The Sun MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1918. EXPENSIVE MUDDLING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1230, 21 January 1918, Page 4

The Sun MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1918. EXPENSIVE MUDDLING.

Ripa Island at last has ils two German prisoners. Yon Luckner and his accomplice, Kirscheiss, have been installed in their new and comfortable quarters, but not before Major-General Robin, G.0.C., and bis entourage had formally inspected the latest addition to our internment camps. Presumably, everything will be satisfactory now that the NewZealand Commandant has gone over Ripa. Only cynical citizens will be inclined to remind us that the G.0.C., in a long-range sort of way—he had two interviews with the commandant of the island—also "inspected" Motuihi, but that did not prevent the escapees from simply walking out for a breath of deep sea air at the country's expense. It is to be hoped that the otlicial visit to Ripa will not be followed by a repetition of Motuihi experience. Judging by report, enough money is being and will be spent thereto ensure that von Luckner and his comrades will find escape a difficult matter. We should be thankful for that measure of security. But £OO per week —for that is how we have figured out the cost of maintaining the ump on Ripa Island —is too stiff a rice to pay for the detention of two r three prisoners, particularly as

:ere is ample room on Motuihi or iomes Island for the Secadler ,-.en. Had effective supervision ,;ecn maintained at Motuihi no call would have arisen for the setting-up of the establishment in Lyttelton harbour. But the Motuihi affair is a splendid illustration of what the military authorities can do when they try. Their experiments and mistakes are costly, and, unfortunately, there can be no redress so long as the Minister of Defence stands between his incompetents and the public. All that is expected of us as taxpayers is to pay and look pleasant when things go wrong. From the very beginning our military operations have cost the country far more than they should have done. This is due to lark of foresight and, on the part of many administrative heads, a lack of capacity to handle the problems raised by the war. The blind policy of over-reinforce-ment has piled up New Zealand's financial obligations to an alarming extent. More —many more—men were sent than events since have- shown to be necessary. Yet the Minister, no doubt backed by the G.O.C. and his Chief of Staff, coolly proposed on one occasion to reduce the age limit to LS years. And it must not be forgotten that that proposal was made at a lime when there were large accumulations of reinforcements overseas and when some thousands of deserters and reservists otherwise unaccounted for were at large in the Dominion itself. Another item in the general charge that must be laid against tin's sadly mismanaged and unnecessarily expensive department is connected with the medical examinations. Thanks to the absence of an understanding- as to a uniform standard of physical fitness—the several medical boards have varied astonishingly at times, as all the Dominion knows—hundreds, probably thousands, of men have been passed for service in New Zealand, trained, and transported to England, only to break down under the strenuous work of Sling Camp. It is common knowledge, conveyed both by letters from Home and by word of mouth, thai there are regiments of New Zea--1 millers in London who have never seen, and will never see, the firingMine because they have failed to survive the searching iest of Sling. Each of these men lias cost perhaps £3OO <o put into khaki and land in F.ngi land. Their maintenance there or (heir transportation back to the Domi "'on is a further heavy charge on this country. It is inevitable, we admit, that there must be some cases in which Hie responsibility could nol fairly be placed on the medical beards, hut Ihe rejects from Sling are too numerous In allow of any explanation other than that (he medical examination has not been uniformly strict enough. There is [evidence, indeed, thai men possessing flagrant physical defects have, in some extraordinary way, passed the doctors. The fate of such reservists is certain if and when they reach England. Rut the spendthrift, happy-go-lucky policy continues. Hefore wv gel deeper into the financial muddle, there should be a drastic combing-oul of the Defence Department. New Zealand will not receive iis money's worth until the military "stackers" and peace lime "experts" are superseded. That they are still being taken seriously is evidenced by the Ripa absurdity.