ARMY WASTE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9631, 11 June 1919, Page 5

ARMY WASTE.

I SHOCKING KXAMPLE&

Evidence of enormous Army waste, mostly on the western frout, due to a variety of causes, but chiefly to want of care and .fire, is given by the Comptroller ami Auditor-General in his report on the Army appropriation account for the year ended March 31, 1918. * -In two instances in the Inland Waterways and Docks- Department a want of precision in the terms of the ■contract or specifications led to additional expenditure, .says the report. The Department, in May, 1917, placed an order for two experimental 500-ton concrete barges), and the contract v.-a,s drawn upon a cost and percentage basis. An Investigation showed that there had boon much mismanagement. The contract was stated to have been loosely worded and indefinite. Best imported: timber had been used for the moulds, where much cheaper material would have served the purpose; and generally there appeared to have been a waste of money. The total payments in respect of the two barges were £51,398. . The Admiralty appear to have been able to buy 1000-ton barges at a cost of £14,000 each. In another rase a tender was accepted by the [Department, for 10 locomotives at a fixed price. 'When delivery commenced a subordinate officer of the Department declined to accept the engines on the ground that alterations were necessary before they could be utilised for the purposes required, and this refusal was considered by the contractors as a cancellation of the contract. „ , The terms of. payment were altered an arrangement which involved a considerable heavier cost than the original contract price. . In Ihe recruiting of Chinese- labour for France arrangements were made, apparently by representatives of the Admiralty, to obtain, supplies of Chinese food. The bulk of the food was received in France from British ports. Considerable quantities were condemnj cd by medical officers shortly after ar--1 rival in France. Special measures taken to secure the consumption ot these supplies were unsuccessful, owing apparently to their having been purchased in South China, whereas the labour had been recruited in North Omni, and the ration was almost wholly unsuitable for North Chinese people. Altogether about £14,000 bad i been written off owing to deterioration, leakage, etc. \ fire at an ammunition dump, caused by an explosion m a shed, which was due to disregard of proscribed precautions, involved a 1^ ot stores and "rolling stock worth £oW,----566 The-officer lost Ins Me m trying *° S S K Woflho I'vi::-o f «2,838 w» 'lost through fire, at an ammunition dump, which originated m an adjoining billet while £21,704 represented the value'of ammunition lost owing to a. fire at an ammunition dump. Under the beading of "Losses dw> to theft, fraud, arson, or gross negli-o-oiK-o" appear no fewer than 10/ items "Embezzlement, forgery, fraud, theft and incendiarism form the majority of the cases, and m a number tho. "culprits havo not been discovThe thief who got away with £215 from an Army Pay Office has not been discovered, nor has it been possible to ascertain how the safe was opened. Forty tarpaulins disappeared from the stores at Hay Wharf, Valefcta, Malta, Other .articles in .the list, of stolen-pro-perty include two Ford cars, a Wolseley "car, bacon, blankets, beadmg, i clothing, gum boots, quinine, rifles, and bayonets.