RUNNING THE ARMY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2183, 23 June 1914, Page 5

RUNNING THE ARMY

A BUSINESS BRANCH

GENERAL HAMILTON'S RECOMMENDATIONS

The system in vogue in New Zealand which combines the functions of military command and of military organisation in one man—the General Oilicer Commanding the Forces—and makes that officer and his subordinates, in addition to their military duties responsible for financial arrangements, is unfavourably commented upon by General Sir lan Hamilton in bis report upon tho Defence Forces of the Dominion.

"After examining n'ost carefully into the working of the military machine in New Zealand both at headquarters and in districts, and after conferring wiui the Auditor-General and tho. heads of the Treasury, I feel convinced," ho iemarks, "that many advantages will bo gained if a system can bo devised whereby commanders ot troops, from tho General Officer Commanding tno Forces downwards, can be ."elievcii in somo measure of tho financial responsibility now resting on their shoulders. In Australia, whore conditions are in many respects analogous to those in New Zealand, I had to face a similar problem, and I arrived at the definite conclusion that its only solution lay in bringing the financial and tho administrative branches of tho Army together, as a Department, under ono head, on whom and on whose representatives in districts full financial responsibility should in future bo imposed. I earnestly recommend tho adoption of a somewhat similar system in New Zealand. In my report on tho Australian Forces, recently published in Melbourne, 1 have stated at length both tho principles involved in this system and tho conclusions to which their application necessarilj' leads. "I will now briefly restate those conclusions :—

"(a,) m all armies, and especially in Militia armies, the commanders of troops should be freed from financial responsibility, and so placed in a position to devote themselves wholly to their military duties. , (b) Financial- responsibility should therefore be transferred to the men who, in war, will have to feed and supply tlie army with all its needs, (c) Inasmuch as such men form an integral part of a war machine, they must in all grades have full military ■status and military rank, (d) Tho business branch of an army, which necessarily includes a , 'finance section, must bti homogeneous throughout, its officers and men forming part of one corps, (e) The organisation of tho business branch, and the appointment, promotion and distribution of its personnel, arc matters which, subject to the authority .of tho General Officer Commanding the Forces, should be left as much as possible to the head of the branch, (f.) Tho instruction of the officers and men of the corps must, from the start, bo specialised mainly on business lines, only so much military education being udded as will enable its members to fulfil military requirements with intelligence, (g) Last, but not least, the chain of responsibility in matters of finance and accounting must run within tho business branch itself, and commanders oi troops should have no share in this responsibility.

''The chief of the business branch T.-ould be, under tho British nomenclature, the quartermaster-general to tho faces, and the heads of Departmental sections working under him at headquarters and iii districts wtiuld.be' termed assistaiit : quarterhia-ster-geiierals and deputy assistaut-quarteijniastor-gcner- . als. The business branch ks a whole might, again on tho -British*: analogy, bo styled tho Army Servico Corps.

"Tho ranlc and status of the quar-termaster-general should be in proportion to tho importance of his duties. Assuming that the General Officer Commanding tho Forces is a major-general, the quartermaster-general might suitably bo given brigadier-general's rank. In matters of rank, as m all else, tho duo subordination of tho administrative branch, to the executive head should bo adequately safeguarded.

''It is desirable that tho quarter-master-general should bo left a freo hand to determine the technical instruction of his subordinates, the examinations they should undergo, and tho method of reporting on their fitness for promotion. Their military instruction and efficieric; ire, however matters which, under tho commander, should bo attended to'by tho General Staff. In particular, administrative officers should bo encouraged to take part in staff cxoicises, the service of supply, transport, accommodation, and payment of ' tho troops in war being fully elaborated on theso occasions. But in a militia army the military instruction of men whose primary concern is with administration can easily be pushed too far. For instance; it would be unnecessary to insist on officers of the quarter-master-general's branch passing tho usual examination of tactical fitness for command." •