REDUCING COSTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 917, 10 March 1930, Page 10

REDUCING COSTS

FUTURE OF NAVAL IN AUSTRALIA ' GOVERNMENT ACTION PROPOSED Expenditure at the Royal must,, lian Naval College at Jervis Bay A at the Royal Military College at Byj troon is to be cut down by the w Italian Government. Recently the Prime Minister cm. Seullin i and the Minister of DefeU.' (Mr. Green) visited Jervis Ray gain first-hand knowledge of tv° situation. The future policy of the Miuiatrr with regard to the college has nobeen determined but is believed to be unlikely that proposals made earlier to close the college in the interests of economy will be carried out j. stead, it is understood, efforts win be made to devise a scheme by which the institution mav carry on upor an altered basis at greatly reduced cost. ™ One proposal under consideration is that the buildings at Jervis Bsv should be vacated by the navv. ar ij that the Royal Military College should be moved there from Dnntroon. Atother proposal is that both naval ami military cadets should be sent to j er . vis Bay. and their education in' civil subjects carried out there by one combined teaching staff. Both suggestions are condemned by naval and military experts, who contend that, if not absolutely ; m . practicable, they would certainly no; be conducive to efficiency in eith»r branch of the service, and would be undesirable from every point of view It is believed that Ministers appns ciate the efficiency of both the naval and military colleges. Their onlv desire is to reduce expenditure, and if it is found that this can be done bv reorgatiising the institutions in such a way that both can be carried on at about half the cost at present involved neither of the colleges will be closed. Details of the economy proposals are to receive further consideration before the Cabinet will be asked to decide upon the firm policy of the Ministry. Deep-rooted Affection Mr. Seullin and Mr. Green visited nearly every part of the college and the surrounding settlement, and met almost every section of the little community of 400 people, who are dependent upon the college for their livelihood. It was an honour that many of them had not known previously to receive a visit from a Prime Minister and a Minister for Defence, for there had not been such a’*visit for, many years. All were anxious to meet the Ministers, but the knowledge that their future and the future of the college, for which all have a deeprooted affection, was literally being weighed in the balance produced a general feeling of anxiety, which could not be hidden. Under the guidance of the commanding officer of the college (Cap tain C. H. G. Benson), the Ministers were taken first to the cadets’ classrooms and chemical laboratories, where the headmaster (Dr. F. w. Wheateley) explained to them the studies carried out there by his young pupils. Visits followed to the wellequipped engineering workshops, where samples were seen of small propellers, brass fittings, and other work done by the boys; to the powerhouse, where electric light and power for the college are produced; to the gymnasium, the ships’ company quarters, the officers’ and cadets quarters, and the library. Treasures Adm red There was much to interest the visitors, apart from hard, cold facts and figures about the co3t of this and the necessity for that, which formed the basis of many questions that Mr. Seullin and Mr Green put to the officers. In the gymnasium Mr. Seullin was interested in a large brass gangway tablet from H.M.A.S. Sydney. In the hospital he and Mr. Green lingered awhile to chat with two young patients and to express the hope that they would have speedy recovery. In many rooms they admired beautiful sports trophies given for competition and valuable pictures of naval subjects, and they seemed unwilling to leave the cadets’ library, with Its valuable original editions of Cook’s voyages and many art treasures presented to the college by well-wishers. The sight of the Union Jack flown on H.M.A.S. Sydney while in action with the Emden and of signa flags taken from the Emden led Mr. Seullin to recall that a newspaper at Ballarat, while he was its editor, was the first newspaper in Victoria to publish the news of the capture of the Emden.