DEFENCE AFFAIRS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 180, 19 April 1918, Page 6

DEFENCE AFFAIRS

EXPENDITURE COMMISSION EVIDENCE OF EXTRAVAGANCE COSTLY CASUALTY NEWS LAX METHODS IN OFFICES WASTE ON THE TRANSPORTS

The Defence Expenditure Commission met yesterday morning for the hearing of evidence. Brigadier-General Sir Robert Anderson presided, and the other Commissioners, Mr. Peter Barr and Mr. Charles Rhodes, sat with him. Ben C. Warnes, officer in charge of correspondence at Base Records since July, 1915, gave evidence. He spoke first of the heavy cost of distributing casualty news throughout New Zealand. The major portion of the high cost, some .£300,000 for lists and war news since the beginning of tho war was for distribution of casualty news, and it could well have been much reduced. There were five words devoted to every soldier, ami as every message was until lately sent to all post offices, of which there were 2500 in New Zealand, it meant that 12,500 words of telegram were sent or received in respect of every man. At the Departmental rate of Is. per one hundred words, this would make .SG ss. per casualty. There had been some <10,000 casualties in the New Zealand Forces, so that the cost of distributing news was ,£250,000, paid by the Defence Department to tho General Post Office for tho work. This was quite useless expenditure. The chairman: Do you not think (he public should be immediately fully informed of all casualties? Don't* you think the sentimental reason transcends all others in this matter? AVitness: I will deal with that point later. Mr. Rhodes: Are these names seijt to every post office;'or to the Press? AVitness: They are telegraphed to every one of 2500 post offices in New Zealand. Some Improvement, Ho went 011 lo say that news of the first casualties came in April. 1015, and over since tlieii tin cost ui transmission of this news had been ,£250,000. Tuat this system had been found to be unnecessary, and admittedly an extravagance, was. proved by the lact that within the last month or two the Department had completely amended the system. The Department classified casualties according to the lour military districts, and district lists only were telegraphed to each district. This, he estimated, must have reduced the telegraphing cost by approximately 75 per cent. But as against this the Department now included an extra word per man, to name his home town. , Tike chairman: What was the reason for the change? AVitness: I think it was the result of general talk, and perhaps-of pressure of this kind. The cost per annum-of the present system would bo .£26,400. This sweeping reduction had been made without a single note of protest, and this showed that the whole sys'rfm was totally unnecessary. It had meant a sheer waste of about <£175,000 for the period of the war for sending all news to every office in New Zealand, the whole 2500 of them, soiiio of them little conntry stores, and some of them semi-privato residences. The chairman: They are not doing that now? Witness: They a.ro still sending the lists to all post; offices, but only the district lists were sent to the officcs in every district. Even now big lists were exhibited in remote districts to a mere handful of people. As soon as a casually list was received an urgent telegram was sent from Rase Records by tho Minister of Defence. This was always followed up by a message of sympathy from tho Governor 011 behalf of His Majesty the ICinpr. Then, otlher messages k were sent by Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph AVard to the next-of-kin. As soon as the first news was received by next-of-kin that a limn had *been casualtied, the next-of-kin themselves notified other relatives. It was not a matter of extraordinary urgency to exhibit the lists. A Suggestion. He would suggest that it be done in a different way. There was 110 need for' extreme urgency. For every person in Wellington who stopped to scan a casualty list there were twenty who stopped to read racing news. The lists would bo just as interesting if they were exhibited twenty-four horns or even forty-eight hours later. Ho would suggest that the lists be sent to the twenty chief post offices in tho Dominion. At these offices the lists could be copied and mailed to tho smaller offices. He calculated that under his system £10,100 would have paid for all this service. Tf it should be held desirable that all the 2500 post offices should lie advised of the casualties, then ho would suggest that this vule should apply only to deaths. The chairman: Was «. report made to the Government or a suggestion made 011 this mutter? . , Witness; I can't say. It was a Cabinet matter. •. ... The chnirmm: The position was this, was it not, that at the beginning ot the war the authorities were anxious to iOt everybody have the fullest information about the casualties, and the system was simplv allowed to go on? AVitness: That was the position. AObody thought then that it would develop into such a big thing. The expense at tho time seemed a small one, but 110 0110 thought the war would continue lor such a long time, or that the expenses in connection with casualty lists would become such a huge charge on the public funtl». He stated also that the rate charged for telegrams to next-of-kin were charged lor at the ordinary rates. Home Service Men. Mr Warnes gave evidence also about the payments made to men in home service. He said that there were 111011 111 the home service section wearing khaki, doing work that could be just as satislactorilv done by girls at two-thirds ol the cost' By "iving the men uniform and rank, in orSer that they might work 111 the Defence Department, the cost was increased without any corresponding increase in efficiency, lie would give to the Commission some instances. ' A was a temporary clerk in Base Records, under the Public Service Commissioner, in which position lie Imd received pay at the rale of lis. a day for six days a week. He was promoted to receive Ils. (id a day, the weekly pay being .£3 15s. He was 'attested for home service, and he was given the rank of stali-sergeant. For tiiis position lie received pay ot rank Bs. a day for seven days a week, plus 4s. a day messing allowance, equal to <£4 4s. a week. His wife received a separation allowance of Is. a day, and there were two children,- in respect Qf whom allowances were paid at the rate of 9(1. per day each. This brought the total puv of the man up to ..£5 Is. fid. a week.' This man was giving for tins no better service than he gave lor ,£;i 15s. a week under civilian control. In addition a home service man received a free issue of .uniform, underclothing, boots, and head-dress twice a year, and also a great-coat, the life of a great-coat being considered lo be four years. He also received free medical attention for himself, but not for his family. This medical attention was worth in the case of this man not less than ,£0 a year, and in addition he was not subject to deductions from his pay for being absent from duty owing lo sickness. Witness calculated that the man received .£278 a year, as against .£lO3 received by him as a civilian for the same work. There was another man whom he would call "B" in Base Records, whose ease was identical, and there were many parallels in manv branch!'* of the Defence Department, especially in the Recruiting ami the Pay Departments. Doing Well Out of the W-r. "I can tell you o 1 !'"• case of a man in Base Kecords," declared the witness, "who has'doubled his civil salary by getting a job iu the P■■''•••ice Department. This man was a clerk in a draper's shop in Dunedin. Hu was attested as a recruit, but was found unlit for active service, and he was given a position in the Base Records Office, with the rank of regimental sergeant-major. For this

