A LONDON DIARY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 183, 29 April 1919, Page 5

A LONDON DIARY

REPATRIATION DELAYS

THE DISORGANISED CABLE

SER VICES

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

London, March 7. In the past the Colonial Office has shown the utmost indifference to the success or failure of the Dominions' efforts to attract British settlers to British lands. Apparently the. bad old days are at an end now, for I hear that farreaching proposals for co-ordination in emigration work wero put forward this week at a conference at Downing Street. The gathering was attended by the High Commissioners and the Agents-General, Captain T. E. Donne, representing New Zealand, in the absenco of Sir Thomas 'Mackenzie, who ig making satisfactory progress after his operation. Colonel L. S.'Amery presided as deputy for Lord Milner, Secretary.of State for tho Colonies, who was. unavoidably absent. No decisions wero arrived at, but tho schemo outlined was discussed, and is being forwarded on for the consideration of the Overseas Cabinets. Repatriation Delays. Tho repatriation of the Expeditionary Force continues to bo more or less hung up by the shipwrights' strike. Nominally work was resumed at the, beginning of the week, but it appears to have been a, very half-hearted resumption, a.nd sailings aro still surrounded with uncertainty. New Zealand is not alone in its troubles in this respect, for I see General Monash, of the Australian-Force, states that they aro now 17,000 men behind in their programme. The New Zealand Shipping Company is sending tho Paparoa up to Glasgow, as it is believed that industrial conditions are less disturbed there'for the moment, but it remains to be seon whether the experiment results in a quicker dispatch. As you will have been . informed by cablegram, tho Canadians at Kimmel Camp, near Ehyl, in North Wales, got seriously out of hand a day or two ago, and a deplorable riot ensued, in which a sentry was snot dead, and a V.C. major trampled to.death. The affair is said to be tho outcome of, restiveness at the relatriiitioii delays, combined with a belief that men of only, short service were being sent back, while others who had joined up in the early days were being held Imck. Happily, from what one can gather, our own men are. taking the trying delays in tho best spirit, and seem thoroughly well, satisfied with the fairEesß of our demobilisation schc-iue.

New Ships. The shipping offices in the city are in a stats 01 suspended animation so far as the booking of direct passages lo Now Zealand is concerned, and this state of affairs will continue'until the repatriation is complete. An average of. about ton berths a steamer is allotted for passengers outside our own forces, and these are being distributed by tho Shipping, Department at the High-Commis-sioner's' Office among war workers, widows of deceased members of the forces, and persons with similar claims. This leaves the Vancouver route the only, one available for general .traffic, and here it is a matter of great difficulty to get a passage across tho Atlantic, as liners which used to carry 2000 to 3000 passengers now take only 200 or 300, and much of this goes to Government officials.'

Both tho Shaw, Savill and Albion and the Now. Zealand Shipping Companies are looking ahead, and have considerable additions in prospect to their fleets. Tho Company have three new vessels similar.'to the Mahia building, each with a cargo and bunker capacity of about 2,000 tons. ; These vessels aro to be named the Matakana, Maimoa, and Taiaroa, and it is'expected to have them in the service about the end of the year. The company has also purchased a twin-screw standard ship, which it has named tho Awanui, and which will be taken over in May. The cost of these four vessels, I hear, is approximately two millions sterling.

The New Zealand Shipping Company contemplates taking over two of tho FederaJ-Shire-liners in place of-'the'Tura-kina and Rotorua, lost during the war. A London Season Again, Those New Zealanders. who remain on through the. summer are likely to have glimpses, of a brighter London thnn has been known since tho -war began. A eeason on pre-war Jines is being arranged, and all the great functions revived. In addition it is promised that about the time peace is signed there will bo a number of Royal and military processions surpassing in interest any tho present generation have ever seen. Opera will begin at Coyent Garden in May, and either on tho last Wednesday in May or the first iu June the Derby, will ba run at Epsom. Ascot, the Horse Show (minus perhaps tho conching), the Eoyai! Military Tournament, the Richmond, Royal Horse Show,, the Oxford and Cambridge and Eton;and -Harrow; cricket matches, and Henley Regatta will follow, and there will be a Cowes week after Goodwood races. A gTeat dance season, and many interesting events in the theatres are also expected. No doubt many American and Dominions' visitors will flock to London this year, .though .where they are to 6tay is a mystery. The war time officials still have half tho hoMs, an'' ns they aTe clinging like limpets to their billets, the daily scramble for, accommodation in London will probably be keener than ever, this summer.

