NEW ZEALAND WAR DEPARTMENTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 46, 17 November 1917, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND WAR DEPARTMENTS

BASE RECORDS, RECRUITING, AND TH PAY BRANCH

THE STAFFING QUESTION

EMPLOYMENT OF RETURNED SOLDIER

The war has brought into existence in New Zealand three largo and very important branches,of tho Dofence Department, each of them performing a special function in connection with • tho Expeditionary Force. They are Base Records, the Recruiting, Branch, and Pay Branch. Each of these Departments iias grown rapidly from very 6mall beginnings, and the limit of their growth is not yet reached. They employ among Ihem many hundreds of girls, women, ,hoine service soldiers and civilians. They are kept very much in the public eye, sinco their work affects directly tens of thousands of civilians as well as soldiers, and their opportunities 'for service and also for error are very wide.indeed. These Departments have Teceived a great deal of adverse criticism at various times. They have been accused of being over-staffed, over-paid, inefficient, and wasteful. It has been stated freely that they harbour fit men who ought to be at the front, and that they aro not conducted on the best business lines. Some of these charges are to bo investigated by the commission that the Prime Minister has promised to 6et up to examine Defence expenditure, and others concern 'matters of fact that come under the observation of any to "the Departments. A Dominion reporter who made some inquiries recently gathered some interesting, information fin several of. the points raised. ._ How "Base Records" has Grown. .. The Departments have been created during tho war, they have been continually in a 6tate of growth, and they have worked out methods and systems without many precedents to guide them. In the early days of Base Records, for example, it was enough to have a simple method of indexing soldiers' files, bo that' the papers of any particular man could be turned up when, information was required concerning him. But to-day-the branch has over 100,000 files, and yet it is able to answer a telephone inquiryregarding any particular man. It provides employment for more than 200 persons, who attend to a hjghly organised system of indexes and records, handle longthy and involved casualty lists f-.wiftly and accurately, and keep in touch with tho military history of every member of the New Zealand Forces from enlistment to discharge or death. Bbso Records has a military.staff of 61 men, of whom 35 are returned soldiers. The remaining 26 are .unfit for active service, or else are over age. Preference is given to returned soldiers in filling places on the 6taff, but the invalided men available do not always possess the.-recraire* qualifications. The mala civil staff numbers 22, including boys and the civil heads of branches. All these men are either unfit or else are members of the Second Division, and they are subject to the ballot, jiwt l.ke any. other reservists. The female staff < numbers 91, and in addition there is a • volunteer staff of women who have given ! their time'whenever it was needed to ■ assist tho work-of the branch.

The Recruiting Branch. The Recruiting Branch, which has the administration of the Military Sen-ice Act, is irf much the 6ame position as regards ' staff. It has grown tffen moro rapidly' than Base Eecords, and tho mass of work it handles is enormous. It receives from the Government Statistician , the names of the men drawn • in the ballots; sends out the official notices, and then keeps track of each recruit until be is received into camp or dealt with finl- - in some other way. It receives appeals and distributes them to the Military Service Boards, issues instructions as to attestation and medical- examina-tion,-'classifies- recruits according to'fitness,' ocotipation, and 60- forth, and pursues; with the" assistance of the the missing men and the shirkers. One of .the problems of the Itecruiting Branch has beeii to find room for unavoidable expansion as the volume of "its work grow.. 'It has been' driven to change quarters; four times since it started operations in, a. room at Defence Headquarters,^'.arid'at present it occupies tw ; o floors of a big city building. The branch employs no fit First-Division men. Its staff consists of girls' and women, returned soldiers, homo service soldiers, and a few male civilians, who are either over ago or are Second Division men subject to the ballot. It .is suggested sometimes that the Defence branches ought not to employ fit men at all, and a matter of practice they employ very few fit men. But a visitor gathers an impression that a •hard and fast rule on. this point micht not be conducive to' efficiency. The branches require a great deill of skilled clerical work to be performed underjfairly arduous conditions. • They wort a considerable amount of overtime, particularly when ballots or casualty lists are bcine handled, and their staffs must be capable of labouring under stress at tin?es. ■' The reporter was informed that returned soldiers possessing tho qualifications required for the higher grades of work in the Defence brq.ne.hes have not generally shown desire to in the service. They realise that the employment is temporary, since the war must end some day, and usually they can.earn more money outside. They feel that thoy have "done their bit" and that duty difes not bold them to the uniform. There is room at the Dresent timo for returned soldiers qualified to serve as correspondence clerks, for example. Orderlies, who may require no special qualifications, aro easy to obtain.