THE DEFENCE ACT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1505, 30 July 1912, Page 9

THE DEFENCE ACT.

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. GRIEVANCE OF A WELLINGTON - OFFICKR. Tlio Hon. Jas. Allen (Minister for De--3 fence) slated yesterday that the. whole r question of amending the Defence Act was 3 under consideration, but that, whatever 1 might be done by way of amendment in l ' matters of detail, the principle of tho De- >' fence Act would be upheld. The Minister - added that General Godley and himself wore desirous of giving tho public the i fullest information in regard to defence questions.. He went on to refer to tho case » of Captain I'raudi, whose resignation as i officer commanding tho Y.M.C.A. Cadets lias been accepted, by General Godley. 0 Captain Framli considers that he has been . superseded unjustly. ".Here," said the Minister for Defence, 1 "is the General's reply, I have been over it with him. and I agree with what he ha? i written. The sehemo of defence is a uatiouabscliemo; it. has never been made a ; P'.u-ly question—wo do not want it to be a I mailer of parly wrangling—and any facts ; asked for will lie given." • 'J.'ho Minister proceeded to quote the t memorandum written by General Godley on the subject, as under:—j When the new scheme was initiated, . (1) Captain .Simeon was lieutenant in . tho sth Wellington , Regiment. Ho had » been an ollieer for nearly seven years, nnd ; was highly thought ot as 'such. It is . quite true that he had been passed over s for promotion owing to not passing tho . proscribed examination, i , (2) Captain Framii was a non-commis-i sioned ofieer in the same regiment, and ! had been so for a considerable number ! of years. Ho was capable and well spoken . of, and considered suitable for a. com- : mission on tho unattached list, to com- , maud a company of Senior Cadets, for i which he was only recommended. . (3) Owing to the desirability of secur- . ing men of some standing, ago, and senioc- . ity. It- command companies of .Seiner i Cadets 9!i thei , .formation, I decided to appoint a certain rumber of men, that appeared suitable, direct to the rank of captain. (1) Captai.i Frandi (then Colour-Ser-gp.iut Frandi), who was 3G years of ag«, and had oaiv-i-Urable experience as ;i N.C.0., was among the .applicants for a commission, and was amo.ug those selected for appointment to tho rank of captain, H c was not promoted by examination. (5) In March, 1912, Captain, (then Lieutenant) Simeon was transferred to tho Unattached List, i.e., Senior Cadets, and given the rank oi' captain, also without examination. As in Captain Frandi's case, he was promoted to this position on transfer, but on its being carried out he found himself junior to Framli and others who had lately been N.C.O.'s under him iii tho stii Regiment. He naturally objected to this, and his objection was strongly supported by the Officer Commanding tho District, and the officer who was then acting ,%s Staff Officer for Senior Cadets in the Weilington district, the latter slating that it had been clearly understood by Captain Simeon and other cadet officers to whom he had snaken on the subject that Coptain Simeon would bo made senior to other cadet officers in Wellington. In view of his previous service as an officer, tho - obvious hardship to him by finding himself junior to his old N.C.O.'s, and the. strong recommendation of the Officer Commanding tho District, it was decided to ante-date Captain Simeon's promotion'to-May 31, 1911. "This," continues the General, "constitutes Captain Frandi's grievance. , 1 would point out," he goes on to say; "that had Captain Simoon been transferred at tho same time that Captain Frandi was given a commission no quesiou /tould liavo arisen as to their respective seniority." The O.C. District and the senior officers of. tho sth Regiment all ngreo in speaking very highly of Captain Simeon as a most energetic and capable officer, and in thinking that .lie should, be.seniur- of the two. Captain 'Fi'hndt-.lnn'st. , praisemirthjly passed .for promotion after his nppointmont, but no further change in seniority could-be made on this account. . • , . "There is no doubt that Captain Simeon is. the nioro valuable, officer of the', two, and i hat, had he. not been given seniority, as was done, his services would, have been last. He was an officer when Cap--tain Fraudi was a non-commissioned officer, and is eight years, older than the latter. Captain' Frandi has been to headquarters (o txplnin his' grievance. Captain Spencer Smith, both iii a personal interview and in several private ■letters, did his utmost to show CaptainFrandi that Jie ; had no real grievance, and that ho. had in the first instanco baen treated with greater consideration than ho had expected in being given the rpuk of captain direct, and that, had he been thus mado senior to Captain Simeon, the latter would have had a genuine grievance. i . "It is worthy of note," adds the General, "that Captain Frandi only referred to examination when he thought .'• ho might benefit thereby. Captain Frandi has, I believe, dono good work in command ,of tho Y.M.C.A. Cadets. Everything possible was done to retain him, but without success. I much regret ■ losing him, but I am quite clear that only justice was dono to. Captain Simeon. It has not yet. been always possible in tho initial stages to keep to tho strict letter of the law as. regards promotion [ in the Senior Cadets, and in some cases < in tho interests of tho, service officers i- have had to be promoted without having ■ passed. "I regret to say," adds tho General, I "that, as shown in the enclosed newspaper cutting. Captain Frandi is now ' apparently trying to stir up discontent, ; and encouraging his, late cadets to make ■ trouble by issuing inaccurate statements. ) With reference to these, Captain Barker 1 "has no grievance, and is resigning be- . cause ho cannot carry on tho work from . his present residence.' "The scheme is a national scheme," added, the Minister. "It has never been l made a Parliamentary question, and any > information' wo can give on the subject will be given."