RETURNING MEN

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 112, 5 February 1919, Page 6

RETURNING MEN

THEIR WELCOME HOME

THE AUTHORITIES' TROUBLES

Complaints are still being made about tho arrangements for the reception of soldiers arriving in Wellington, especially those arriving here by sen. The complaint is that the next-of-kin find it difficult to see their men, that tho men are held up a long time before they are relcfised from the ship, and that the welcome of. the people is cold.

It seems to be a fact that some of the men who have been coming '.buck lately have been contrasting tho welcomes they have received in their own country with those they have ''received at such way ports as Colon, where the troopships have been met by tugs with bands on board, and whero the men have been entertained roynlly by the people ashore. It is quite true tftat nothing of this sort is done here, but on tho other hand it has ,to be said that the men come back here to their own land, and that the first thing that has. to be done with them is to discharge them in proper order, olid enable them to get away tojtheir own homes. Much' business has to be done, and tho quicker it is done the sooner the men are released. This certainly interferes with entertaining, but probably the men' in most cases prefer to get awny as soon as possible. The fact that the time of arrival of the ship may not be known exactly until very soon before the ship is actually sighted on the coast, and the additional fact that all this business has to be done with the inon ofter ' arrival, make it hard for the next-of-kin to have much time with their boys before they leave for their homes, A grievance of the next-of-kin also/is that they are not allowed to travel with their men by train to their homes, but there are reasons for this, which are strong reasons from the point of view of the Department. At present the custom is, to do all the work of discharge after the ship arrives in port. The men have to be medically boarded, and if they are fit and well they have to be released from military control finally before being allowed to go from the ship. They must receive their discharge papers, and their pay. Tim operation; is a simple one for every individual man, but there are many men, and 'the business takes a lot of time. It is reckoned that about a hundred men per hour is the rate at which they can be dealt with. While all this goes on the men have to "hang around," an expert ence to which they have become well enough used in the Army, but when they are'just about to land in their own country, when they arc all eagerness to be off the ship after a long and tiring .and perhaps not too comfortable voyage, tho experience to the men is apt to be exasperating. Presently, wheu the new system of doing all the discharge work during the voyage is in operation, the returning drafts will be spared this annoyance at the port of arrival. But the new system will not be in operation until the Hororata comes, and the Hororata has just left the United Kingdom.

This long wait is even more exasperating for the next-of-kin, because for the most part they do not understand the rea'on for it The policy of the. Department ' •Jβ to discourage next-of-kin from coming to meet the men on. arrival, and to awn.it their coming to their own towns of residence. Thev do come to (he'ports, however, and when .they come they are given next-of-kin passes to go to the'wlwrf. There they are kept behind ,a barrier until the work with the ■men liae been done, and then it may happen i that they will have but little time to talk with'the men before the latter are sent off by rail or steamer to their homes. The practice used to be to allow the next-of-kin to travel home with the men, but this had to be stopped for reasons which were considered strong enough. Excessive difficulties were encountered in dealing with large crowds of next-of-kin, and some of them were injudicious in the treatment of their own s6ldier-men. At present it is considered to be impossible in view of tho larger numbers of men to be handled to allow their relatives to travel with them. No check could.be kept,oh tickets, and no accommodation could be provided for the almost unlimited numbers who might'Tvish to hava it. Hard as it may be on the relatives, partment states that it has had to insist that the soldiers shall be carried home on troop trains on which no other persons may travel.

On arrival the men ore given at least some sort of a welcome. A band is always out, and the men are conveyed to their destinations in the city by motor-cars provided by well-disposed citizens, and organised by, a committee set up for this purpose. This arrangement is in danger of breaking down on account of the numbers of nest-of-kin~|he cars are being required .to carry. It happens , -very often that a single soldier will have four or five or six people to meet him, and this means thflt all of them have to come up the town iu the ona car. There have been breakages on some cars due to overloading, and the owner's of them say that if they are to continue the number of next-of-kin to receive passes must be restricted. It isadmittetf that it is very hard to turn down happy people when the soldiers arrive, and the next-of-kin are carried always, however many there are of them, but the owners of cars, in these days of expensive parts and repairs, simply cannot afford to go on having breakages end having their cars damaged. As to the coldness of the welcome which is alleged, there ie some ground for complaint. The wharves in Wellington and also the railway, etation are ;so situated that big crowds of people cannot be permitted to throng the approaches, otherwise the men could not bo brought off at all. The relatives themselves, the only people present-when I the ship comes to the wharf, are usually bo intent on finding each his or her own soldier that they forget to cheer or to make any demonstration for the whole mass of soldiers?- In the streets the people do make some attempt to cheer , sometimes, but there might bo more of this.

Time was when the men were assembled in the Town Hal! while speeches Of welcome were made to them. They were given tea and made welcome, but their own account of the ceremonies was that they found them wearisome. Tho ischome was dropped after a time, and now the men are not held for any ceremonies of this sort. ' It is agreed that the change is for the better.

Statement by the Minister. Speaking on Hie subject yesterday tho Minister of Defence put the case from the point of view of the Department. _ ' Although it may be against the sentiment of some people to Jo so," said the Minister, "it is far. better for the relatives of returning men to wait for their men at their own home towns. It creates immense difficulties for us to have people coming to meet their boys at the ports ot arrival, although I realise how keen they very properly are to see the very first 01 them. When the fit men , come back the new scheino for demobilisation will he in operation. Tho Hororata wi I have « staff on hoard to complete all discharge papers on the ship, and the men will bo discharged from tho- ships side with no delay whatever, and they will be dispatched home by the first available train There will bo no delay in getting thorn to their homes. It seems to mo that'the place where the men live is the proper place to give them a reception. Receptions cannot bo given at all ports of call. The men themselves get tired of them. Tho place where ■ a man lives seems to me to be the natural place to givo him the hearty welcome to wlucli \\n is certainly entitled."