Cable Delays. The disorganisation of cable and mail services continues to be the subject of much discussion here. Mail departures are a matter of the greatest uncertainty, and an outward dispatch announced by the Post Office overnight will as often as not bo cancelled in the. morning. A leading New Zealand banker here tells me he has given up tryine to follow the daily iregularity of tho Post Office announcements and now makes a systematic weekly posting every Friday, the old Australasian weekly mail day. Other concerns are posting daily, which means a more up-to-date, but much "moro disjointed and piecemeal correspondence. I see it has been stated in the "Times" thnt of the 7J million words cent over the Pacific cable'last year onethird was Government messages. Jt is claimed by the Press cable correspondents that much of the Government" cnbling is unnecessary, and all of it could be sent in much more compact form. Commercial'users are mainly concerned with the restrictions on the use of their private codes, and the vexatious delays involved in the decoding and scrutiny by the censor of messages rpreived and sent in the permitted standard codes. Eighl long-distance cables are at present out of action for overdue renairs, which hnv« been impossible dnrinc the war, and this naturally increases, tho strain on the remainder.

Soldiers' Money Cables. The Bank of New Zealand here has about a score of clerks deaHns solely with soldiers' money cables, and the cable <lelay3 have naturally wrought confusion here. Host of the sums asked for rar-re from M and ,£5 onwards, few being for more than .£2O. It frequently happens that a month, six weeks, or more will elapse between the cablo for money and the reply. This is particularly the case with tho low rate week-end messages. The result frequently is that flip soldier has gone off the map as far as the bank in concerned before his remittance arrives. If he has arranged for the amount to be forwarded'' to him his identity, has to be established, by a commissioned officer before payment is made, and with these, innumerable small sums for a constantly shifting clientele the bank has somo tani'le to unravel. At the present moment I understand Fovcal thtfusnH*; of pounds stands unclaimed or remitted to individuals who cannot be identified. Torquay Farm's Future.

One of the most successful New Zealand establishments on this side has been Discharge Depot. The land has bson used for general cropping purposes and the thoiFnnd-aere farm at the Torquay lias supplied our own depots with oats, potatoes, and vegetables besides producing a considerable surplus for sale. The place has been run at a substantial profit from the first', and iu addition has givon healthful occupation to men in B clnss in the medical category. I hear that negotiations arc now in' progress .by which the farm may lx> taken over from the New Zealand Government as a depot

for training; intending immigrants to New Zealand in our farming methods. This, if it comes off, should bo an excellent arrangement for trying out wouldbe settlers at this end, and effect a speedy weeding out of the unsuitable. Married Soldiers and Their Wives. At tho present time there are about 700 soldiers' wives at Torquay ready to emkirk for the Dominion with their husbands. Another SOO have applied for passages, making 1500 English wives still to arrive in Now Zealand. The total number of our men who have married' hero is about 2500. some 700 of the wives being either now in Now Zealand or en route. One hears a good deal of cril icism from time lo time of the type of girl some of the men are mnrrying, but from what I can gather after close ouostioning of those concerned with this nhase of the military administration, the "number of unfortunate matches is verv small, and it is stated that most of the brides of (ho last six months at any rate aro of a type with which the Dominion may b n well satisfied, particularly in view of Ihe shortage of women as compared with men which our statistics reveal.

To Thosß About to Marry—Don't. Grown men cannot be put in leading strings and told whom they shall woo and whom they shall not; but it cannot bo said that the military give much eneouragoment to the matrimonially inclined. To begin with a general instruction has been issued, via the War Office, that no clergyman or registrar \a to marry an overseas soldi"r unless the foldier can produce a certificate from bis Record Office showing that he is lem>Uy free to many. I was in our 'Record Office this week, and nmong that morning's papers were eight of these c.ert'fientp'?. Bride-grooms are proverbially absentminded pennle, an/' it has ben no "n----mmmon thine for them tn nt the altar minus the necessary certificate, in which cpse proceedings have to be deferT°d neiHliiig telephone inquiry, nf least. The Department. T understand, is discouraging the n»e of the telephone in such case', and 1h» forgetful swain henceforward n-ill nrohably to make a fresh start the next morning.

