WITH THE AUSTRALIANS.

Evening Star, Issue 16092, 18 April 1916, Page 3

WITH THE AUSTRALIANS.

. ■ SYDNEY, April 17. Casualty list No. 164 contains the names of tho following New Zeolanders:—

111.—Sapper A. Dender, Privates R. N. Alford, E. Downey, C. L. Holland, and J. H. Ingram. Returned to Duty.—Privates H. Blackmore and H. W. Morris. Total number of men returned to dutv 255. "'

MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS. Fifty-four men were before tho medical officers last evening. They wero dealt with as follows : fit 17 bight 2 Teeth .'.'■ 16 Unfit 7 Treatment 3 Operation ', g The following men have been passed as fit :

Walter Denis Boreham, sailmaker, Duncdin.

Walter Harry Russell, chemist, Dunedin. John Rcid, warehouseman, Duncdin. John Victor Evans, fitter, Opoho. William Ernest Mob ray, laborer, South Dunedin.

Robert Wallace Thompson, engineer Roslyn. a '

Frank Christie Lawrence, grocer's aseistant, Dunedin.

Thomas Robert Thomson, tinsmith, Caversha-m. John Downing, quarryman, "Auroroa." Robert Henry Hoiley, laborer, Dunedin.

Norman Seymour, farm hand, Fairfield. Edward Dalziel, storcman, Dunedin. Owen John Flannery, bread carter, Dunedin.

Ronald Burns Bannerman, law clerk' unedin.

Emiie Octavo D'Angiade, cook, Port Chalmers.

Strachan Henderson, carpenter Kensington. " '

William Francis Ludwig Brown farrier Kaikorai. ' '

Frederick John Stamper, cabinet-maker, Dunedin.

Herbert William Lanham, coko mcr chant, St. Kilda.

EQUiPMENT FOR OFFICERS PLAIN TALK BY DEFENCE MINISTER.

[Special to the ' Star.']

WELLINGTON, April 18. The Defence Minister made an emphatic reply to a deputation which asked for an increase in officers' allowance for equipment. He said that the sum already provided (£25) was sufficient, aud the department did not wish to encourage officers to spend more. A sword was not necessary. It could not bo taken to the front. If required for ceremonial in camp it would be lent. An officer who had bought a sword could get a refund from the defence stores. There vrns no need for officers to buy binoculars, because if they were not taken from New Zealand they would be issued in Egypt. Pistols also were issued in Egypt. If officers were presented with these articles that would be so much the better, since- they would then ho their own property, but purchase was _ not necessary. Mr Alien quoted the official list to show that officers'' equipment was purchasable for under £24. He said an officer could get any part of his kit from the Defence store for the pricequoted. If an officer wanted tailor-mad*} uniforms there was no objection to his obtaining them, but the Government were not prepared to pay for them. Ho did not wish to encourage extravagance, but rather encourage them to economise. When an officer reached the front he discarded all distinctive uniform, aud dressed as much like a private as possible, in order to ovoid the attention of snipers. Mr Allen added that he liked to see officers smartly dressed, but the need was not for ceremonial smartness, but efficiency in the field. Patriotic committees could say to officers: " There is what the Government say is necessary. _ If you want any more you must get it yourself."

MARRIED SOLDIERS

THE QUESTION OP ALLOWANCES,

[Special to hie ' Star.']

WELLINGTON, April 18. When the Minister of Defence was answering a complaint regarding the pay of married soldiers the other day, he _.iid the Government could not differentiate between the various classes of men in fixing rates of pay. Discussing this matter with your correspondent yesterday, some married soldiers suggested that now Parliament was about to meet there seemed to bo need for a Married Mon's Union in New Zealand, on the lines of the organisation already formed in the Mother Country, to urge upon the Government the claims of soldiers' wives. The New Zealand separatum allowance is the lowest in the Empire outside the United Kingdom. The Now Zealand Government pav the wife of a soldier 7s a week with 3s 6d a week for each child up to four, the r. mount to _ bo supplemented by the allocation of most of tho soldiers' uav. Hundreds of married men are serving In the forces to-day while, their wives exercise necessary economies at home. But why should this country bo less generous than Canada., which pays a wife £1 per week, or South Africa, which lias a graduated scale starting at 14s a week for the wife alone, and rising, according to the number of children, at the rate'of something like 5s a week per child. The married men indicated that they feel so strongly that they will servo whether they are paid adequately or riot, since the call of duty has reached them, but they do r.ot believe they are getting a square deal. A married private with a wife and two children can allocate 4s per day from his pay, and tho Government will pay 14s a week"separation allowance, mak-ng a total income of 42s per week for three dependents. The soldier will be left with Is a dav for himsc-.lf. When ho returns from the front there will be no accumulated pay wnitW for him An unmarried private, on the other hand' will receive 2s per day on s-ervitv, and a further sum of 3s per dav will accumulate as deferred pay, assuming ho made no allocation. "1 would be content," eaid one soldier, "if tho Government paid my wife 20s a week separation allowance, the' Canadian rate, plus the present os 6d for cadi of tho children. There happen to be two in my case, so the total separation allowance would be 27s a week. Then if sho had 2s 6d a day of my pay her weekly income would bo brought up to 44s 6d" and after keeping Is per dav for mvself I 'could allow Is 6d per day to accumulate a -, deferred pay. That is not very much, but it would be something in ha.nd when I returned The present arrangement leaves no margin at all."

Ministerial statements have suggested that the Government do not want' to encourage the enlistment of married men while there are still unmarried men available-, but the fact of the matter is that the Government are depending upon the enlistment of a certain number of married men in order to save the voluntary svstem from wreck. The Defence authorities, moreover, make no secret of their belief th"t they must have married men for another reason: in order to secure a leavenino- of age and experience among the roun/fellows. If the Government reallv did not need married men the logical course would bo to pay no separation allowance at all. The separation allowance was recently in' creased by the payment of 6d a day for the children of married seddierc.

CAPTAIN BUCK,

General Godley mentions in a letter to the Minister of Defence that Dr Buck who went to the front as a member of the Medical _ Corps, has taken a combatant commission as second in command of the Maori Contingent. The officer commanding the Maoris is Major King, of the New Zealand Staff Corps. Major savs General Godley, has spent a good deal of time in tho Auckland district. He knows .*!? ,W#*«w well» &u4 «.* yecy /rosd officer.