EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 204, 2 October 1914, Page 7

EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

RATES OF PAY TO BE 5 INCREASED. J MINISTERIAL STATEMENT. ■'] [From our own Parliamentary Reporter.J WELLINGTON, October 1. • The Hon. J. Allen, Minister of Be? ■}. ■■ fence, made an important statement in .. t. the House this afternoon with regard C-_ I to the pay of members of the New Zea- >v ,; land Expeditionary Force, and other \ matters* regarding the contingent. From .] the outset, he said, he had had grave ,'.; doubts about the pay which was being ;A given to privates and corporals. As *"; originally fixed, the rates of pay had t ;J been based on those which he had ¥ understood had been given to trooper* • "* who served in South Africa. He haft •; examined the matter, however, and hsd >-■ found that two rates of j>ay had be«:n *i given to all ranks. At present he wjs, r / dealing only with iprivates. South African contingent had received • \ 4/- per day. Later contingents (the.' f fourth, fifth, and sixth) •'»/- \ per day. He had made enquiries as to ''3 the rate of pay for members of the "fAustralian Expeditionary Force, aid : ' he had found that they were getting ..; 5/- a day, together with 1/- a day Oe- -- ferred pay. This l/-_a day could not*;;" be touched by the men, nor could thty. !* give it to anyone else; it would be held ;;* until they returned. At the same tini«> '''S* the Australian Government had not ±M [made the arrangements which were stacXl tutory in New. Zealand with regard t« -'*J the maintenance ,of :widows and child-. *j| ren and of injured men* The pay given C 4 to the Australian forces was higher all round than that given to New Zealand | troops, especially with regard to officers, "pi In view of the facts he had,stated, %e .:■ had approached his-colleagues of the f Government with-a suggestion that the "'t rate of pay should be ■ increased, he was pleased to say that they had \£ agreed to an increase. (Hear, hear.)* J The pay for privates would be raised ~# from 4/- to 5/- a day, and for corporals from 5/0 to G/-. This increase would \§j the pay up to the highest rate :| ruling in the South African campaign* ,% Positron of Public Servants. I The Government had also made-' ar- 53 rangements to keep alive the super- ]$ animation of members of the Public- TS, Service who went with the force, and to ' N| pay their fees. All these men while ou. -'£ service would, of course, be kept fjully-\4; rationed and fed. \ * .** ' Mr I 1! M. Wilford (Hutt): By the [:} Ini])erial Government or our Government? | Mr Allen: Entirely at our expense.. ;• [The arrangements with regard to pay > would be ante-dated to ..take effect from, "i September 1, and would refer to every- \ member of the force, including those who had gone to Samoa. V Men at the Forts. Regarding - the troops mobilised in. ■ . New Zealand, he was not able to-day * : to make any-'definite announcement. r \ There was some difference in the coh- ;: ditidns under,which they were serving. They would hh kept in the country, ami <" were able .to maintain.at least some in- ■"' direct control over the businesses from wMch they had been called. Further,. - the men who were going away ran more ," risks; their- lives were more at stake. He could not say whether he would be able to raise the rate of pay for the men serving in New Zealand to the '- , same extent as for those going abroad, but some consideration would be given them. The matter was being considered "> at the present moment. It*had already" ■; been decided, however, that the Aviycs- /■-? and children of men serving in the Do- = minion should receive consideration by means of- a separation allowance.. He- •}? could not say that the men would re- 'y ceive any increase ,in pay, but where* . :j they were obligeet to live away from f ; home, therefore increasing the ho"a.«e : <\ hold expenses, the Government had de- -'- cided that there.should be a separation if allowance. (Hear, hear.) *'^ Boots and Stores. "■ With regard to the conditions of men at the forts, he had heard some ~1 complaints, and these he had enquired into. He had visited all the forts in the four centres, and the only com- .< plaint with any real foundation ,em»tu - :f : from Ngahauranga (Wellington), with ' £ regard to the supply of boots. Some-men.' j had bought boots from the Department -\ at the contract price, 13/- or 14/-, and -j some had brought their own boots, which were being worn out. The Department ■- would see all the men through in tlte >'„ matter, of boots. Owing to the pressure of work caused by the necessity for thsS < ' immediate supply of-boots for the Ex- v peditionary Force, the manufacturing ', . firms had not been able to turn out / enough for the men staying in New Zealand; but this difficulty had now been ' overcome, and boots could now be issued -'. to the men in the forts at the Go\ eminent's, expense. '-.•Regarding complaints as to the sup- ) ply of the stores, the QuartermasterGeneral reported that he had visited- "; all the Wellington batteries yesterday. '< and whatever may have been the sourc* • 'of complaint, it did not now exist, as there was .any amount of stores now - - available, and there had* been for some time past. There had been very few complaints 'with-regard to the quality of the food * : supplied, either in the forts or in the camps. The only real complaint had been with regard to the supply of fresh . vegetables. It was hard to arrange for a full supply of these at this time of the year, but the Department av»» doing. its very best to overcome thediiiiculty. , . -The medical officers had reported that I the sanitary arrangements at the camps were satisfactory. Some improvements ! would have to be made, and they would. - I be made at once. Unruly Reservists. 'Complaints had come to him with

