RAILWAY APPEALS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3081, 11 May 1917, Page 6

RAILWAY APPEALS

DEPARTMENT'S OFFER j RELEASING MEN BY INSTALMENTS. ' The position of railwaynien who . lave been drawn in the ballots was further discussed before the Third Wellington Military Service Board in the Old Parliamentary Buildings yes- . terday. The board consisted of Mr. • ;H. Sefton Moorhouso (chairman), Mr.;A. O'L. Considine, and Mr. M. J. : ;Mack. Captain P. Baldwin, Assist-ant-Director of Recruiting, was the military representative. The board had before it a large batch of appeals made by tho Railway Department on hehalf of members of its staff. ' Mr. R. W. M'Villy,' Assistant-Man-ager of Railways, appeared in support "of the Department's application for the temporary exemption of 397 men ,-' in various grades of the service. He 6aid that the 397 names 3id hot iri- . elude' men drawn in the sixth ballot, hut ,the Department, in order to deal with the question.. comprehensively, had taken those men into account m -preparing its own proposals. He mentioned that up to the present time 826 railwaymen had been drawn in the various ballots, and the Department had appealed for 569 of them. The Department had allowed 257 balloted men to go into camp without appeal, and it had also spared 112 voluntary re.cruits. Captain Baldwin: These men went into camp, with the concurrence of the Department? .•; Mr. M'Villy: "Yes." He, added ■ that of the 826 balloted railwaymen, • 94 had either had their appeals-al-lowed or had been pronounced medicalunfit. Ho had a'Droposal to submit to tha board. The heads of the Department had looked into the posi- '. tion from the point, of view of the railway service, and had decjded that in consideration of the reduced train service that was to come into operation on May 13, the Department could release 150 men, say, within a fortnight, so soon as the necessary transfers could be effected. He had balloted from 569 names and drawn out 200 men by the ballot, and these names he had placed on a list-(handed .to the ■board). He presumed that as the men understood that it was the Department which had appealed for them they would be given an opportunity ot lodging a personal appeal if they The chairman: Wo will arrange «?*&' illy said for every one ' ot the ISO men who might be rejected the Department would be prepared to give a fit man. Captain Baldwin: Supposing only 80 are found to be fit y .*'»: Then we will have a - further-ballot and make up the deficiency. No undue preference is be- : M Villy added that he thought the : proposal the ' Department was making ' was a fair one from the Department'!! point of view, and should be acceptable ] to the board. Later, when they had ' some experience of the new time-table, they might he able to let further men ] go, and so on to the irreducible mini- , mum, after which there would have to oe a further and drastio cut in the ' train, services, if necessary, and so on i .- to the end of the wax. The Department had! already let 5452 men go from its service to join the Expeditionary ' JJorce since the* outbreak of the war • Captain Baldwin: With the sanction ot the -"Railway Department, and do ~ they retain their status? . ' . Mr. M'Villy: Yes. They have the j light to return to the service. Owing • : .tothe conditions created by the war,. ] the; Department had had great difficulty in keeping men,in its service, \ and beginning of the war , there had been 2883 resignations, re- ! presenting 20 per cent, of the < staff at 4 the outbreak of war A quite oonsidi- 1 erable portion of these men. were trained men the Department did not want T to lose. Taking the men who had re- , signed with the men who had been let < go, it would bo seen that the Depart- c inent's staff had been very materially , reduced. Railway work, he added, was strenuous and exaoting work, and it r was essential, for'the safety of the public the efficiency, of the rail- - , .way,system of the country, that a proper proportion of trained men should -be retained in the service. It was just the same in other occupations and professions, including, the military. Mr. Considine: How.many men does • the Department employ altogether? t: Mr. M'Villy: Including supernume- ' rary (casual) men, 20,000, and many of these casual men who have come to our assistance from time to time are „ _just as good as our regular men. : Mr. M'Villy, continuing, said that - it had been represented that the De- [ partment was dismissing men, but he wished to say that the Department did' o - not dismiss men except for serious offences. During the two years and a " half of war the .number of men dis- ci missed had been only 162. ; Captain Baldwin: The isuggestion :■'. made at this board, I think, was not that men were being dismissed, but \ that they were not being omployed to , their fullest trained capacity. ;, ._ Mr. M'Villy: That is always done •■■': in the Railway Service. In regard to _ when a man's offence had been expiated he was reinstated. Touching on another aspect of the • question, Mr. M'Villy said that the railwaymen, since the outbreak of war, had been working continuously without any relief for their annual /holidays, aad had done so uncomplainingly. The Department was not seeking to put any obstaole in the way of men /going into camp and granting fa them privileges they wore entitled to, and had told them so. _.

