, see my way to support the schemes which have been put forward.

While the experience in the matter of training has been disappointing the results in obtaining employment for disabled men have been unusually successful. The latter may go far to explain the former, especially in view of the great present demand for labor in New Zealand, and the natural desire on the part of the men to get back at once to remunerative and productive occupation.

The amount of pension award, based as it is on medical evidence as to physical condition, is a