Today's China Mail (page 2) returns to the subject of the contrast in the treatment of former internees in Australia and the UK: a letter dated November 26 from a 'well-respected' businessman sparks both an article and an editorial. The unnamed businessman is in Australia, but in correspondence with someone in England who complains about being forced to apply for public assistance on the same terms as an unemployed worker (including having to accept work, in his case clerical, if offered after the first couple of weeks) and to find that because his wife was earning three pounds a week the authorities washed their hands of him completely. Everything was different for those who went to Australia: they were not presented with a drinks bill on the Vindex, welcomed by a band, taken to decent hotels and given double rations, helped in an ungrudging way thereafter - it seems everything was done for them right down to arranging for people to meet them at stations on their train journeys (free tickets provided) to help with further travel arrangements!
The editorial points out that the former Stanleyites were strongly encouraged to take home leave for the sake of their health - they were, in fact, informed that this was the Commander-in-Chief's wish - and that this recommendation was particularly strong in the case of women and children. Although they'd been told financial assistance wouldn't pay for a 'lavish' lifestyle, they'd been led to expect it would be enough to cover reasonable expenses.
An interesting sign of the times is that the editorial spares a special thought for those who have no family ties in Britain and 'do not come within that delightful category "pure British"'.