I rank he received the pay of 9s. a day, with -Is. a day mess allowance, a shilling a day for his wife, and i)d. a. day for | eacli of his three children, a total of 16s. 3d. a day. Without taking account of other concessions, this man received .£297 a year, and he had doubled his salary owing to the war. He is in charge of a special sub-branch of tho office, which employs just thirteen hands." Witness went 011 to say that it was in his opinion quite wrong that these men on home service should receive separation allowances for their wives and children. Many of the men 011 home service did not desire to liavo this fr«e issue of underclothing, being accustomed in civil life to wear garments of finer cut apd texture. These men had to tako the kit that was issued, and he knew of men who had sold their kit, and bought better articles with tho proceeds. In his opinion the staffs in the home-service sections should nut be further militarised, but should be demililarised, and the salaries paid 011 a business scale. . Tho chairman: How are they paid now? Witness: I can't tell. It seems to me that men come in saying that they want a job at a certain rank, and they mostly get tho rank that they ask for. If a man is a returned soldier with the rai:k of sergeant, 110 will always get a job with that rank. Many of tho men coming into the office are men who have never been clerks at all before. Some of them have been mechanics or ! tradesmen of .other sorts. He consiner-j ed that girls could do tho work just ap well, and they could do it very much more cheaply. In one branch of the Base Records Office the average pay was ! .£174 a year, a very high average rate j of. pay for work that c'ould be done by girls. In another branch of the offico in which girls wore almost exclusively employed, tho rate of pay averaged ,£94 per head. Some of the 111011 employed, witness said, would be very glad lo retain their .positions at £2 2s. or ,£2 10s. a week. These were the men who were being paid better now than they had ever been before in their lives. Much money could be saved by reducing these men to civilian status again, ami paying them as civilians a fair rate of pay for the work they did. Cost of Telecrams. Witness said he would like also to refer to the very large expense of tho great numbers of telegrams sent by Uifiercnt branches «■£ ths Defence 'Department. Thero was a constant stream of telegrams in and out of Wellington every day. Witness produced a number of those telegrams to show that thero was very little attempt made at condensation iu the framing of these messages, and that very often the telegraph was used when the letter post would suffice. The chairman: Does this arise because of the idea thai it is out ot ono pocket into another? Witness: "1 think so. That is the whole spirit. Thero is 110 attempt at economy at all." He said that many of tlieso messages should be coded, but thero was no code in the Defenco Department. Other Schemes. Witness had a suggestion to make for tho supply of milk to Trentham and Featlierston Camps from farms which might be acquired by the Government in the vicinity. This scheme did not impress the chairman of the commission, who said that perhaps thero would be difficulty and loss by reason of the difficulty that would bo encountered in finding tho 1110.11 to control the farms, and generally to manage tho business. .Ho had another proposal with regard to transport. Ho said that the Government was a very good customer of tho Union Company, by reason of the fact that so mail}- men had lo be taken to and from the South Island at tho expense of tho Department, aud t.liey always went in ships belonging to the company. As the llonowai was tho ship most freely i.sed for tho transport of troops on the coast of New Zealand 110 would suggest that the Department acquire the ship and use her for this purpose, and for the carriage of troops 011 aiiother route. In spare "time she could be used for the carriage of goods. He had been informed that the llonowai returned to her owners a profit of ,£IOOO a month or .612,000 a year. Ho considered that if she were used by the Defence Department, even allowing for inefficiency in management t'lmt seemed to be inseparable from Government enterprises, there would bo a saving to tho country of =£5000 or ,£6OOO a year. The chairman: What is tho ship worth ? Witness: The llonowai was built 25 years ago for about .£IOO,OOO. The chairman: But what'is she worth to-day? Is she worth ,£100,000? AVitness: I suppose they would say she was. Tlic chairman argued that .£12,000 a year was not a very big return from a shipping venture, on an outlay of ,£IOO,OOO, and there was a good chance that tho Government would not be able to make the ship pay at all. The company had an organisation all over the Dominion with trained exports in charge, and the Government would be without this organisation. He suggested that under had management it was possible to lose more money at shipping than at any other venture. Next-of-Kin Passes. Mr. Warnes gave evidence about the issue of free tickets to next-of-kin to visit ports to meet returning soldiers. He considered that these passes were totally unnecessary. A man should bo welcomed in his home town, and it would be 110 hardship for the next-of-kin to have to wait there to receive him. As tilings wore now. free tickets would he issued to next-of-kin in Wellington to meet a soldier arriving at Auckland, and that the soldier would be entrained for Wellington immediately after 'his arrival. All that the next-of-kin would get for their long journey would he a few hours' talk with the man. A transport recently brought GOO meft back to this countrv. and the average cost of the next-of-kin passes to meet the men on this ship was .£2 nor soldiei —a total of ili!0fl. Calculated 011 this basis, the total expenditure on next-of-kin passes must 'have been upwards of X,15,000 to date. About Transports. Captain Colin Francis Post, giving evidence, said that he gave his services lo the Transport Board free of charge, being assisted by his chief engineer on the Tutanekai, Hr. J. ll'Pherson. He gave an account of the duties of the board as originally defined, but he said that a number of those duties wore now performed by others. He described the sort of work that might have to be done to fit out a ship for the carriage of troops. There were not many yards in_New /calami which could do this wort, but he was satisfied that there was 110 combination of firms to keep up contract prices. However, tho board had not done any work in ships for two years. The companies were now paid so much per head for the carriage of men, and the companies made their own alterations. This was a better arrangement, because then tho companies vould not be able to make extravagant claims when tho ship had to be reconditioned. The new plan v.as adopted with the full consent of tho board. He thought it would be a good plan to add to the Transport Board a good shipping man->a man with'knowledge of traffic business—and allow the board to direct the movements of all transports as well as the fitting out of the ships. The board had now no powers outside of New Zealand, and no powers to control tho movements of ships in any way. Waste in England. The chairman produced reports from masters of ships showing that expensive ami needless work had been done in their ships in England. In one report it was stated that men were in e\ery room in the ship, and it was 110 uncommon thing to find the men smoking and playing cards. One of the holds on this ship was painted out lour while siie was at Liverpool being repaired. 'Hie master declared thai ihe who- busings was scandalous. The mas.eiv; of sli:fj= shouln |\ive been consulted always before any ! work of this iiatiiiv was d-r.iu on ihe advice or at the request of men who bad no knowledge of ships. Captain I'ost and Mr. ll'Pherson svl !hat the reports » .cry gruv state of disouiiii. '1 lif.v said tii.il ships left here propVy !!.!■'.! nut and repairs at Home should inner nave been necessary. Captain I'ost raid that in his opinion some oi r!ir ih iri;n»poits in England was 100 ehibura.c./ ami expensively done, ft was always, in his experience, well done. One ship had been fitted out here with a hospital I aud good plant fit to deal with 1400 men.

