H—9

SECTION lI—WAR PENSIONS The general administration of the enactments providing for pensions and allowances in respect of war service and the carrying-out of the decisions of the War Pensions and the War Pensions Appeal Boards are the function of the Secretary for War Pensions. NEW LEGISLATION In the Finance Act (No. 2), 1948, provision was made for an amendment to section 28 of the War Pensions Act, 1943, enabling widows of servicemen who are granted remarriage gratuities to receive the benefit of any increased rates of pension which may become payable during the currency of the gratuity. In the same enactment provision was also made for amendment to section 68 of the War Pensions Act, 1943, to enable the widow of a war veteran to be given the benefit of any increase made in the rate of war veteran's allowance during the currency of the gratuity granted to her in respect of the death of the war veteran. In both cases the amendments were operative from Ist October, 1947. Section 74 of the War Pensions Act, 1943, was also amended by the Finance Act (No. 2), 1948, to enable the War Pensions Board, in its discretion to pay war veterans' allowances in respect of any period of the recipient's temporary absence from New Zealand. NEW APPLICATIONS FOR WAR PENSIONS During the year 7,078 applications for pensions were lodged with the Department. Of these, 1,931 applications were in respect of disablement, including 170 from the 1914-18 war and 1,761 from the 1939-45 war. Claims by dependants, applications for economic pensions, and war veterans' allowances totalled 5,147. The number of applications in respect of both wars lodged for the previous year was 7,331, which included 2,406 in respect of an applicant's own disability. A further decline of new applications for war-disablement pension was noted during the past year. This was to be expected with the elapse of time from the cessation of hostilities of the 1939-45 war.

The following shows the disabilities in respect of which new disablement pensions were granted during the past year to personnel who served in the 1939-45 war :

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Type of Service. Class of Disability or Disease. Overseas. 1 New Zealand. Total. (1) Infections and infestations (2) Nervous system (3) Eye, ear, and nose (4) Circulatory and blood system (5) Metabolism (6) Lungs (7) Diseases of bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments .. (8) Digestive system (9) Generative system (10) Gunshot wounds and accidental injuries to bones, joints, and soft tissues (11) Skin (12) Tumours and neoplastic growths (13) Malformations (14) Amputations .. .. .. .. .: (15) Urinary tract (16) Sundry minor disabilities 67 103 92 52 4 108 64 101 4 114 55 9 2 6 14 6 1 22 13 16 3 25 29 15 "20 7 1 1 " 4 68 125 105 68 7 133 93 116 4 134 62 10 3 6 18 6 801 157 958