INTERFERING M.P.’S

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22210, 21 December 1946, Page 3

INTERFERING M.P.’S

ARMY CONCERNED EFFECT ON DISCIPLINE PROBING GRIEVANCES {Special Correspondent. 1 (11 a.m.) LONDON. Dec. 20. The military correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, Lieut.-General H. G. Martin, commenting upon recent refusals of duty by small sections of men in the British armed forces, deplores the present tendency of some sections of both Parliament and the Press to undermine the authority of both the officers and N.C.O.'s as a class. He also asserts that some members of Parliament show very little discretion in following up complaints made to them by men in the forces and that their activities have become “a threat to discipline and an intolerable burden to unit staffs.’’ General Martin says that the Russian Army after the revolution developed as a proletarian militia in which officers, N.C.O.’s and men were considered to be “all boys toegether,” and that it remained an unsatisfactory military instrument until its lamentable showing in the Finnish war brought about the introduction of a strict disciplinary code.

Questions in Commons “Discipline is necessary in any army,’’ says General Martin, “to protect the army’s vitals and any process which tends to soften that protection is extremely dangerous. The fact that the question of the forces’ discipline is exercising the minds both of the army authorities and Parliament is indicated by the reference made to it in the House of Commons this week when Lieut.-Colonel Kingsmill suggested, during question time, that members of Parliament should refrain from suggesting to men who were doing wrong that they were doing right. The remark was prompted by a question from Mr. J. Gallachcr, who asked the Minister for War for information about a service case which was sub judice. There have recently been a number of questions in the House concerning allegations of unfair treatment or bad conditions made by servicemen writing to their members. Service Ministers have shown no disposition to accept the facts asserted by some of the questioners without corroboration, but the tenor of the debate showed that some misgivings were entertained in service quarters about the effect of too much political interference upon discipline.