Ill. No. 17

hen the

Uppermost in the minds of the men and
women now serving in Canada’s armed forces
is the question: ‘What will happen to us after

the war?’ And they are not yet satisfied with
answer given by their governments.

By Cpl. JACK PHILLIPS

[a2 PEOPLE presents this, the first of two articles on
+ the subject, as an expression of the personal views,

‘based on discussions with other servicemen, of a soldier
“now serving overseas. As a question already. facing the
‘country, the rehabilitation of the thousands of men and

lwomen now serving in the armed forces must have the
‘lose attention of the labor movement, for no reconstruc-

\%on plan can succeed unless it provides a full answer to
s*his question. The editors invite contributions for publi-
‘-ation in forthcoming issues from servicemen, veterans
pt both this and the last war, trade unionists and others.

Vee is a lot of discussion andl fail in parliament, in the
press and on the platform, about the reestablishment

’ Spent seven hours gceing over
ay collection of newspaper elip-
“mgs on the subject, compar-
ag the “facts”? I gleaned with
‘Se legally worded order in
ipuncil numbered P.-C. 7633, the
Postwar
‘gent Order. Then [I made up
ay mind to draw up a brief, fac-
(wal analysis of the order.

Many newspapers, including
he Ganadian Press News, dis-
Tibuted free to troops Overseas,

and the American Magazine,
‘Soronet, have reported this pro-
i2ram superficially, and with

several errors in factual matters.
Mm doing so, they committed an
anjustice to servicemen and

>

workers alike. No plan will work
effectively if the people directly
concerned do not understand it,
assuming that it is a workable
plan whose merits outweigh its
Gemerits. This applies equally to
an unworkable plan, because the
quicker it is understood by the
people the quicker it can be
Temedied or scrapped for a
better one.
: With these principles in mind,
zq present this brief summary of
adding one or two
and -a comment here

‘questions,
ae there.
Se
coma piss provides for the ex-

serviceman during his period

of demobilization and reestab-
dishment as follows:

Discharge Reestablish-

of ex-servicemen in civilian life after the war. And present
|srovisions and arrangements demand that there should be a
imeat deal more if the mistakes made after the last war, and
he injustice and suffering they produced, are to be ayonleil
The rough draft of this article lies beside me. Last night
@® Clothing allowance on dis- ~

charge.

Transportation to point of
enlistment.

Rehabilitation grant.
Remedial medical treatment
Voeation training facilities.
Reinstatement of preference
in employment and place-
ment and guidance service.
Pensions for disabilities,
with ancillary hospital
treatment.

Clothing Allowance: On _ dis-
charge after six months’ service
er more the exserviceman re-
ceives a clothing allowance of
$65. As prices go in Canada now,
this will buy a good suit and
very little more. Until a short
time ago, however, it was only
$35. Public opinion brought to
bear in an organized fashion
raised it to its present level. IL
believe that the popular demand
for a clothing grant of $125 is
more in line with the actual re-
que of the ex-serviceman.

To this, should be added a grant
for working clothes.

At one lecture on reestablish-
ment I attended a fellow got up
during the discussion period and
pointed out that when he went
back to the mine be formerly
worked in, he would have to
spend at least $35 for working
cloths, including high rubber
boots and gloves.

Transportation to Point of En-
listment: This needs very little
explanation or comment. The
exserviceman on discharge re-
ceiyes transportation to point of
enlistment.

Rehabilitation Grant: As the

Some of these wounded men, seen here on their way to a base hospital, have fought
their last battle. What will Pappen to them when they are eee to take their
place in civilian life again?

order stands the exserviceman
receives on discharge a rehabili-
tation grant of 30 days’ pay and
allowances.
to the throne it was indicated
that a more generous grant will
soon be authorized. Informed ob-
servers- in Ottawa
new. scale will be similar to that
prevailing after
which was as follows:

In the last speech

believe the

the last war

For more than three years
service, including overseas
time, 183 days pay, including
overseas time.

For more than two years, but
less than three years service,
153 days pay, including over-
seas time.

For more than one year, bul
less than two years service, 22
days pay.

For less than one year, in-
cluding overseas time, 92 days
pay.

For three years service or
more, without overseas time,
92 days pay.

For two years and less than
three years service without
overseas time, 61 days pay.

For one year, and less than
two years service, without

be a decided improvement if it
became law, but a further con-
sideration of the problem brings
one or two questions to mind:

Would this include family al-
lowances? Unless it did, the ex-

‘serviceman who was waiting for

a job would, if he was married,
be worse off than if he had re-
ceived only one month’s pay and
allowances, because under the
present setup he can draw no
out-of-work benefits for that
period for which he receives a
rehabilitation grant. A private
receives $1.50 a day. Out-of-work
allowances for a married man
amounts to $1440 a week, plus
the present allowances for a
married man amounts to $14.40 a
week, plus the present allow-
ances paid to children of service-
men.

Will there be extra bonuses
for men who have served in
actual theatres of war as com-

batants? I realize that this
raises many problems, but just
consider these facts. While

some troops have been in Bri-
tain for two, three or four years,
others have been serving dang-
erously in Italy. Some of our

overseas time, 31 days pay. oe have been making oper-

On the face of it, this would

ational flights for periods rang-

5

ing up to four years. Many of
cur gallant seamen have been on
actiye service for an equally long
period of time.

It is the contention of many
men I have discussed this prob-
lem with that bonuses should be
paid for services rendered: the
greater the service, the bigger
the bonus.

Remedial Medical Facilities:
In case of temporary disability
arising from, or aggravated by
service in the present war an
allowance will be paid for any
52 weeks in the first 18 months
aiter discharge. This allowance,
the standard allowance while
Waiting work, taking a course or ©
starting on a newly purchased
farm, amounts to: ;

$10.20 a week if single,

$14.40 a week if married, plus
allowance for children at pres- ~
ent paid to
servicemen.

This will be paid for any 52 |
weeks in the first 18 months after |

Gischarge. If hospitalization is |
necessary, it will be provided ~
free. An exserviceman is en-

titled at any time during his life-

—Continued on Page 10. ;

dependents of