COMFORT ON TRANSPORTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17101, 5 March 1919, Page 7

COMFORT ON TRANSPORTS.

AUSTRALIAN SCHEME.

MR. HUGHES'S DIRECTIONS. Following complaints regarding the conditions under which troops and soldiers' wives have travelled to Australia on transports, the Federal Government sent a cable message to Mr. W. M. Hughes, Prime Minister, asking him whether ho could give his personal attention to the matter. The recent case of tie Miitiades was instanced. The Acting-Prime Minister, Mr. W. A. Watt, has received a cable message from Mr. Hughes stating that new arrangements have been made for the despatch of troops; and under these the control of transports had been given to the director-general of demobilisation. As a result of special instructions given' by Mr. Hughes 20 por cent, of the shipping accommodation provided under Admiralty rules has been left vacant to give troops more room and greater comfort. Id his instructions to the directorgeneral of demobilisation Mr. Hughes says:—" Our men are no longer soldiers ' in the strict sense of the word ; they are citizens of Australia, who, having done I their duty, are returning to their own I country. They should be treated, thereJ fore, as far as \is consistent with the , maintenance of discipline, as citizens and I not as soldiers. Generosity should mark our actions where before strict routine and ironbound regulations sufficed. They should have abundance of food in variety and quantity which the necessities of war withheld j they should be amply provided with games, books, and all those things which go to make a long voyage pleasing. But. above all, they should be provided with ample space in which to i move. The usual Admiralty regulations, I framed to meet the greatest exigencies of war applicable \to short as well as long distances, cannot be regarded as desirable or applicable in the circumstances which now confront us. The Government in this respect request that 80 per cent, of the 6pace only shall be used. Our men must return' in comfort. Their health must be more carefully considered; their journey through the tropics must not be ' rendered unbearable by overcrowding; in , short, they must be treated with that con- ' sideration . which their great deeds and ! many hardships have earned. I look to • you not only as head of demobilisation and repatriation, but as a soldier who has known eJI the hardships and discomforts of war, to assist the Government in a policy, which, while apparently generous in principle, is in practice merely just." s& '