LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3165, 17 August 1917, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE HEALTH OF OUR SOLDIERS' Sir,—Every week-end some thousands of our troops leave the cauips, generally for Wellington, on what is the slowest passenger service yet known in New Zealand. The troop, trains travel at less than twelve miles per hour, and tuna the trip from i'cathcrston, 'the largest camp, lasts about lour hours. Ihe men are packed very closely in guards yans, in fact when one sees the very ( largs number of guards' vans on a troop trail! it would appear that there are inoro guards' vans than passenger cars in NeuZealand. Such, however, is wrong, the opposite being the case; in fact, I undery stand that for every guard's van the KaiTway Department has, there are several passenger cars. Due to tlie reduced traiE services running throughout New Zealand since May, many passenger car* should he available for the troops, but it would seem that the Kailway Department has not thought of this, but hast remembered that it means still more available guards' vans. Each van carries many soldiers, and the average air space p..- liian is less than a third of what: good health and physical efficiency demand, especially on so long a. trip. fo> these vans thero are no windows, _ and; thus air, nor even light, can be admitted.

However insanitary ana unsavoury as' these conditions are. there are others, perhaps, worse. It is almost unbelievable in these modern days of health _ inspectors, sanitary plumbers, and medical men, but on these trains there ars absolutely no latrine or w.c. conveniences, and yet each troop train carries moro passengers than any other passenger train in New Zealand. The smallest; house in any town would very quickly bo condemned if it had no such convenir ences, yet with soldiers apparently they do.not matter. Surely soldiers require" these conveniences much the .=aiue as other people? Someone, perhaps, will remind me that troop trains have occasional stops en the way. Very true, generally every trip there is a stop lasting from half to a full hour. At,this place there are no conveniences, nor at the other stopping places are there conveniences to cope with the needs of large - numbers of men in a few-minutes. Will the Public' Health, authorities see to the matter ?

It is an unfortunate commentary on this abominable state of affairs that the. more responsible authorities travel ;i>. other trains or -:tliet carriages ivHett have all the conveniences, even comforts., avaiiaKe anywlnre in .New Zeamm?.— I am. etc., JUNIUS' JUNIOR. DR. THACKER AND SIR JAMES ALLEN Sir,—When Dr. Thacker some days ago animadverted upon the conduct of Colonel Gibbon and other Imperial officers Sir James Allen replied: "\ou must not I touch my officers." Dr. Thacker, according to this morning's paper, brought forward the matter of a private who was a, qualified dentist, going away in the ranks when there was so much urgency for this man's services among the Forces in a professional way. Dr. Thacker mentioned the private's name, and Sir James observed that names of soldiers ought not to be brought up in the House. But, sir, I would ask in what other way can the mistakes or blunders of Sir James 3 officers be otherwise dealt with? Another burning question at the present time is one affecting commissions granted, to the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, and Twenty-ninth Reinforcements. For the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth. Reinforcements some 20' to 25 commissions were granted. W.hen it ca™eto the Twenty-ninth only five were allotted. The• peculiarity of the Twenty-ninths was this: the N.C.O.'s were divided into two sections, and Sir James s officer determined that only five commissions should be granted, and four of these weregranted to the First Division, or section, at Trentham. The fifth commission was given to the Specialist Corps of the Twenty-ninth at Featnerston. All the commissions for this Twenty-ninth Keiniorcement having been allotted, there was no necessity for the N.C.O.'s of the second section to sit at all. Under pressure of their officers, Sir James s Imperial functionary agreed to let the second section sit for the qualifying examination. There was no hope of commissions for them; they knew that before they sat Their examination was more or less of a sham aud ouite perfunctory, and under pressure only one commission was granted to the second section. A square <W1 from the National Government in this case would have been to grant an equal number of commissions to the second section as to the first, and this, I believe, Sir James himself, desiring m alt conscience to deal justly and Iwnestlj with the men, would have granted; but . his officer had determined, otherwise, the. \ C O '« of the second half of the Twenty, ninth,'indeed of the whole Twenty-ninth, have gone away strongly sensitive to the conviction that they have no been dealt with fairly by tho Imperial officei, in. whose hands Sir James apparently is. That is altogether apart from the die parity of granting over a score of commissions to* the preceding cmituißßnt «v* only sis to tho Twenty-ninth. I oelicvo the National Government, as a Government, would not tolerate this kind of induct if it was able to control it; and it is this kind of conduct that is making or Sir James himself tho ™VT tt amidst which he. finds himself at tta . nrengnt time. It fa conduct of thisi kind ' that is calculated to bring, the irhote_of the members of the National Government into the ill-favour of the elector*, hut thev have the remedy m their own hands?'and they should enough at all times to put tliat remedy ■ into am, etc., vtoight _