A DEFENCE PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2884, 23 September 1916, Page 11

A DEFENCE PROBLEM

HOfllE SERVICE

MAINTAINING THE STAFFS A suggestion has been made in several quarters lately that the Defence Department is employing within New 'Zealand fit men for military servico. Some hundreds of men, in uniform and out of it, are touched by a statement of this .kind,-and some of thorn have indicated already that thriy feel keenly tho. implied slur upon themselves. Some information upon tho subject was secured by a Dominion reporter yesterday in the courso of inquiries in official circles. The creation of tho Expeditionary Force and the establishment of the big training camps has involved tho . enlargement of the New Zoaland Staff, and it is scarcely necessary to stress that point. The work of the Staff has grown enormously, and it demands tho highest possible degree of efficiency at every stage. If New Zealand sent all 'its trained soldiers to the front and placed amateurs, or partially trained men, in. control of military matters at home, the result would bo a disastrous sacrifice of efficiency. It may be taken for granted, then, that the retention of a certain number of efficient soldiers in tho Dominion is essential, and will continue to be essential until the last Reinforcement has been dispatch-' ed. _■,-..-■ It is a fact that with scarcely an exception the Staff officers retained iu New Zealand havo made repeated applications for permission- to proceed to tho. front. This'applies to all ranks, and the refusals that have been issued by the Minister and the Commandant havo been dictated by tho actual needs of tho Defence. Department in this country. Tho policy of tho authorities has been to send forward every Staff man who, could be spared, and 'the; return of invalided men from tho front and other' factors- havo made it possible for the Department to r.eleaso a number of officers.' This policy is being continued, and almost every Reinforcement draft includes some officer who' has been ongaged in Staff work. Some of the men doing Staff work in New Zealand are not fit in a military sense, that is, they havo not been passed by the doctors as fit for service abroad. Men of all ranks may be accepted for "home service" when they have physical disabilities that disqualify them for service at the front. Tho Dofenco. Department does . not lightly grant permission to members of the training staffs at tho jamps to proceed to the front. 'Ihe creation of efficient training staffs was one of the problems of the' earlier sta-res oi the war. How well it was solved >& pjoved by -the achievements of tha New Zealand troops in the firing lioe. 'It is no seoret now that the War-Office was embarrassed seriously when oreatuig the new armies by tho fact that nearly all the experienced soldiers bad been sent forward with the original Expeditionary Force, thus rendering difficilt the formation of efficient training, s'affs. New Zealand was able to avoid that difficulty, and it has be»n the rule that t.o member of the training staff shall Irave for the front unless his place can bo filled adequately. 'L f he Doience authorities argue that it would be poui. economy to provide one efficient man for service at tho front by. spoiling the training'of a hundred men In New Zealand. Regarding the lower ranks—-non commissioned officers of the lloadqa.vrters and distriot staffs, olerks of various, grades, internment camp guards, and ,sd on—the rule,is that the list shall, -be scanned monthly with the objeot of discovering -fit menr-wbo can -be spared without any sacrifice of efficiency, Tho number of returned soldiers, omployed by the Defence Department is increasing steadily. "If a man is retained in the Department as a olerk or in any other capacity," said it Staff officer yesterday, . "there is a reason for it. The case is bound to havo been considered. Th& process of weeding out the men who can be spared for active service has been continuous, and it is only fair to say that most of tho men are keen to get 'away. It is a fact, of course, that many a man who looks big and strong has. been rejected by the doctors for some defect that does not disqualify him for home service." A complaint very jiten heard is that returned soldiers, after serving the Department in some capacity .iu Now Zealand, and earning some extra stripes, are told that ithoy must revert to their original rank if thoy return to the front with a reinforcement. The explanation of this apparent -hardship is that the authorities,,in compliance with the regulations, are considering the interests of the man who has stayed at the front without a break. It is not considered fair that a man .who has been invalided to New Zealand should return to his unit, with a higher rank than is possessed by the comrade who has escaped wound and'sickness, and has remained to hear the trials of the campaign.