RETURNING SOLDIERS

Evening Star, Issue 16987, 8 March 1919, Page 11

RETURNING SOLDIERS

m __ ■ THE PORT MELBOURNE MUDDLE.. B The following is the text of the telegram W sent to the Minister of Defence yesterday m by the Mayor of Auckland (Mr J'. H. Giin--1 ton) t

I regret to complain, on behalf of solWB diers, as well as next of kin and the cities zens, about the continued muddle of the W Defence authorities with regard to the H landing of returning drafts. The boardH ing arrangements in connection with the H Port Melbourne were completed on the Hf ship, and after full investigation of reH sponsible officers returning to-day. I W wax satisfied that such was effectively H done, and the men paid up to March 15, H in accordance with orders issued on sail-. W ing. Owing to continued lack of co- ■ ordination between the Home and local K authorities, which should exist after K three years" experience of returning ■ drafts, all this work has been abandoned. ■ A second boarding has been attempted ¥ here, with the result that the soldiers I are reasonably and extremely dissatisI fied, and have in considerable numbers t broken from the ship, causing confusion I and disturbing arrangements. In spite I of repeated requests, and'' your under- * taking to endeavor to have this work done on the voyage, the muddle continues, and undue delay was* occasioned to the men yesterday, who, it appears, quite without warrant, were subjected to 24 hours' useless detention under the guise of quarantine. I respectfully suggest that these conditions call for your urgent action, with a view of remedying them and removing the causes of dissatisfaction to soldiers jand citizens alike. A statement setting forth the point of view of the local Defence authorities was made by Captain E. J. Browning, Assistant Adjutant-general, on behalf of Colonel 11. R. Potter, officer commanding the district. He said that on Wednesday evening a wireless message was received from the officer commanding the troops on the Port Melbourne to the effect that the whole of the medical boarding, the issue of certificates and travelling warrants had been completed, and that at the conclusion of the quarantine period the troops could t be landed without delay. The local Defence authorities, in order to satisfy themselves that the medical boarding had been completed satisfactorily, sent an officer to ; the ship as soon as possible after arrival. . and he obtained the whole of the files of the men on board. These were scrutinised, and it was at once seen that- New Zealand requirements had not been met in many respects, though excellent work had been performed by members of the ship's staff, who had carried out to the letter instructions received before leaving England. _ Colonel Potter secured the services of a voluntary staff, with the intention of endeavoring to put the men's papers in order, so that no delay would take place in disembarkation: but it was found that the men would have to be individually dealt with on arrival, in order that necessary adjustments could be made. It was therefore decided that the men should be medically reboarded in Auckland, otherwise the utmost confusion would have prevailed. Captain Browning said that in Wellington a volnntary- boarding stafE was permitted to carry out its work during the period of quarantine. A similar request had been ■ made to the Auckland Health authorities, and was declined, on the ground that there was no authority for allowing such a course. Representations were then made by Colonel Potter to the Health authorities in Wellington, with a view to obtaining permission for a voluntary staff to. work during part of the quarantine period, so that when the transport berthed on Friday morning *he men could be dismissed at once. This" suggestion could not be carried into effect, as the local Health authorities had been instructed to take certnin health precautions before any commul ication was allowed with persons on shore. All that therefore remained was for the boarding to be carried out after the ship berthed.

THE EDUCATIONAL CLASSES. According to the officers who returned by the Port Melbourne, no great success was attained with the educational classes conducted aboard. Lieutenant A. 0. Ponder, a Rhodes scholar, of Christchurch, was director- He staitea-that the,results were very disappointing, mainly owing to lack of text-books and equipment and the difficulty of providing class rooms. Instructors were compelled to take classes of sometimes 200 and" even 500 men, and as there were on the vessel not more than two text-books on any one subject it was impossible to make much progress. After the first week the classes were made optional, and improvement was noted; but the classes were very popular, especially the commercial classes. Many officers interested in the future of the soldiers complained of the lack of continuity apparent in the educational schemes as at present conducted, and expressed the opinion that greater effort would have to be made to train men along lines to their desires, and more especially with a view to occupations they were likely to follow after leaving the armv.