Before her last voyage, 011 which she brought only SOO men, heavy expense was incurred in fitting out a hospital with a beautiful plant quite fit for a hospital ship. Captain Post said that every ship that came out here from England as ii transport was fitted with a helmet room" mid "baggage room," in accordance with old British Army regulations. AVe had 110 use for these rooms, "Im 'key j lat ' to be torn down again. UlO chairman asked how the work was done 011 the ships that had been altered, was heavy lead used in nil the new piping for water, and so on? Captain Post said that heavy lead with sweated joints had been used up till now. The chairman! England must be a rich conntryl Captain Post: The first ship in which they had used zinc as we do here was one I inspected this morning. They are at last coming round to our way of doing things. Mr. ll'Pherson: They must be forced to do it by this time, because they cannot_get the stuff to use. When (lie chairman asked for a suggestion as to how this sort of thins coukl be prevented in England, Mr. ll'Pherson said that the only thing to <!o was to appoint a man with a strong iron jaw, and with rank so high that he would not be over-ruled. Nothing else would be any good. It was a scandalous thing that a lot of workmen should be sent down into the engine-room of a ship and set to cut the pipes without (lie engineer being consulted as (0 what should be done. "I've seen tho day when I would have scattered a few of them if they came into my engine-room," Mr. ll'Pherson said. A case was mentioned in which the engineer did venture a protest, saying that ho had never been consulted, and the reply he got wis that they would lake the — tunnel out without consulting him." It seemed to be clear that the expenses of all tho unnecessary work on these snips would have to be borne bv the Imperial Government, and not by 'the New Zealand Government. Captain Post paid a tribute in conclusion to the Union Company, which, ho said, had rendered inestimable service lo this country in providing such fine ships tor transport and other work, and in performing any work for the Government with the greatest passible dispatch.. He snul that the Union Comnany had played tho gnme in a manner that was beyond praise, and that was not nearly enoucrh appreciated by the public. The Commission will resume the hoarui£ of evidence to-day.