DEFENCE EXPENDITURE COMMISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1918, Page 8

DEFENCE EXPENDITURE COMMISSION.

UNSATISFACTORY CONDITIONS. By Telegraph. —Press Association. Auckland, Yesterday. At tl)e Defence Expenditure Commission, Colonel Smith, temporarily in cliarge of tl;e Auckland District, complained of tlie unsatisfactory conditions at tlio Auckland Defence office. There was insufficient room, it was badly ventilated, badly lighted, and impossible to get the best results. Officers commanding' districts had authority to spend up po £25, but it was surrounded by such restrictions that tihp authority could not bo taken advantage of. He suggested the. limit should be raised to £•250 and an officer allowed to expend on his personal responsibilityOther witnesses generally agreed with the suggestion that sufficient responsibility was not thrown upon headquarters, and that the restrictions tended to hamper initiative on the part of of' fleers. Lieutenant Boyle, formerly assistant director at Nnrrowneck camp, said the ■jystem of keeping ration accounts and indents was such that waste and misappropriations of food were quite simple, ttp had personally introduced an improved system, but after it 'had been in force for some time he was instructed to revert to the old system. Captain Jewish, commanding the permanent artillery detachment in Auckland, said he had no authority to spend even a shilling on neecssarv equipment. He had to requisition the Ordnance Department at Wellington for everything" While requisitions passed through numerous bunds there were lone; delavs in pimple tilings. He suggested the O.C.D. be authorised to buy stores which would be subject to cheek. ' One witness suggested thnt next of kin should not be granted free railway passes when soldiers returned. Tn the majority of cases only about 24 houri elapsed, between the arrival at the first | port of call and at their homes-