ROYD GARLICK INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1865, 26 September 1913, Page 4

ROYD GARLICK INQUIRY

i . COffIIITTEE'S REPORT. NO POLITICAL INFLUENCE. | : ' A WARM DEBAII. ;. i MINISTER'S STRONG REPLY TO - CRITICISM. 1 - )"j Tho Hon. J. A,.MILLAR, chairman of tho Royd Garlick Inquiry Cominit- : tee, presented tho. report of-that body. It reads: "Tho/committee appointed to inquire into th 6 statements made in Parliament .by .the hon. members for Hutt, Invorcargill," Hurunui, and Lyttolton ; beg to report that, having investigated . these statements and having .conßidored the evidenoe tendered by tho honl members for Hutt, Hurunui, and Lyttelton, . tho evidence of tho witnesses called by tho hon. member for Hutt, and the evidence of tho Hon. Mr. Allen and his 'witnesses, they find as follows:— Mr. Wilford's Statements. "1. As to Mr. Wilford's statements: (a) That in the courso ' of' speeches which ho made in tho House on July 4,1913, Mr. Wilford, member for Hutt, when referring to tho appointment of Mr. Royd Garlick to tho oifico of Direc- . tor of Physical Training, mado tho following statement' All this sliowb that \ the cry of ,"No spoils! to the victors" : was a party'cry only.'. (b) That from tho words usod by Mr. Wilford it might ;' bo inferred that in making tho appointment the Hon. Mi. Allen had been actuated by political motives. (c) That there was no ovido'nee'which would 1 warrant any suggestion of improper motives on the part of tho Hon. Mr. , Allen, (d) 1 That in makiifg tho. appointment, ■ the Hon. Mr. Allon believed that he was acting in the public interest, '(e) That Mr. AVilford, referring' to Mr. Garlick's .. appointmont, mado tliq: following further statement, Iloyd Garlick was tlio gentleman' who had been appointed by tbo present Government, not on account of his' fitness for tho position ho held, bnt for some reason ■ he could not ascortaiii'—from which statement it might be onferred that Mr. Garlick was unfit for; tho. post of I)ircc- ; tor of Physical Training, and that tho . i Hop: Mr. Allen knew'that lie was unfit for the position when- ho mado the up- ■ pointment. (f) That the ovidcnco called does not snpport tho above Inferences, but on tho contrary such evidence show-, ed that the Hon. Mr.- Allen, acting on tho advice tendered to him, believed that Mr.'Garlick was qualified to fill ' tho position with credit when ho mado ■ the appointment. l v j ' ' Mr. Hanan's Statement. "2; As to . Mr. Hanan's statemcnVthe committee find jthat Mr.! Hauan, the member for Invorcargill, mado uso of the following words when referring to tho v appointment of Mr. Royd Garlick: —'Ho endorsed what tho,-honour-' able member for Hutt had said with, respect to tho appointment of Mr., Royd Garlick. When tho Mackeiizi'o' Govcrn- . ment was iri -power'it 'Set' d-it'example of' tho squaro deal thit it would havo been to tho benefit of tlio peoplo for tlio present Government to havo followed. When the Mackenzio Government decided to appoint medical inspectors of schools it advertised and called for applications, si) that every man and woman in the Jnedical profession should havo the opportunity ol' applying. That courso should havo been followed in this instance, and '..the Lest man selected, but thoy found.that a man in Wellington had boon: pitchforked into the position and the of applying had been.denied'to others.' .Tho,statements contained in the speech of. Mr. Hanan are, in" tho opinion of tho committee, sufficiently dealt with in tho other findings of their report. "No Direct Charge." "3. As to -Mr. Forbes's statement—■ Tho committee .find that Mr. Forbes, tho member, for Huranui, in the courso of his speech made the following statement; —'He regretted to think thero should bo the slightest suspicion that appointmonts were mado to tlio tion Department for political purposos. Ho did not say'that this appointment was a political one. ... It had been freely stated that tho appointment was made for political purposos. . . . The:'Lyttelton Times' camo out with a leading article in which it was pointed out that the peculiar method in which the .appointment was mado gave strength to the assertion that.there was this political colour 111 the appointmont. . . ' Tho committee find that Mr. Forbes made . 110 dircct charge against the Hon. Mr. Allen, and they further find- that 110 prideiioe was adduced which would alford justification for suggesting that tho appointment of Mr. Garhck was tho result of political influence. On tho tho evidence , went. to orove that "tno appointment wa3 mado

