THE DEFENCE COMMISSION.

Free Lance, Volume XVII, Issue 914, 18 January 1918, Page 8

THE DEFENCE COMMISSION.

Widen the Order of Reference. "Tt is sineereily to be hoped that the Defence Commission will be provided with a fairly wide "order of reference." It has been understood that the Commission is specially to enquire into the Defence Department expenditure. But extravagance is not the only charge which is being brought against, the Department. There are continual and grave complaints of the conduct of certain of the medical officers who serve under the Department. Frequent complaint is also made of gross bungling in the allotment of leave and of bad mismanagement in the provision of facilities for men to visit their relatives in distant parts of the Dominion. It is notorious, for instance, that there was a lack of proper co-ordination in the arrangements made for the South' Island men to get away on their Christmas holiday leave. Other complaints have been made recently in connection with the transport of the returned soldiers to the South Island. ■» * -H- * Hard'ly a day passes without such allegation of official stupidity being made in the daily press, not only in Wellington but in other cities. Some of these allegations may be, and j>robably are, unfounded, but there are, we fear, many others which are only too true. It is not enough, therefore, we contend, that the Commission should confine its enquiries purely to the question of alleged extravagance. Its order of reference should be widened so as to include each and every sphere of activity in which the Defence Department is engaged. The Chairman, Sir Robert Anderson, is a general, and that fact disposes of any objection to the Commission, the two other mem-

bers of which are business men, dealing; with matters other than that of Defence expenditure. There is intensedissatisfaction over the country with: the way in which the Defence Department conducts its affairs, and we warn, the. Government that this dissatisfaction will sooner or later place the National Government in a very awkwardposition unless steps are taken to amend matters. The Government appears to have an idea that no matterhow inexperienced or unbusinesslike a man may be in his ordinary avocation in life, directly he dons an officer's uniform lie becomes imbued with the spirit of infallibility, and should beheld free of all criticism, no matterhow foolish may be his official action. The sooner Sir Janies Allen and hiscolleagues rid their minds of this grotesquely false view the better for the soldiers, -the public, and the Government itself.