WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1917, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

'SURPLUS OF OFFICERS DIFFICULTY. (from Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, Dec. 13. The difficulty created by the surplus of officers in the training camps may be overcome by the transfer of some of the officers to Imperial units. It is understood that a suggestion to this effect is-now under -consideration. The alternative seems to<be the increase of the comjpleinent of officers Wifh reinforcements and there are no indications that the officer commanding at the front would approve of this process, siuce he has always sought to keep channels of promotion open for picked men already in the N.Z. Division. If nothing is clone, lit commissioned men will be kept dawdling about New Zealand, many of them on leave with full pay, for many months to i come, while at the same time the early groups of married men will be practic- ' ally debarred from commissioned rank. There cannot be many commissions to be won in any cose, owing to the substantial numbers of officers now coming from the front for service with reinforcement 'drafts. CLASSIFICATION ERRORS. The Government Statistician made a protest to-day against the assumption that his office is to blame for all the errors of classification in connection with ! Class Aof the Second Division. He can supply abundant proof that the reservists themselves are generally responsible for flie trouble. The fact has been dinned into the ears of men of mifffary age during tbe last twelve months that they . should inform the Government Staiisti- [ cian of any change in their condition as to number of children, and further that they are responsible for seeing that their classification IS' correct Copies of the Second Division roll luvve been placed at , all post offices for their information. Eut in spite of it all many men iiave not merely faiied to give information of the arrival of Mries, but they have never taken the trouble to correct their original errors of omission, in failing to give full information on their registration cards. Some men who are now protesting to the Military Service Boards did not respond when the Government Statistician sent them a circular stating that "the particulars respecting your children are insufficient for classification purposes." Yet tfoo circulars went to the same addresses as the subsequent ballot notices, fairly good evidence that the protesting reservists received them. If any members of Class B or Class C are wrongly classified they will have only themselves to blame. Now is their time to see that their names are properly listed. SOLDIERS' CIVILIAN SUITS. The vexed question of soldiers' civilian suits wae before the Wellington War Relief Association again to-day. The Association hag been receiving applications for suite from discharged soldiers who have money in hand but who do not think that they onght to be required to buy their own suits after discharge. They have received the Defence Department's allowance of 30s and then have been referred, in many cases, to the Association. But if the Association undertook to pay say £4 for clothes to each discharged soldier, the amount of money available for grants to dependents and disabled soldiers would decrease very rapidly. It was decided that the executive roust deal with cases on their merits. A hint was given that the Government might presently make up its mind to substitute a civilian suit for one of the two uniforms now given to a returned soldier on his arrival in New Zealand.