'Red tape and cushy jobs' pensions protest

Digest of stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: October 27th, 1917.

Red tape, State callousness and Government extravagance in providing "cushy jobs" were among the subjects which provoked the strong criticism of the Luton War Pensions Committee last night.

The Ministry of Pensions wrote giving information of a request for the benefit of poor widows and orphans in the war, and inviting the Luton Committee to submit any cases (only the most deserving) in the town. The same department also wrote regarding statements being made about harsh or neglectful treatment of discharged men or dependents, and invited the Committee to forward any such cases for immediate investigation.

Mr J. Mabley said the unfortunate part was that men were not sufficiently informed as to what they should do on leaving the service. At the discharged men's meeting the other night cases were mentioned which had never come before the Pensions Committee owing to the ignorance of the men, although the Committee could have dealt with them.

Councillor W. J. Primett said the same facts applied to dependents and he held that the Ministry of Pensions was playing ducks and drakes with the whole business.

Mr W. J. Mair said a letter from the Ministry about the appointment of local enquiry officers should be treated with contempt. It was another instance of red tape and the provision of unnecessary cushy jobs.

Councillor Primett drew attention to an Allowances Sub-Committee report on the case of three children whose father was fighting and whose mother was in asylum. The Pensions Committee could do nothing, the Price of Wales' Fund would do nothing, yet the children of a man fighting out yonder had to go to poor law and be pauperised for a paltry 2 shillings a week each. The men were promised that their dependents would be looked after, and now they were met with circulars and denials.

Secretary Mr E. A. Mander said he had telephoned the Ministry of Pensions and found that nothing could be done in the case of the mother. A supplementary allowance for the children could only be made if they were kept by the Guardians in a rate-aided institution other than the Workhouse.

Mr T. Knight said the Committee should force the hands of the Pensions Ministry, adding: "It would be a stain on the children for life to pauperise them, and all this thought negligence of the State."

  • On Wednesday night the constitution of the local Food Control Committee came in for strong criticism at a meeting called by the Luton Trades and Labour Council and held at the Co-operative Hall. The Chairman, Mr T. Knight, thought it right to invite the Co-operative Society to join in the protest. A resolution was passed against a committee "composed mainly of persons interested in the maintenance of profiteering the people's food supplies".

  • The toll of the war has indeed been felt by the family of Mr and Mrs W.G. Peck, of 66 Oak Road, Luton. Having received a notification that their son Pte William Peck (Sherwood Foresters) was missing presumed dead, since July 1916, they have now learned that another son, Pte Walter Peck, who enlisted in the Beds Regiment and later transferred to the Leicestershire Regiment, was killed in action on October 1st last.

  • A communication received yesterday morning by Mr and Mrs Shaw, of 1 Bolton Road, Luton, stated the Sgt Joseph Charles Shaw, King's African Rifles and London Regiment, was killed in action on October 18th, near Lindi, in East Africa.

  • Mrs Smith, of 1 Blyth Place, Luton, has received news of the death in Egypt of her son, Pte Walter John Smith, aged 22. He was with the Bedfordshire Regiment.

  • Mrs Jones, of 93 Highbury Road, Luton, has just been notified of the death of her husband, Sapper Frederick Jones, who in civilian life was a bricklayer employed by Mr Chandler. He had been wounded in the neck and thigh by an aerial bomb and admitted to an Australian clearing station on October 15th. He died at midnight.

  • The son of Mr and Mrs J. Marshall, of 1 Dorset Street, Luton, L-Cpl Horace Marshall, of the Machine Gun Corps, has been awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field at Ypres on September 22nd, 1917. He joined up in May 1916, prior to which time he had been employed by the David Gas Stove Co for seven years.

  • A collision between a tramcar and a timber haulage waggon occurred just after midday yesterday outside Messrs Brown Bros' yard in Dunstable Road. Tramcar No 11 caught the waggon with considerable force, and five large trees being transported were knocked across the road. Both vehicles, particularly the tram, were damaged and traffic was stopped for nearly half an hour, but fortunately no one was hurt.

  • Despite fielding a weakened side, Luton Town defeated visitors 373rd M.T.A.S.C. (St Albans) this afternoon. Fox, Robins, Jones and Bunyan (2) were the scorers in a 5-0 win.