Discouraqinq the Hasty. It is laid down in an Exneditionary Force instruction that all officers and other ranks _ desirous of marrying must obtain permission from Headquarters. A certificate as to tho brido's character must be obtained from a "clergyman, magistrate, or leading local residont." Then the O.C. unit interviews the soldier and satisfies hinvsolf that,(a) he is legally free to marry, (b) the certificate of character is bona fide, (c) he realises the difficulty in obtaining a passage to New Zealand for his wife and that the Government cannot be held liable for same, and W) he is not contracting a hasty and undesirable mnrriage. AVlien the matter gets as far as Headquarters, a cable is dispatched to New Zealand to ascertain if the soldier is free to vary his allotment in favour of his wife. With tho present delay in the, cable service • this usually hangs matters up for a week or two. finally armed with his permission and the marriage Jiaving taken place the sqldier applies for separation allowance for his wife to tho High Commissioner's Department. In the early days, I believo Mr. Donne used to have a personal interview at the High Commissioner's Offico with the prospective bride and bridegroom, but such an arrangement is not possible under present conditions. lam told it is not uncommon for the local well-known resident, on being applied to for a certificate as to the bride's respectability, to ask with 'some point where the soldier's certificate of respectability is.

Discharges in England. Since the armistico about 100 New Zealanders have been discharged here, and tho total number of those so released now amounts to between 400 and 500. A large percentage of these men are stated to have Jiad only a slight connection with the Dominion, some, for instance, being sailors who joined up from oversea ships in New Zealand ports. Others have gone to assist their parents on farms here, and 1 hear of two or three who have taken up land in County Monaghan in preference to returning to the Dominion. In only one or two instances in the early flays have any of these discharged men reached a "stony broke" stage and applied for relief. Discharges are now only boing given where there is a guaranteed offer of employment. It is interesting to contrast the small number of discharges taken here compared with the allotments and separation allowances paid to persons in the United Kingdom on behalf of our men. Mr. Bennett, who handles this branch at the High Commissioner's, was at one stage making a total of just under 3000 payments of allotments and allowances in this country. Some of these allotments were undoubtedly a mere matter of convenience to enable men to draw the whole of their military pay, but tho great majority represented dependence of some sort. Medical Demobilisation. Brockeuhurst Hospital is now in the final stages of demobilisation, and by the end of March it is expected that Hornchurch will be closed down on its medical side. At present there are about 1500 patients in our hospitals, and about 400 or 500 in British hospitals. These latter are taken by the British hospitals as a convenience to us, and .ire mostly in establishments adjacent to Sling, Brocton, and Grantham. Tho Maheno is taking nearly all the worst cases remaining. • Of special casei there remain 13 blinded New Zealanders at St. Dunstan's Hospital, over whose welfare Siatoi Myers, wife of Colonel Myers, the ActingDirector of our Medical Service, is tending. All told there havo been 20 cases of blindness. The limbless soldiers number between 800 and 850, and of these about half have been returned to New Zealand. Tho remainder are undergoing special educational courses in this coucU'j. It should be exDlalned that a

"limbless" spldier means one who has lost at least a foot or the whole of the lower portion of his hand. Of the mental cases there remain only 11, ono officer and ten other ranks.

A Medical Collection. One of the minor activities of the medical servico has been tho collection of material for a Medical War Museum. The work was first takeu up some years ago, but tho difficulties in tho road have beeu continuous, and what has been collected has been in spite of all sorts of obstacles. I have not seen the collection, but understand it includes specimens of German ambulances, streteliers, gas masks, and medical and surgical appliances generally, and also specimens ut our own. Exhibits will be included showing some of tho marvels that have been achieved iu the treatment of facial and jaw wouuds. The collection will undoubtedly be of much scientific and historic interest in years to come. Beef Trust Inquiry. It will interest you in New Zealand to know that tho Imperial Government has appointed a .committee to inquire into tho oporations of tho American Meat Trust, both at Home and abroad, or to be more strictly accurate has referred the matter to a general Committee on Trusts. Mr. C. A. M'Curdy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, is chairman. There aro no overseas representatives on the committee, and no information is available at present to indicate whether it means business or not.

AVith our Government contracts for our staple lines of produce New Zealand interest in' prices at present is, I take it, purely academic. Under tho wool contract wo are, of course, promised a sharo of any profits on tho portion of the clip sold tor civilian consumption. No figures as to these profits aro as yet available, ami I. hear that it is possible that an olFer will be made of an increase of so much per cent, iu lieu of the share of profits. It will bo remembered that this course was adopted in connection with tho butter contract.

Tho coal inquiry has revealed some astounding facts as to the Government methods of price control. It appears, for instance, that until two days before tho inqniry began the Government did not know that tho coal owners wore making a profit of 3s. fid, a ton. It is claimed that the Government profit on sugar, meat, and other etaple articles has ranged from 20 to 30 per cent.