BUDGET OF QUESTIONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2545, 20 August 1915, Page 6

BUDGET OF QUESTIONS

IN PARLIAMENT RELATING TO THE N,Z, FORCES A budget of questions relating to the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces were introduced in Parliament last night by various members. Tho Minister of Defence was asked by Mr. Poland (Ohinemuri) whether ho would take steps to provide at Gallipoli, Cairo, or Alexandria, an information bureau to enable the relations and friends of wounded soldiers to obtain speedy and reliable information as to the location and condition of the men. There was at present, he said, a great deal of anxiety amongst parents and friends owing to the trouble and delay that occurred in obtaining the information. ■Mr. Allen, in reply, said that he did not think that the-public fully realised the difficulties of getting information from tho front. The large amount of work involved in obtaining information under very difficult circumstances was not generally understood. The New Zealanders, especially in the early stages of the lighting in Gallipoli, had been mixed up a great deal with the other sections of the Allies' forces. Another difficulty that had been- experienced in connection with those killed might be guaged from the fact that when an armistice was arranged for the purpose of burying the dead there was an overlapping on both sides of tha dividing line,. some of the Allies' dead being buried by the Turks, whilst some of the enemy's dead were buried by the Allies. ■ As to the returns of the sick and wounded,- added Mr. Allen, tljese were made out before tliey left the Gallipoli Hospital, and forwarded to the New Zealand base at Alexandria and thence transmitted to the Dominion. He would not undertake to say that no mistakes had been made. The public required a great deal, and the Department was trying to obtain as much information as possible for them, but it was unable to give them all they wanted. He intended to send an officer to Egypt to make a report upon the matter. He wag not doing this because lie thought that very much improvement could be made, but in order to satisfy the public and satisfy himself. In regard to the men at' Malta ho was trying to arrange for a committee of chaplains to distribute comforts to the New Zealand wounded. Hitherto this work had been done by the Ambulance and Red Cross people. Where Are the Wounded? Dr. Newman asked • whether any of the wounded were sent to Egypt? The Hou. J. Allen said that some Were sent to Egypt, some to Malta, and others to England. The latest information ho had was that an effort was being made to accommodate all the wounded in England. Some would bo brought back to New Zealand by the Tahiti, and. most of our transports would bring back sick and wounded, tho idea being to have as few wounded in Egypt as possible during the hot weather. Tliey hoped to have very few wounded there in Sopteraber, the hottest month. Dr. Newman: Are some of the men in hospitals in Italy? Mr. Allen: I don't know ofany hospitals in Italy; tho only ones I know Mutsido Egypt and Malta are some at Gibraltar. Below tho Standard. • Mr. R. A. Wright asked if any steps were being taken to prevent medical .men passing candidates for the military forces who really were' not qualified. Men had been passed in different parts' of 1 New Zealand, 'and after they had been in camp for some time they had been rejected as not up to tho standard. The Hon. J. Allen, ,in reply, said that tho instructions issued to medical men throughout New Zealand were uniform, and the medical men were supposed to act in a uniform manner. There were cases where men had been passed as up to standard, but after a fortnight's ■work in camp certain weaknesses had been disclosed, whidh were not apparent when tho men passed the doctors; Mr. Wright instanced a case where a man not up /to tho chest measurement and with flat feet had been discharged, , Athletes and Varicose Veins. Mr. ?T. : M. Wilford put forward tho case of athletes who were debarred from active service because they suffered from slight varicose veins. One such man had come to him and asked could not he be put in the Ambulance Corps or the Army Service Corps. , Tho Hon. J. Alen said that it was not desirable to make a different standard for men of the Ambulance or the A.S.C. Those who had- read the papers recently would have realised that the strain upon the Ambulance men was as great, if not greater, as that imposed; on any other branch of the service. The same thing applied to the Army Service Corps, for their work was vory heavy at Gallipoli. Tho time might come when tho standard should be lowered, . but he thought that it reflected credit on New Zealand that they had been able to keep up all their reinforcements on the original standard laid down. Prisoners of War. Mr. C. J. Parr again asked the Minister of Defence whether ho had 'been able to get any information about the prisoners of war in Constantinople? A great deal of anxiety, he said, was being caused in New Zealand.. In reply, Mr. Allen said that he was soiTy that they had not been able to gain much information. An information bureau under the aegis of the United States Government had been set up in Constantinople, but the only information he had received was about the prisoner of war Burgess.