THE WAR STORES SCANDAL.

NZ Truth, Issue 60, 18 August 1906, Page 4

THE WAR STORES SCANDAL.

It is very evident from the finding of the Commission appointed to inquire into the sale of stores m South Afrioa at the conclusion of the war, that Royal Commissions m England are jtist about as useful as the same institutions m Australia and New Zealand. Notwithstanding that m less than two years the officers responsible for conducting the sale oi su/rplus stores absolutely threw away over a million sterling, the Commission contents itself with finding that these same officers were guilty of "irresponsibility, indifference to the public interest, and want of intelligence. " The chief culprits' were Colonel Hipwell, Captain Limond, and Major Walton. Rather a nasty commentary upon the personnel of the British army, when a colonel, a captain and a major can be accused of want of brains and want of honesty (for what else can "indifference to the public interest" be termed) and still retain [their rank. If we may judge by the ! evidence that the inquiry brought forth- the plain duty of the Commission was to have found these gentlemen guilty of gross negligence amounting to a criminal oSence, and recommended that they be stripped of their uniforms and drummed out of the ranks. Let us take, for instance, Major Walton's little deal m hay. He sold to Messrs Wilson and Worthington l,ooo,oOofts of hay, at 7s per lOOtfas, and within a week the same hay was sold back to the War Office at 10s and Us per lOOlbs. He also^ admitted m cross-examination that it "never occurred to him" to ask the Kfepatriation Department if they wanted any hay. By selling to the contractors there was duty to pay ; if he had sold to the Department there would have been none. This, the witness admitted without a blush, only made a difference m selling price of £49,000. Sir George Goldie, questioning the major, said, "You see, we have this point before us. This linn (Wilson and Worthington^, having no capital, made a net profit of £126, 000 out of the army out of purchases amounting to £233,000. These figures speak for themselves." To which Major Walton replied, "One knows a good deal now that one didn't know then." Colonel Hipwell, questioned about 60,000tfis of biscuits that were sold to Messrs Wilson and Worthington at three farthings a pound, said that he could not sell them to the mines because the mines did not want them ; but it transpired that Wilson and Worthington immediately afterwards sold them to the mines at an increased figure. Moreover, Wilson and" Worthington v/ere allowed 25 per cent, for damaged goods, and then sold the lot to the mines on a 2£ per cent, allowance. Major Edward Brereton said he allowed 25 per cent, because Mr Y/orth,-. in^ton saw the biscuits and claimed 25 per cent. He admitted that 25 per cent, allowance was Greek to him. Captain Limond, questioned as to certain stores sold to Meyers, Limited, said they were sold so cheap because they were of inferior .' quality. It was Meyers, he said, who judged the goods. The evidence fairly teems with instances of most criminal negligence and barefaced swindling. Men of rank m the Army are surely supposed to have; some education and training even if they are for the most part aristocratic cast-offs, drafted into the army because they are too palpably vicious for the church. 'But these fellows apparently had none. What can be said of a man who allows the buyer of some thousands of pounds worth of stock to mate his own valuation, or of the gallant major who admits that he allowed 25 per cent, discount although 25 per cent, was Greek to him ? If these men were not getting a substantial cut from the buyers, they must be described as brainless imbeciles, whose only fitness m the army is to carry a musket with the rank and file, and be sent to the front as a target for the enemy's guns. Whether they be rogues or fo<> ls *t is little wonder that British arms made such a poor showing against the Boers when the responsibility of command fell upon such men as these.