MAILS FOR THE FRONT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2584, 5 October 1915, Page 8

MAILS FOR THE FRONT

SOLDIERS' COMPLAINTS.

Numerous complaints from soldiers in Egypt and Gallipoli that they are' not receiving letters. and parcels sent to 'them, from: Now ' Zealand, were brought before tlio Prmie-Mmister m the Houso' yesterday.. Mr. J. A. Young rea,d. .letters from' the parents, of soldiers about the. matter. A young artilleryiiian at the front' had, not received letters • for.

five weoks, although lie had been writ-' ten .-to'regularly. ■ Another 'young, man suffering;,from enteric, writing from "aconvalescent camp at Port* Said,, said flat ho. had received no letters from New Zealand for ten ...weeks, - although, be,' and.ihe British soldiers with him',' received-letters regularly from England.-. This: soldier's: parents had 'written .frequently j. ; aud, further, they had : . never, , been' advised that their son was. suffer•ingr'from ; typhoid.. Similar . instances ,'of: an unsatisfactory delivery of mails in Egypt were brought forward by Mr. C. H. Poolo and Mr. A., E. Glover.

The :.Prime Minister acknowledged that, the matter required looking into, .and he hoped that the--fey«tem would be improved; in the near future.' . The .matter 1 was' : a; difficult one." The (New Zealand Headquarters were at Gallipoli, and; mails:'ivere sent: there. Letters had then to be sent back after wounded men in Egypt and elsewhere,;• and confusion had apparently arisen in -connections with'this.

Referring to. this subject last ; nisftt the "Defence. Minister; said that he had bad definite: intimation- from many sources that at least some of the mails had been regularly delivered. He knew there J were ,(complaints, ' legitimate no doubt; that, certain parcels and letters ,iyere not delivered;, .One explanation lie •had! had of: this was that some of the mails were destroyed by shell fire on the beaches. Another explanation was that ! ! letters • andparcels might : follow a man: for . soine : A time' without reaching him. A soldier'might be wounded and taken-from Gallipoli. before his mail reached him,' and the: letters would'.be returned to the base, to be reforwarded from ' there to the : hospital in . 1 Egypt, : Port' Said, Malta, or England, to which the particular wounded man might' be sent;, All this would cause delay, and there .were :chauces that letters might not roach him.: It might be possible that parcels a-s far as he knew: a fairly good check was kept on them ,at this end, but lie did not think letters were stolen. -Ho'; knew, as a .fact, .however, thatj parcels were being delivered right up in the trenches.. The delay iii tlic delivery of mails was, of course, one of .the matters about which- Colonel Rhodes' would inquire.