DEFENCE AFFAIRS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 200, 13 May 1918, Page 6

DEFENCE AFFAIRS

BASE RECORDS OFFICE

RECENT CRITICISM

DIRECTOR IN REPLY

Tho Defence Expenditure Commission heard further evidence on Saturday. Sir Eobart Anderson, chairman of the Commissiun, sat with Mr. Charles Rhodes. Mr. A. I). Thomson, Assistant Public Servico Commissioner, was examined as to the 6upp!y of civilian officers to the mililiiry branch. There were two authorities supplying the staffs, which was unsatisfactory. In the War Expenses Branch there was only one soldier, in Base Records the heads of Departments were civilians, and in the KccruiMng BraJich there was only one civilian. To havo soldiers and civilians working together in this way was apt to cause jealousy and friction. There-had, however, been no friction arising out of this as between the Defenco Department and the Public Service Commissioner.

! A Civilian Head? I Witness, on being asked whether ho ! had any suggestions to make, said: "I i cannot say that 1 have. We have not ! diecussed tho matter as to whether we should offer any suggestions for an alteraI tion of any kind. There was a proposal before the war broke out that thero should be a civilian Secretary of Defence, i who would control all the clerical branch, ; and if that system had been in force no ! doubt ho would have had control of- all tho work of recruiting, pay, and base : records. That fell through. Tho idea ! was to appoint a good man, starting at ' .E7OO a year, who would undertake the financial'part of the work." The chairman suggested that a firstclass man should be appointed in charge of all administration at .£IOOO a .year. Witness: Our idea was .that the beeretftiT should come next to the Com-mand'or-in-Ciiiof. Ho would be the head man for all branches, including account, ing for atores. The chairman: You would want something moro than a secretary for that. ' Witness: Our idea was to focus all the I civilian staff under a civilian head, who I would bo responsible for all work done. Witness, replying to a question, eaiil that there really had been no irregularities in connection with funds or The' chairman said that "New Zealand was the only country in the Empire where there had not been frauds m connection with the war. He considered that we had been very fortunate, and that tho record was u very line one. A Soldier's "Crimes." Major Norton Francis, Director of Base Kecords, was invited to make suggestions to the Commission. Ho proceeded to refer to Colonel MDonalds evidence, but before ho had gone far with it Colonel Tato, Adjutant-General arrived, and took up the matter. Wha. he came to state was that Colonel M Uonald had made n mistake in his evidence about military history sheets in Base EeThis question was argued at porno length by the members of the Uiniroiseion and Colonel Tato. . The official statement mado by Major Frwicis was that tho question about the entering of certain matters on the military history sheets had linen careiuliy considered. King's Regulations provided that when a unit look the field both the regimental and company conduct sheets of its members were to be passed to the officer in command of records. At the conclusion of the campaign, or wiieu si soldier returned home, theso sheets would bo completed from the entries made in the field conduct sheets, It had been deemed advisable to enter theso up on the special form provided for use ! in this country, because although many entries would only be found in tho company conduct sheet, it was necessary to enter them as proof of stoppages ot pay. which were frequently disputed by the i soldier on his return before his accounts [ could be settled in this country, a tie system in use here enabled proof to be »iven to tho soldier when otherwise the case might have had to bo referred to the pav office overseas for particulars. All the' entries on this form tvero mado l)v a staff of girl clerks. • As many of these girls were absolutely untrained when they commenced their duties, it would easily bo understood that it would bo impossible for them to differentiate between the entries which might be made separately upon regimental and company conduct sheets, although the regulations provided that this should only bn done at tho conclusion of the campaign, or when the soldier returned home. The form used in Base Kecords was a confidential document, nnd there could be no real objection td .the entries, normally made on regimental and company conduct sheets at the end of the war, being made thereon, as the information was used simply for departmental purposes. Without tlie possession of this information in this country it would be impossible to assess the character of a soldier on discharge, and in the assessment of character only those entries which would appear on a regimental conduct sheet were taken into account.

