THE TROOPSHIPS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VIII, Issue 526, 24 September 1902, Page 2

THE TROOPSHIPS.

THE COMMISSION'S REPORT. j (By Telegraph —Press Association.) j Wellington, last night. ; The Transport Commission find that j the Britannic did not carry a man in i exee-s of the number allowed by the 1 transport regulations- but that the Orient j did not have sufficient hammock aecotu- ; modation. _ I The Transport Commission will, it is , Understood, report that the discipline oil J the Britannic aas a- g-’od, if not better, j tli 111 on the other tiun-ports, But will con- j dernn the discipline on tne Orient. LATER PARTICULARS. SCANDALOUS STA i’E OF AFFAIRS REVEALED.

OFFICERS HAD NO COMMAND OVER THE MEN. By Telegraph Press Association. Wellington, last night.

The Transport Commissioner's report states, with regard to the Britannic, that the number oi men on the ship was not in exeess of the Transport regulations, and consequently, whatever inconvenience nmy have been experienced by some of the men, she was not overcrowded. Had the men been compelled to sling their hammocks properly, and to sleep in them, there would have been greater comfort and fewer complaints of lack of accommodation, and probably less disease, as sleep mg on the troop deck, on which the men suffering from catarrh had been constantly spitting, may have had a tendency to accelerate the spread of pneumonia. It would have been desirable that the transport should have been provided with better artificial ventilation. Most contra dietary evidence was given about the condition of the fresh meat issued to the troopers, but the Commissioners cannot believe that the meat was cither bad in quality or ill any way unfit for issue. As to the hospitals, the Commissioners state that the evidence shows that the men near the end of the voyage exhibited a disinclination to report themselves sick to tho surgeons, lest they mignt ho prevented from getting ashore. Eleven men who were not in the liuspital the night before the disembarkation were detected and sent from the steamer to Soatues Island. Of these eleven men, five died. There is little doubt that tho concealment of their condition was largely responsible for such a heavy death rate. The troops commenced tho voyage under unfavorable circumstances. The details of tho Tenth Contingent sent to

join the Britannic at the last moment introduced the germs of measles. The closely-packed decks, weak ventilation and habits of men who had not the training of the regular troops to stand the confinement ail condueod to tho development of the disease. The same conditions predisposed them to pneumonia, which, following on the measles, produced a heavy death-roll. None ol tho officers on board the Britannic are responsible fur tho details of the Tenth Contingent being sent from tho camp where measles had been prevalent. The discipline on the Britannic was as good, if not better, than on any other transport returning to Now Zealand. Taking all circumstances into consideration tiie Commissioners are of opinion that tho discipline was fully equal to the standard approved of by civilian public opinion in the colony, hut it was essential

to the well being of New Zealand troops and their proper efficiency that a higher standard of discipline should be insisted on. With regard to the Orient, the Commissioners deal chiefly with the subject of discipline on this ship, and report that tbero was a lax, if not an almost entire absenco, of discipline on board the transport. The 'tween decks, they say, wore defiled on occasions, and nobody was punished for the offence. A portion of ’tween decks was used as and stank like a urinal. The charge that troopers U3ed disgusting and insulting language, with intent that it should reach the ears of their otlicers, yGUt* Commissioners’ fear was too true and not merely of occasional character, and as such conduct was allowed to go unnoticed and unpunished, the moral influence of _ the majority of non commissioned officers

must have been of tho weakest character. Reviewing tho circumstances which may have conduced to the absence of proper discipline on board tho Orient, the Com* missioners are immediately confronted with tho fact that tho conditions under which the Ninth Contingent was embodied employed and embarked at Durban for New Zealand, made proper discipline a practical impossibility. Embodied about the Ist February, 1002, it was employed only for three days on trek and three days returning to the standing camp, and its whole period of service practically concluded on the embarkation at Durban on the 9th July. Many of tho officers were new to their duty, strango to ono another unaccustomed to command, and to the habit of discipline, and unable to instruct their non commissioned officers, because they did not, and could not know

evon their own duties, and most of the non-commissioned officers were inexperienced and unqualified by previous training for their responsible positions. As to the accommodation the report states that whilo the Orient was fitted for 1254 men, there was only hammock accommodation for 1000. Tho medical staff on tho Orient is highly eulogised.