by tho Minister after inquiry and in good faith. ■Mr. Laurenson Wot Justified. "4. As to Mr, Laurenson's statement—The committee find that in his speech Mr. Lnurcnson mude tho following statements about Mr. Royd Garlick's appointment: 'He personally did not know Mr. Royd Garlick, but he had hoard enough about him to feel satisfied that he was not a man of largo experience—not a man qualified to fill the post to ' which, ho;had-been appointed. . . .' (Hansard No. 5, July 15 . 1913, .'pages 501 and 502.) Tho hon:' member for Rangitikei, Mr. E. Newman defended an appointment made by the present Administration-—tho Garlick appointment—b.y saying that Mr. Garlick's politics. were nebulous. Now, I do not know what Mr. Garlick's politics are—l have no interest in him at all—but I want to ask tho Minister of Education what he wonld have said if ho.had been on this side,and if wo had been in office and had made an appointment to a public positioh _ worth £GOO per annum without advertising it. He appointed a personal friend to a billet w'ortli £600 a year, and he did not know his qualifications.' The committee find that the statement made by Mr. Laurenson that tho Minister had appointed a personal friend to a position worth £600 per annum was made without justification, and is incorrect. Tho Question of Salary. "5. As to Salary.—As exception has been taken to the salary which Mr. Garlick is receiving, the committee find that as the work of Director of Physical Training is of a highly responsible character requiring considerable organising power, they are of opinion that the salary'mentioned is .not excessive for a thoroughly competent man, but without in any way reflecting upon tho qualifications of Mr. Royd Garlick they consider it would have been advisable to invito applications for the position both within and without tho Dominion." MR. WILFORD'S POSITION. . HIS VIEW,OF THE FINDINGS. Mr. T.' M. WILFORD (Hutt) said that ho had listened with much interest to tho report, and was pleased that the committee had not found that Mr. Garlick was a fit and proper person for the position, or that £600 a year was fit and proper .Balary for» Mr. Royd Garlick. On . the contrary they had said that the sahiry was not excessive for a thoroughly competent man, and that it would liave been advisable to call for applications. Tho oommitteo had not touched the most important charges made. He had said that Mr. Royd Garlick was not a Swedish drill expert. There was not a word about that. He had said that Mr. Garlick was not fit to hold tho position ho did. Tho committee did not say ho was. He had said that Mr. Garlick had'not the experience that would entitle him to tho position. Tho committee had not said that Mr. Garlick had, that experience. Ho wa3 going to show that tho report was an jbsoTute victory for him. (Government laughter.)' There was no doubt whatevor that tho Minister had been guilty of a grave error of judgment. He ■ hoped that when the Minister spoke in this debate his apology would bo as amplo as his blundor. (Laughter.) Ho oxpcctcd to tho Minister to say: "Peccavi" when he got up. Tho most important point of all that tho House should consider was: "How did Royd Garlick get this appointment?" He did not tako back one word of what he' had said in tho House. He intended to add to what he had said, and to provo it as well. Breathing exercises seemed to him to bo tho. only mattor regarding which tho committco had received ovideuce of Mr. Garlick's qualifications. An Anonymous Letter. . Ho went on to say that ho had received an anonymous lettor from Auckland. (Laughter.) The letter stated that some of the breathing exercises in tho syllabus had been devised by Mrs. Heap, ot! Auckland, although Mr. Garlick had/ taken credit for all of them. He had'telegraphed to Mrs. Heap on tho subject, and her reply was that Mr. Garlick and herself were on tho subcommittee, and that the two of them together drew up the breathing exorcises. The Mlnistor Charged. Tho Minister had stated in the House that ho had nothing to do with Royd Garlick until tho conference sat in September, 1912. ■ Hq would