LIVERPOOL CAMP INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2547, 23 August 1915, Page 7

LIVERPOOL CAMP INQUIRY

COMMISSIONER'S REPORT i i ALL CHARGES EXCEPT ONE ; PROVED ' ADMINISTRATION CONDEMNED By; Tolcgraph-Prcaa Aesooiation-bopsrisht (Rec. August 22, 2.40 p.m.) Sydney, August 22. . Mr. Justice Rich, in his report on the administration of the Liverpool Camp, found that all the charges, excepting the ono relating to the restriction of officers' leave, had proved. The chief charges were that the medical services were unsatisfactory; that there was callousness and indifference on the part of the doctor; the employment of a doctor of German parentage, supposed by some to have German sympathies ; preferential . treatment ■in the German concentration camp; housing accommodation unsatisfactory; excessive centralisation, discouragement pf initiative. ' r

.Mr. Justice Rich says that the evidence clearly established the fact that the Buppliesj particularly of clothing, were wholly inadequate; the hospital equipment left much to bo desired; the administration of the Medical Service was clumsy and uncertain. The faulty administration of. the Army Medical Corps was chiefly due to tho insufficiciency of the staff, whilo for the most part the orderlies were untrained, incompetent, and inattentive. The latrin'es, were insanitary, unroofed, and unfloored. Doctor of German Origin. Regarding Dr. Sclilink, His Honour points out that no charge was made against him ,of disloyalty, or of being identified with German sympathies, he he adds: "The impropriety and inexpedience of the appointment in war time of a person of German name and parentage to a- position .connected with the' defence-of the country is bo apparent that it does' not call for comment. The "evidence proved that the appointment did, in the opinion of a large numhor of soldiers, impair the satisfactory administration of the Army Medical Corps. . Referring to the alleged preferential treatment of the Germans, at the concentration camp, Mr. Justice Rich says: "The better conditions there provide a fetartling instance of the benefit of decentralisation, combined with the entrusting of full power to _ a man of business training not afraid of exercising responsibility." On the subject of food: "The preparation, cooking, and distribution of the food left much to be desired. Excepting in one case there was no evidence of the adulteration of liquor at Liverpool." The report advocates the decentralising of camps as far as possible, and in conclusion urges the necessity of placing the administration in the_ hands of officers prepared to give their sympathetic and whole-hearted attention to the performance of their duties. "Recruits offering their lives for their country are entitled to reasonable care and comfort, without coddling or pampering. . Spartan-like methods, while increasing the expense, imptfirs tho efficiency and diminishes the number offering. , •