H.—l9b

14

by a Special District Medical Board of two members, and in cases where men have been through the hands of the C 2 Board any re-examination will be conducted by a Board of three members, of whom the Assistant Director of Medical Services will be one; no man will be dealt with except through that Group Commander who is responsible for the man as a recruit. It is believed that the reorganization of the Medical Services in districts which was occasioned by the assumption by the Defence Department of the work of the Health Department in regard to returned soldiers will prove very valuable in many other respects beyond that for which it was specifically effected, and a solution of tho re-examination difficult}- is one of the firstfruits of the reorganization. Page 53. 103. Gazette names of -men finally classed " C 2." Vide 130. Page 04, Page 54. 104. The cost of having a small proportion of unfits returned is very much less than the cost, of longer training for the whole. Vide 05. Page 37. Vide 73. Page 39. It is the policy of the New Zealand Government to train Reinforcements in New Zealand as far as possible prior to embarkation. . Training cannot be cut; down and yet remain efficient if the present policy of granting final leave prior to embarkation is to be adhered. to, Approximately 9,000 men have been discharged as unfit out of approximately 90,000 embarked from Now Zealand camps. Not only would the embarkation of those unfit men,' which would have boon inevitable under a system of short training, have cost a large amounl, but 10 per cent, of the Now Zealand Pcinforcements for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force would have been worthless, and the scale of Reinforcement would have had to have been increased accordingly. The question of the efficiency of the Force is of first importance. The present period of training cannot be reduced without increasing largely the numbers of useless men sent from the Dominion to the front. Page 54. Io4a. The " Arawa's " returned draft. The statement that of 485 men returned by this ship 108 should never have left New Zealand is not correct. The facts arc that 622 men returned by this ship, of whom 85 had not seen service at the front. Their cases were investigated, when it was found that 25 men should not have left New Zealand. Page 56. 105. Payments to Chair-men of Military Service Boards should be reduced to salary plus £100 per annum plus travelling-expenses. Vide 138. Page 64, Page 56. 106. Consider necessity of Military Representatives with Military Service Boards. In country districts the work might, be, done by the Group Commander, and in the cities by some other officer to represent the, Department. When the Military Representatives were appointed they were selected as legal practitioners, and were given military rank only for the technical purposes of giving weight to their military orders. It was considered that it would tend to smooth the working of the Military Service Act by employing as Military Representatives professional men of some experience, absolutely independent, free from the ordinary military prejudice which is inclined to regard every man not serving as a shirker. It was believed that the employment, of Military Representatives, rather than allowing Group Officers possessed of no legal experience to appear before the Boards, would avoid much friction which otherwise would have arisen. Some time before the Royal Commission was ,set up the question of continuing their employment was reviewed, and. the Chairmen of the Boards were consulted in conference, when they unanimously disapproved dispensing with Military Representatives. Later, on the Isth March, 1918, the question was referred to the Chairmen of the. Boards as to whether they could dispense with the Military Representatives and employ the Group Commanders. The Chairmen, with one exception, disapproved the use of Group Commanders, and desired the retention of the Military Representatives, and testified as to the practical value of their services. Tho correspondence comprised a considerable volume of evidence; and, as he was asked no question on the subject, the Adjutant-General tendered the evidence to the Commission, which they refused to take, informing him that they were satisfied on the point. Again, on the 15th August, 1918, the Chairmen of the Military Service Boards were consulted, when, with the same single exception, they disapproved dispensing with Military Representatives and testified again to the value of their services. It is not desirable to dispense with Military Representatives. Page 56. 107. Military Representatives should not wear uniform. The Military Representative gives orders as an officer; all officers at present wear uniform. No comment has hitherto been made as to Military Representatives wearing uniform, and discontinuance would be an invidious distinction. It may be noted that in the majority of cases the Military Representatives are entitled to wear uniform by virtue of their being commissioned officers before they were appointed.