63

H.—l9c

but the difficulty is that if the Department failed to notify the friends of the sufferer and they learnt, as in a great majority of cases they are sure to do, that their relative or friend had been irr hospital, needless alarm would be caused, and complaints would reach the harassed Minister in sorrow or in anger. In ordinary course, therefore, one message was carefully sent to a soldier's father informing him that his son had been admitted to hospital in England on a certain date for circumcision, and the usual sympathetic paragraph was added : " Please accept my sincere sympathy and hopes for your son's speedy recovery." Alas, this kindly message elicited an indignant reply from pater familias stating that, " If the word ' circumcision ' was meant in a literal sense, the message was absurd and preposterous." He could only conclude that "circumcision" was a code word, and that some casualty clerk was " too damn lazy to decode it." This created a distinctly awkward situation ; but it must be admitted that the following reply exonerated fhe casualty clerk, preserved the proprieties, and enunciated clearly an admirable sanitary law : — The word to which you refer was not a message lurking in cipher, but must be accepted in its literal meaning. In other words, your son was admitted to hospital for the purpose of undergoing a slight operation, which,' according to Mosaic law and the dictates of modern science, should have been performed in his infancy. RECOMMENDATIONS. A perusal of the foregoing will disclose that in our opinion the organization of the Defence Department on its administrative side is faulty. The trouble has come about through the casual addition of branches necessitated by the Department's growing activities and requirements, without a guiding hand to economically fit them irr. The motive was, as herein explained, really economy, and the reluctance to create a new office which would necessarily command a fairly liberal salary. Parliament and " the man irr the street " are rather to blame for this timidity ; for the tendency of a democratic community is to think that new appointments carrying a salary of £1,000 a year or more are unnecessary or extravagant. And thus it comes to pass that, while the lower ranks in the Public Service are generally well paid, one wonders at the high type and ability of many men occupying important and responsible positions in the Public Service receiving only from £500 to £l ,000 a year, which salaries, when estimates are under discussion in Parliament, are often made to appear princely, but which are in reality less than the rates ruling outside for first-class men. Tire fact is that the appointment of such a man would have saved in every week the yearly salary of himself and his necessary staff. There are two branches in a Military Foree — ' Training " and " Administration." A soldier naked comes under " Training," which should drill him, exercise him, and, when necessary, discipline him ; but when he needs clothing, food, arms, equipment, pay, transport, or other such attention, he comes under "Administration " ; and there should be a clear line of demarcation. Our recommendation is that there be appointed a General Officer' irr Charge of Administration, under whour will come all administrative branches :—- --(a.) Those hitherto under the Quarterfnaster-General r— Equipment and Ordnance Stores, Financial Services, Movements and Quartering, Supplies and Transport, Construction and Maintenance, and Veterinary Services. (b.) The Administrative Branches now under the Adjutant-General- such as Organization, Recruiting, Base Records, Personal Services —excepting such items as deal with discipline and purely military detail, which should be transferred to the Chief of the General Staff. We can find no room in the Defence Department for an Adjutant-General's Branch ; but in saying this we wish it to be understood that no reflection is intended on the Adjutant-General, who has " scorned delights and. lived laborious days " since the war commenced, arrd has done a huge amount of war work-, to the total neglect of his private business. If the Government see fit to adopt these recommendations and split up the Adjutant-General's Branch, and the present occupant of that office is prepared to do further military service, ample opportunity awaits him elsewhere for his ability and great zeal.