quote from tho evidence given by .Mr.,Allen, who had corrected it himsolf. On page 13 of tho'evidence Mr. Allen was reported as saying: "On receiving their report (tho report of tho conference) action had to. be taken,'and ono, of; tho first things to do was to get hold of a physical culture export. At that time I had not Mr. Royd Garlick in my mind until tho report came down." Mr. Wilford then went on to quote as follows from tho official evidence, page 37: — "Air. Wilford: You told the committee that Mr. Royd Garlick was allowed, to sit on the committee that had your memorandum for consideration, and there was no idea at tho time that ho would bo appointed? ' "Mr. Allen:' 1 tell you that absolutely. I had no idoa' of any appointment at that time. . "Mr. Wilford: Mr. Royd Garlick did not even know? "Mr. Allen: Ho certainly did not. ' "Mr. AVilford: No one at all? "Mr. Allen: No ono know. "Mr. Wilford: You put him on that committee at their recommondation, never thinking he would be the man who would bo chosen ? "Mr. Allen: That is so." This, Mr. Wilford continued, was a distinct and positive assertion by Mr. Allen that until after the report by the conference ho knew nothing about Mr. Royd Garlick gotting his position. What was the truth? He would read what Dr. Hardwick Smith caid. The Minister's statement' that ho knew nothing about Royd Garlick until after tho report of the conference was not correct. The honourable gentleman had misled the committee when ho said it. l:fo would prove that on August 29, 1912, Mr. Alien waa in treaty for the appointment of Mr. Royd Garlick. In a letter dated August 29, Dr. Hardwick Smith ivroto to Mr. Allen in these words: "I talked to Mr. Royd Garlick oil tho subject you mentioned to n:o." This was on August 29, eighteen days before tile conference sat. Mr W>l- - said that ho asked Dr. Hardwick i

Smith boforo tho committee whether the subject mentioned was that of sitting on tho conference, and tho doctor said: "Yes." "And then," said Mr. AVilford, "ho was mine like Mr. Allen Has several times in cross-examination. The next sentence in tho letter read: 'I believe ho would take such a position, at any rate for 0110 year.' " Tlie'reFore, Mr. Wilford continued, tho Minister, before ho had tho report from the conference, had asked Dr. Hardwick Smith to interview Mr. Royd Garlick and Dr. Hardwick Smith had done so. What was tho answer of the honourable) gentleman to a statement like that? There could bo no answer. Tho honourable gentleman had circled the world recently. To-day 'lie had broken hia political neck on his own doorstep. (Laughter.) /Without Competition. Mr. Wilford wont on to deny that Mr. Royd Garlick had received » thorough training in Australia. Ho stated that ho had drawn from the Minister a'i admission that Mr. Garlick's thorough training was received as a hoy at school, llis training as a masseur Mr. Garlick had received from a man called Neistroin. Mr. Garlick was 0110 of tho luckiest men who had over como into this country. He had been ap- ' pointed masseur at the Wellington Hospital without competition; they did not I;u6w hoiv. Now he had got this appointment without competition, they Knew how. The appointment, Sir. Wilford contended, was a panic one. Tho Minister had said that it was necessary to put something in placo of the cadet movement, but that movement ■was still in existence. Mr. Wilford went on to quote extensively from the cvidenco. He claimed that it had been shown that tho appointment was an absurd one, and that Mr. Garlick's only qualification for tho position of Director of Physical Education was' "that lie was a masseur. Ho did not deny that Mr. Garlick was a medical gymnast, but ho did say that ho was not fit for the position, and so did the committee. Mr. Thompson, Assistant Public Service Commissioner, had said that £400 a year would be a sufficient salary for Mr. Royd Garlick. Mr. Wilford said that political feeling had entered largely into the proceedings of tiio cominittoe. One witness, called to say that the demonstration at tho Town Hall was a joke, and that he was a Swedish drill expert, was so severely cross-examined that he fainted. Ho claimed that he. had proved that tho Minister had made an improper appointment.. The Minister should explain the appointment. Tho country was entitled to an explanation.