DEFENCE EXPENDITURE.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 May 1918, Page 8

DEFENCE EXPENDITURE.

OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS. By Telegrapb.—'Press Association Wellington, May <i. At the Defence Expenditure Commission to-day, Colonel E. \V. Tate, Adjut-ant-General, in civil life a solicitor, Btaiid he had had no war service He did not think there was too much centralisation at General. Headquarters. There was at the present time scope for the fullest exercise of initiation by district staff commanders. Asked whether, in his opinion, there were too many officers, especially of the civilian type, temporarily doing military duty, Colonel Tate said the officers of a civilian type were necessarily employed, as there were very few regular staff officers available. He questioned if the number could be reduced. The chairman questioned the necessity for employing soldier- rn, say, the Records Department. Why was it necessary for all those clerks to wear uniforms ? Colonel Tate: The pay is for the rank, and not for the position. Witness went on to say that it would possibly lie cheaper to employ a purely civil clerical staff, but the idea was not considered practicable. It was a matter of poliey that returned and unfit soldiers should be employed in those capacities. He did not think there were too many men in uniform knocking 1 round. Preference was always given to returned soldiers in filling positions in the Department, and these were performing their duties satisfactorily. The salaries, lie thought, were fair, excepting those of lieutenants and sulb-lieiitenants, who should at least be paid the minimum rate for a lieutenant in the New Zealand Permanent Forces—£2so a year, or 13s Sd a day, or be granted married allowances.

BEFORE THE DEFENCE COMMISSION. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. Wellington, Last Night. Dr. Valintins gave an account of the I [measures taken to combat cerehro spinal meningitis when it was most virulent at frentliam Camp in 1915. He said that when Trentham Camp was broken up the epidemic ceased. The steps taken since the inhalation treatment and the segregation of recruits in camp, other than Trentham, aurmg the winter months had been very successful. In the Winter there was a greater risk of catarrhal disease among recruits, and catarrhal diseases predisposed men to cerel>ro spinal infection. Ho did not consider this segregation necessary now that there was ne npidemit disease. Lieutenant-General Mackgill said the recruits most liable to infection were hardy young men from the country, who had lived an open-air life and not faced any danger of infection. When Tauherenikau Camp was established for recruits, everything was kept very primitive, and the men lived always in the open air. This camp, although for recruits only, was the healthiest of all. R.M.-Sergeant Beanland said ho had served abroad for three years and a month, and was s<mt back to New Zealand after a special course of instruction in England. He was with the Irish Guards for seven weeks, and learned their system. He and 29 others were sent to New Zealand and were put on the Quartermaster-General's staff, hut had not been asked to introduce the methods learned in England under the battalion system followed in the Irish Guards. Many less men were required to carry on quartermaster's work than those employed for similar numbers. The men at Trentham s aid Trentham has no time for returned soldiers.