THE STRAIN OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3068, 2 May 1917, Page 6

THE STRAIN OF WAR

ON PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE

MILITARY BOARD CALLS A HALT

On Monday last the. Second Military Service Board) consisting of Mr. J. \V. Poynton (chairman), and Messrs. T. A. Bambor and F. Curtice, with Captain Cowlishaw as the military representative, heard the appeal of the l'-üblic Trustee in respect to George Baird, a member of tho appellnnt's staff. The ground of appeal was.that calling up Baird would he contrary to tho public interest. The board made an inspection of the Public Trust Office and made exhaustive inquiries into the working of the office. It then gave & written decision as follows: — "This appeal will be dismissed, as M>r: Baird has been declared by tho Medical Board to be fit for homo service only, but the facts submitted are significant. The- Public Trust has had a greater strain put upon it by tho war than any other Government Department, except that of Defence. It has t<> administer tho estaies of deceased soldiers, of which there are more than 2000 now in the office, with fresh hatches coming in every week. It has also from 300 to 400 agencies of absent soldiers to attend to. It prepares at Trentham tho wills of soldiers, assists the Defence Department in paying arrears of pay to next-of-kin of deceased soldiers, receives appointments by trustees, agents, and executors (by delegation) of such as enlisting, takes over as custodian the management of ■enemies' properties, sees to the winding up of enemy firms and companies, and acts as tho committee of estates of alien prisoners of war. "The .male staff is at present 187. Those over military age number 15. In the Second Division there aro 33; in the First 66; and xuider military ago 73. At tho front there are 80, and being called iip 30. "The work of the Public Trust Office is not like that of somo other Departments. The members of the stafE dealing with- over 12,000 estates of different sorts, mortgages, Native reserve transactions, and otnor matters, must be skilled in their respective kinds ot work. -Extra or temporary hands cannot' do it, and it would be- wrong to place a greater strain on tho office than it'now bears by the further depiction of its permanent officers. "It has done enough, and, in our opinion, its trained men should bo oxempt, or at least should not be further drawn -upon until the First Division is exhausted."