regard to the treatment of reservists. -~ He had found that there were reservists ■; End reservists, just as there were men £' and men. Some of the reservists had I : been found to be not up to quality. ir Statements had been made about men i-~of the force parading the streets, and he & was sorry to say that in some cases ?T they were not without foundation. So &'far as he.could say, however, it was our New Zealand men who were to blame. Those men who were to blame would be collected on the.Orai,i vi and would be sent to England at the - first opportunity by a mail boat. V , Mr T. H. Davey (Christchureh =K South): Are there many of them? t, Mr Allen: I don't think so. He condeluded by expressing the hope that hon. would closely examine all '; complaints which came before them, ?" and then, if they thought there was -~ any foundation for them, to place them '-r before him. He desired that every man -.'- of the troops would placed on the ? best' possible footing. . He hoped that Kthe v House would agree to the increase *T in the rates of pay he had mentioned. | t Allowance to Officers. ?■ Sir Joseph Ward (Leader of the OpK position) said that he was glad that '■: the mVn were going to have an increase h- in say. The men, he believed, were f! : mostly inspired not by the thought^ of r they were going to get but £by '.their duty to the country. (Hear, ? -- heal.) ' ~ • i= 'Hon. Mr Allen: That is quite cor- >* rect* •■■-•- ■ --■.?•■ ...-''- - &"• Si* Joseph Ward said he recognised 'Ktnairthere were a great many difficulties - f -inlpnneetion with the sending ot 'i a lafge body of men,, and he. had jmr- * posely refrained from asking; questions *- which might have ,' embarrassed the • Government. There was one matter, P however, he would like the "Minister to Cmaie enquiries about. Officers of the !?for<fe, "Ht was said, had been allowed £V&2o}irit allowance, but non-commission-ed Officers had applied for an allowance t' ©f-£§, but had been refused by the De-%-kenhe Department. He thought this |wa4 nob right, although he did Irfecthto the officers being allowed Uti. I* An&hiug' that could be done to make ItfheTeonditions of the members of the Pforle and of their dependents as good I as jfcssible would be supported by every I mei&ber of the House. & - Title Prime Minister said that some 't'of Ithe members of the force were and in other branches of the |?lKe Service, and there was.a doubt P whether, while they were away, they I'.would be able to keep up their superannuation allowance. The. Government > ; liadt therefore undertaken to -keep- irp Irthese payments for them; (Ajgause.) ~ £-- Implying to Sir Joseph Ward, the THoSfMr Allen said the regulations proI Tide* Jthe officers of the Force when t joining receiving £ls. This f £ bad to provide, not only their uniform, i'but field-glasses, saddle, compass, and Mother things. Therefore he had thought Spthat the increase was necessary. He -Aid not remember what non-commission-ved officers were allowed, but he thought \Ht was £2 10/- annually. Speaking generally of the pay of officers, Mr Allen £ observed that they could not compare i-,the pav of a citizen force to that of a £ regular army. They could not provide rates of pay country like pNeV. Zealand, for they could not post? gibly lay themselves open to a charge lof extravagance/ \, ■■'.,.■ Sir Joseph Ward said that the statement made to him was that officers were ; receiving £2O. That, he thought, was riustifiable. Warrant-officers and nonteommissioned officers were receiving and applications had been rei fused. .» V Mr Allen: Is that correct? ?-" Sir Joseph Ward: It is a statement |L*made to me, and I suggest that yotl enquire into it. . |T *Mr Allen: Yes, I will certainly make : enquiries. S' ' Sir Joseph Ward said that the man £ who was going out of the country now who had very little should be made to "■feel that his dependents were being made as comfortable as possible. / A Specimen Tale. i The Hon. Mr Allen said that he wishI ed to read a portion: of; a letter which S'.wosifl show what sort of tales were JL' going round'the country. The letter Instated that a'" man who was consider- '" ed to be brainy'' (and his political feel--s_Jngs were mentioned), had said that the r: New Zealand Government was send- £ ing our soldiers out of the country withs'out making any provision for bringing |/±hem baek,:6r*without making provißion I?* or those who might be wounded. "Mr ?-Allen said such statements.were very i. foolish. -'• Mr Atmore: Too silly to read out. % ,Mr Allen: Well, I want to give it an C Tuiqualified denial. The-New Zealand jif, Government is providing for the bringback of the men, caring for the <£<' wounded, and making provision for \.the widows; ,? Sir Joseph Ward said that a writer '-. of such 5 a letter should not' be afraid to .: iave his name blazoned from the houseJ; - tops. If the statement was made by a ?• lAberal, he (Sir Joseph Ward) would 5-' absolutely disown him. (Applause.) "ii It would only be a lunatic who would that any Government was not for the men who were f going out to fight for.the Empire. t INCREASE APPLIES TO MAORIS. :- Replying to the Hon. A. T. Ngata, . the Hon. Mr Allen said that the increase L rate of pay from 4/- to 5/- would most 1-- certainly apply to the Maoris who were p."going for service abroad. i? Mr E. Newman (Rangitikei) said he %■- bad receh r ed complaints of overcrowd- '■-}. ing on some of the troopships, especially yon the Arawa. He would like the .Minister _ to say whether anything in \: this respect had reached him. X) The Minister replied that the men on J, the Arawa had been found to be slightovercrowded, and sixty had, there- \ 'fore, been drafted to other ships. T MM '^ M^^"^?S