OFFICERS ALLOWANCES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2696, 16 February 1916, Page 5

OFFICERS ALLOWANCES

REVISED SOALE. <1 a Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. Allen) informed a reporter yesterday thut the Department had agreed, in view of the increasing cost of material, to raise the amount of the allowance for officers' uniforms from £20 to £25. ~ It had also been determined that as the sword was now of no service it need not be taken, and in this way' a saving of £2 _ 2s. would be effected. Having gone into the requirements of an officer on service, both in regard to his kit and personal clothing (underclothing and so forth), and having had tneso checked by officers who have recently come out from England, the Department had come to ijhe conclusion that an officer could obtain all he really v required, except field glasses, revolvers, etc., for £23 18s. 3d., in the case of infantry men and £24 18s. 9d. in the case of the mounted men. "I am sorry to say," added the Minister, "that some parents 'and others who supply officers with uniforms, etc., include many unnecessary things, 'which cannot be taken to the front, and which have to be left behind. That is where the waste is going, on. The calculation we have made is based on the things supplied to Imperial officers." It is understood, in regard to mounted officers, that saddlery, etc., will be issued from the Ordnance Store. It is also understood that field glasses, pistols, -and pistol pouches, if not already given as gifts,to officers, will be issued at the front—i.e., they will be served out as, rifles l are, and will have to be returned subsequently. They will, in other words, remain the property of the country. Tliis new arrangement will be in force as from January 1, 1916, but it ■ will apply to all officers who are in camp at the present time, and are in training for the new units or reinforcement drafts, even though they entered ramp prior to January 1 last. The irrangement will not date farther back lan that.