Mr. Considine: If the men forego thoir holidays, do they get any extra remuneration ? Mr. M'Villy: They have been told that when the war is over their holidays will bo made up to them.

In the course of further evidence tlie assistant-general manager said that the extent of tho work done by the Railway Department ought to ho understood. The average number of train miles run per day was 29,893, and no fewer than 78,956 passengers and 20,354 tons of goods were carried daily. An enormous amount of work had to be done in connection with the Expeditionary Forces. The Department, at the instance of the military authorities, had run during the period of the war 5519 special trains in the North' Island, and about 500 in the South Island. That work in itself made neo-ee-wuy tho retention of a margin of st-ai!, and it should he remembered that ptwtically all the trains had to he nm at short notices. He thought that what he had said would justify the Department in asking the board to accept the proposition made to release 160 men at once.

In reply to Captain Baldwin, Mr. M'Villy stated that about 1400 men nf the First Division wore still in the service of the' Department. Of this number 825 had bpen drawn, leaving about 570 not yet drawn.

Captain Baldwin: Therefore you have 1150 men, of which number the Department pronose to give 150. which means that 9SO men of the First Division are for the present being held hack by the Department from military service?

Mr. M'Villy said that the figures

quoted by Captain Baldwin were correct, but he objected to the insinuation that the Department was holding back men who could be spared. Tho policy of the Department had been to spare as many men for military service as possible, consistent with the efficient and safe running of the train services required by the Government. Captain Baldwin: There is no comment and no insinuation. I am merely trying to get certain figures. It really means that these men will be remaining in the shelter of the Department. Mr. M'Villy: You have no right to comment or insinuate that the Railway Department is sheltering (anyone from military service. Captain Baldwin: Anyhow, .you will still have 980 men of the First Division in your employ. Mr. M'Villy: Yes, when we take out the 150 men. Captain' Baldwin: A proportion of those men wiJL I suppose, be medically unfit? '

Mr. M'Villy: I am not prepared to say. In balloting yesterday I left out any man who lias been before a medical : board and- shown to be unfit. • Every man ou entering .the Railway Service has to undergo a strict examination, and very few of them Lave been rejected for military service.

Captain Baldwin: So that of the 980 men very few, presumably, will be rejected?

Mr. M'Villy: I slionld think very few.

Captain Baldwin: Of the numbers who have volunteered and those who resigned, how many places have you filled?

Mr. M'Villy: About 6000, and we have some 2000 vacancies at the present time, even with tbe employment of a large number of casual and temporary hands.

Captain Baldwin': Then you were able, with that reduced staff, to carry on the normal railway traffic up to the time of tho reduction in the services?

. Mr*. M'Villy: "Yes; but only by asking the men to work overtime." He added that under the new time-table the Department hoped to avoid excessive overtime. The proposal was to manage with a two-man shift instead of a three-man shift. The Department was trying to restrict the service with a period of twelve hours daily. He could not say exactly how many train miles would be run under -the new time-table. ' The results would have to be worked out. .

Captain Baldwin: its this large scheme of train reduction to represent the release of only 150 men?

Mr. M'Villy: I did not say so. The Department's ballots will be continued 'until we arrive" at the irreducible minimum of staff required for the reduced service. ...■'-.

Captain Baldwin: How will you arrive at that?

Mr. M'Villy: Only by experience. Captain Baldwin: How long will it take? . \ *■ ' Mr. M'Villy: I cannot say. Captain Baldwin: When may we expect a further instalment of men?

Mr. M'Villy: We propose to ballot for further nien at as close intervals as possible. My own idea is that in about three or "four weeks we could have another ballot, and after that at shorter intervals. . •'

Captain Baldwin: I have always found that in these matters a definite date is an excellent thing. Mr. M'Villy: Well, if you were in my place 'you would be forced to do exactly what I have to do.

Captain Baldwin: Cannot you give us even an approximate date? Mr. .M'Villy: About four weeks. The Assistant-General Manager added that the Department intended to send its Krst Division men into oamp before the Second" Division men in all branches of the, service. The board could take his definite assurance on that point. :

The chairman suggested the. desirability of having the selected railwaymen medically examined as soon as possible, for their own advantage and the information of.the , Department, which might be. required to make further arrangements. The board intended'to examine the list supplied by Mr. M'Villy and to give the opportunity of personal appeal to every man concerned. Then if there was a shortage to bo made-up the Department could be informed of the fact.

Mr. "M'Villy said that the Department would undertake to provioe'a fit.. man in place of any rejected man, in order to bring the total number of recruits tip to 150. He. had drawn 200 names in order to allow a margin. The board adjourned the railwaymen's appeals before it for four weeks.