LANDING OF TROOPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16824, 15 April 1918, Page 7

LANDING OF TROOPS.

THE MAYOR'S COMPLAINTS. "USELESS TO CO ANY FURTHER." [BY TELEGRAPH.— SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON. Sunday. Copies of correspondence which has passed between the Mayor of Auckland and the Minister for Defence, regarding the recent handling of drafts of returned soldiers on arrival at Auckland, were laid i on the table of tho House of Representatives by the Minister for Defence late. last night. Mr. Gnnson, "'lowing up his previous messages, wrote on March 18, in reply to a telegram from the Minister, in which the latter asked fir definite formulation of complaint? In his letter Mr. Gunson ! alleged that the Defence Departments' organisation had failed primarily as I follows:- ' j " (1) La. k of judgment and move disregard of lo, a l conditio.)* m firstly anchoring the ships outside the harbour; (2) (a) attempting to undertake, at unnecessary delay, the boarding work on the ships, (b) j refusing to berth the ships, and thus; necessitating the use of tenders, which i.:'ised gravest discomfort to seriously' wounded men; (3l after the conditions; were known at 4 m. as to (lie position,'' the further lack of judgment in advising : myself and next of kin that the Auckland J men would land at 6 p.m.. and subse- j fjuently engaging small and unsuitable boats as tenders to convey the sick and wounded soldiers from the ships ,n tie stream ; (4) total lack of organisation, both on the wharf and in tho sheds, whereby wounded men were subject to shocking treatment, as the relatives who were admitted to the wharf in large num- ' bers by tho military authorities, shortly after 6 p.m., were uncontrolled, causing confusion and jostling, both in tho sheds , and on the side of the wharf; (5) disregard of ordinary attention to, and facilities for, the next-of-kin and relatives." In respect to charge No. 4, Mr. Cmnson «id:"The conditions became so bad that I was impelled to take charge myself at 9 p.m., and. with the assistance of tho Harbour Board's officials, organised the crowd, and obtained some semblance of I order. Tho services of the Harbour Board officials had been dispensed with by tho military authorities, the latter neglecting even the most obviously needed precautions." The Mayer pointed out that in August last he compiained about the conditions attaching to the arrival of ono of the hospital ships at Auckland, and said that if suggestions then made by him had been regarded the deplorable conditions of the last occasion would havo been obviated.

Reason for Boarding in the Stream. In replying to the Mayor on March 30, the Minister for Defence said that le had investigated the complaints. The anchoring of the ships outiide the harbf-ur, he said had been done deliberately. Experience had shown that ships carrying returned soldiers must be medically boarded before tha berthing, because control could tfat be maintained alongside a wharf when the next of kin were known to be waiting. Boarding could only be done satisfactorily on a ship in the stream so long as next of kin were allowed near the wharves. It '.as probable that soldiers would make trouble if kept on a wharf for eight or ten hours, with the knowledge that their next of kin were waiting outside the wharf' barriers. Subsequent events had proved that it would have been unwbe to berth the ships until the boarding was completed, because when one of the ships bad berthed on the following day to take in coal about 200 soldiers had" Tushed the guard and got into the city. It was admitted that invalid soldiers were best disembarked direct from the ship at the wharf, but in this case the officer in charge considered it better to kep faith with the next of kin and land the soldiers by the bo=t means available instead of waiting until the following day. Any discomfort occasioned was largely caused by the soldiers refusing to wait for a gangway and jumping ashore from the tender. The Minister added that careful investigation had failed to show what information was given about tho Auckland men landing at 6 p.m., beyond a notice on a blackboard at the head of the wharf. The notice wau altered about 4.30 p.m. to show that the first of the Auckland quota would land about 6.30 p.m. The first of this lot had actually disembarked about 6.40 p.m., end the work had been continued incessantly until completed. Tenders Used Not Suitable. The Minister admitted that the steamers used were not in every way desirable for the purpose, but the course had been adopted to keep faith with the promise to land the soldiers that evening. As to the organisation on the wharf, the Minister said that shortly after 6 p.m. there was much unrest among crowds ouhiide the gates, and the wharf gates had then been opened at the Mayor request. The resuit was that many who had no next of j kin passes had gained admission to the ! wharf, resulting in much overcrowding. j In regard to the charge of lack of attention to next of kin, the Minister said that when the next of kin were notified of the return of their relative they had been advised that his draft was expected to arrive on or about a certain day. Nearer the date of arrival wireless messages had been received fi'om the three ships that they would arrive two days earlier than previously advised. The Minister denied that the system in force was at fault, as it worked most satisfactorily if properly carried out. He added: "There is some misunderstanding on your part as to the carrying out of disembarkation work by district headquarters at Auckland, for the only instructions issued from general headquarters refer to the policy to be adopted, tho execution of which k' arranged entirely and controlled by district headquarters in whatever manner they consider desirable." In reply on April 8 to the Minister, Mr. Ounson said:— " After consideration I have come to the conclusion that in view of your communication no practical purpose ran be served by offering any further communications, as I gather from your letter that the Department adheres to its previous policy. In some standpoints the latter is inaccurate, but on these mattotu 1 am of opinion that no pood purpose can now be served by debating them. I trust there will be no restriction of the conditions which led to the complaints."

Mayor's Closing Comment. In a telegram to Sir James Allen, dated Apnl 13. Mr. Cunson says that the Minister's replv to Mr. C. J. Parr's question in the House of Representatives on Friday in reference to himself appear:, to be mm- | leading. The Mayor reiterated the points i of his letter of April 8, and said :-" If you have conceived the idea that the report of March 30 is considered satisfactory I de- | sire to remove that impression." He adds that as the reply received was purely a Departmental bne he felt that it was usele... pursuing the matter further, particularly as it was impossible to atone for the condition? ■ onceir.ing which the public protest was made. The following report, dated March lb, from Major Wrav, officer commanding on one of the transport*, to the officer commanding the Auckland district was also tabled :-"I have to report that yesterday, about 1.30 p.m., a very reliable non-com-missioned officer reported to me (1) that the troops aboard were discussing the probability of getting ashore; (2) several men stated 'that if thev did not disembark that night thev would rush the ship i boats and so ashore; (3) that the officers aboard would not be able to stop them ; (4) that the Mayor and people of Auckland would bo with the men and see that they did not get into trouble; (5* several men quoted the Mayor's recent speech as proof Of the sympathy of the townspeople. I * immediately mustered the whole of the officers and, at mv request, Lieutenant0, Colonel Roberts explained the procedure 37 and the reason for the delay. The troops S>i»ew mustered, and the company officers V:- explained the situation and satisfied the -C £ " men."