Question of Legality. . It was not agreed that the entries made in the form in Base Records were illegal Colonel M'Donald had overlooked the fact that regimental and company conduct sheets were not now kept Jiy units in l-he field, being Teplacwl by tho field conduct sheet, which was not can'cclled after six months of service, as was' the case with the company contact sheet in peaoa time. It was urged by Major Francis that the present system in Base Kecords in regard to this matter was Hie only one that was practicable, as any system of keeping tho records 'separate from the history sheets would be very cumbrous, and prohibitive in cost. . . ~ The chairman of the Commission said that the'matter was not really one within the scope of the Commission. It had been only briefly referred to by Colonel It' Dona Id with "other matters, and they I had not stopped him. but the subject was really one in which the CommispiV was not" interested. He did express some doubt, however, as to whether under the system in operation the records of men's "crimes" were being Kept confidential, as the;.- ought to be. Records and Pay. Major Francis went on to discuss thu ominous exyre-ssed l>y Colonel ii'Uonald to the eft'ecc that .£7OOO was lost owing to base Kecords not being housed in the same building as r'nc War Expenses branch. As no details were given it was not possible to know how the amount was made up. It was admitted that it would bo more convenient to have Q.M.G.4 under one roof with Hase Kecords, as was the case in the early days of the war, but owing to the growth of both branches it was found impossible to house them both in the one building, except at the cost of a very large capital expenditure, which was not considered to be warranted. The actual cost to the Department on account of tho buildings being separated was estimated at .£250 per annum, as it was considered that the time of one and a half I men was employed in the carriage of files between the two branches. Lieu-tenant-Colonel M'Donald had probably included other costs, such as the making out of transit slips, but it must be remembered that this would have to bo done even if the two offices u'erc under the one roof. Soldiers or Girls as Clerks. Major Francis made some references to Che evidence given More tho Commission by Mr. h. C. Warnes, of Base Records stall. It was recognised, he said, that this criticism was offered in the interests of the effice, but as Mr. AVarncs's experience was limited to tho correspondence, ii« was naturally at a disadvantage in discuwiiig the executive and other sections. Mr. Warnss was carroct in saying that il girls were employed in some of the work now done by soldiers, some saving could he made, but it was the policy of the Government to give employment to returned men, and it was not the desire of the Government that returned soldiers should be dischiwged to make way for girls. The presence, of a number of male clerks in Base Records was imperative, as thoro

was much clerical work to bo dono when drafts of returned men came back, which could not l>o satisfactorily dono by women. It had been reported in the Press that in somo cases wearers of tho uniform in the office drew far larger salaries than those in civilian clothes, occupying higher and more responsible positions, but with the exception possibly of the officer in charge of tho Inquiry Bureau, this statement was not correct. No complaints had been received of tho pay of typists being inadequate. Tho ecalo of pay W tlieso had been adopted by the Public Service Commissioner. It must be remembered that the majority of tho girls who started work in Base Kccords were untrained girls who started work at from 1G to 18 years of age, and they could obtain promotion on passing the necessary tests. During tho past two years only fivo typists had resigned, one of whom afterwards made application to bo rcappointed.

Mr. Warnes's Other Evidence. Mr. Warnes was reported to have said in replv to a question from Mr. Rhodes as to whether ho Iliad discussed various matters with the director, that ho was not allowed to approach tho director. This statement was, of course contrary to fact, as all section heads dealt with tho director. If any member ot the -staff had a complaint to make against Ms superior officer, the Director would' only hear this in the presence of tho officer against whom tho complaint was to ho made. Mr. Warnes was on one occasion informed that a complaint ho had could only, bo heard in tho presence of his superior officer. In the early days of the branch a noti. fication was placed on the notice board, and also sent round to all section heads, that everv member of the staff was to be informed'that the Director would welcome any suggestions for the improvementof any work dono, and it was stated that any suggestions of value would not only be noted on the file of the member of the staff making tho suggestion, but would also receive consideration when promotions were under renew, flio result was disappointing. Mr. Warnes was also reported to havo said that if his proposals were adopted a saving of .£4305 in salaries alone, could be effected. As tho total amount paid in salaries for ihe twelve months ending \ arch 31 last was JK3.751, it was most desirable that Mr. Warnes should spec.iy exactly how such a reduction was pos>- = ble It was submitted that except by the discharge of some of the military staff, the majority of whom were .return, ed soldiers, no saving in salaries coud bo effected. The average cost per head per n Z was ,£125. and when conai era ion was given to the number of different dutfi* to be done by the staff, it was suggested that the cost was the lowest of all the Government Departments Mr. Warnes was further reported to have said that it was conceded through--on Hut service that a man's politics and social standing determined very much his rank There was no instance in Base Becovds Office of appointments being madefor tho reason stated, and it was well taown that the Minister of .Defence would not tolerate such appointments even if they wero suggested. The chaiman: We havo asked nil over the place, and never.onco have wo been able to trace a case hi which he Ministerof' Defenco has interfered with an appointment. Home Servico Men. Lieutenant V. A. Jlacdonald said that he was a Territorial .ofiiccr, classed C 2, seconlcd for duty, for the pa* three years on the stall'. Mo wished to submit to the Commission a scheme winch had had drafted for the managemen o mpdicnl boards, which, he &nid, would a«tt country OT.. At tho time he first inndo his proposals there were on every medical board two.medical ofhcois and a dental officer, a district attesting office;' and five clerks. At his suggestion the dental officer was. cut out. Jie thought, however, that it should bo possible to have only tho two medical office s, leaving the attesting and the ctcrica v-ork to bo done by district stafu. At ho time ho made hid suggestions hero were eleven boards in existence, and tie saving wouUPhave been some «000. When ho joined the homo service section there "a Absolutely no organ.*, ion at all There was no control over tho cmSUcnt «* men, and ..o est.bhshß.ente knar^asTa-^f'i-a-eel and the director of Recruiting and the Director of Organisation without any-thin"-be ng done. New orders wero being issued whU ho declared, were "quite hopeless!'' Ho urged the extreme need sS hat Captain Cossgrove and witx s dLcuss the niattor in the meantane. The Commission will rat again to-daj.