THE BUSINESS BRAIN OF AN ARMY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 148, 24 June 1914, Page 6

THE BUSINESS BRAIN OF AN ARMY

The military and the civil sides of the Citizen Army administration should be mutually benefited by Sir lan Hamilton's proposal to separate them. Under the existing system there is a danger that, in attempting to cover both, the present staff will do justice to neither. Business details tend to hamper good soldiers, and if in return the soldiers do not hamper the business administration— through their lack of commercial training— they, at any rate, do^not conduct it as well •as it could be carried out by qualified men not weighted with the double load. What Sir Tan Hamilton proposes is that the military officers, instead of being tied to their Dffices in a never-ending war with shillings and pence, should be freed to devote themselves to the sorb of battle-practice that is proper to them j and to that end he proposes to erect the Quartermaster-General into an authority with powers which, though subordinate in the last resort to those of the Com-mander-in-Ohief, are nevertheless sufficiently great to cause the military head to be chary in overruling the" Quarter-master-General in decisions coming within the latter's financial and administrative scope. While the projected business branch would be an economic check upon the purely military, authority is thus apportioned in a manner providing against eithfer deadlock or friction. It is duality, but duality withih a unity, aiming at emeiency-with-economy. Out« lining the relations of the military Commander and of the Quartermaster-Gener-al, Sir lan Hamilton remarks: "It is only when the Commander's wishes clash with the financial regulations, or with principles of economy, that the administrative officer's personal responsibility makes itself felt. In such an event it is his duty to point out to the Commander either that his proposed action is financially irregular, or that the intended procedure is economically unsound." In Britain and Germany and elsewhere the principle 'is accepted that the administrative officer has in financial matters a personal responsibility, not shared 'by the Commander. From the foregoing it is clear that there is need for a business head, especially in a Citizen Army, where economy of administration is one of tho best guai antees of permanence. The Quartet-man ter-General is the accountant, and ono of his duties 16 to see that grants are not over-spent. Over-spending of votes j opens the way to ,flnancial muddlement, and there is room for an authority who at least has full power to check any tendency in that direction. Also, some fin ancial expert should bear the responsibility of undertaking that when a return is prepared of tlie cost of a camp or of any other feature of defence activity, it should be debited with all tne expenses that, on business lines, should properly be charged against it. In Britain, Sir lan Hamilton states, the administrative officer "keeps thfe General Staff Officer informed, from time to time, of the statv of his account as the financial year pro gresses, and that officer cuts his coat by the amount of cloth still in hand." One absolutely essential branch calling for development in order to take its full place in the Territorial scheme, is the Army Service Corps, and this complex organisation falls within the autho rity of the Quartermaster-General. An underlying idea is that financial responsibility should be transferred to the men who, in war, would have to feed the Army and supply it with all its needs; and as a full stomadi is so important to marching, discipline, and efficiency, the importance of the business branch heeds no emphasis. To check over-spending is not the only, way to save money j it may also be possible to make the expended money go furthei. Business administration always pays for itself, and in this case an added advantage is offered in the shape of the increased efficiency of military officers freed from financial worries.