The Transport Scandals.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11746, 24 September 1902, Page 5

The Transport Scandals.

REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS.

CRITICISMS OF THE DIFFERENT

TROOPSHIPS

Per Press Association

WELLINGTON, September 23,

The Transport' Commission's report.states with regard to the Britannic that the number of men ,on the sihip was not 'in excess of transport regulations, and consequently whatever inconvenience may have been experienced by some of the men, she was not overcrowded. Had the men been compelled! to slingl their hammocks property and to sleep in them there would have been greater comfort and fewer complaints of the lack of accommctdation, and probably less distease, as sleeping on the' troop deck, on which men suffering from catarrh had been constantly spitting, may have had a tendency to accelerate the spread of. pneumonia. It would have been desirable that the transpoit should have been provided with better artificial, ventilation. Most contradictory evidence was given about the condition of the fresh measb issued to the troopers, but the commissioners cannot believe that the meat was either in quality or in any way unfit for use. As to the hospitals, the commissioners' evidence

shows that the men <near tlha end of the voyage exhibited a disinclination to report themselves sick to the slurgeons, lest they "

ntfgibt be prevented' from getting ashore. Eleven men who were not in the hospital the night before disembarkation were detected1 and sent from the steamer to Soames' Island. Of tfnese eleven men five died. There is little doubt that the concealment of their condition was largely responsible for such a 'heavy death rate.

The troops commenced the voyage under unfavourable circumstances. Details of the Tenth Contingent sesit to join the Britannia at the last moment introduced germs of measles. The closely packed decks, weak venitul'Jaition, and tie habits of the men, who had not the training of regular troops to stand confinement, all conduced to the development of the disease.

The same conditions predisposed them to pneuoiMciniai, which, following on the measles, produced a heavy death roll. None of the officers on boairdl tille Britannic are responsible for the details of the Tenth Contingent being sent from the camp, where measles had been prevalent. The discipline on the Britannic' was as .good, if ndt better, than on any other transport returning to New Zealand. Taking all tlie circumstances into consideration, the commissioners are of opinion that the discipline was fully equal to the standard approved of by civilian public opinion in the colony; but it is essential to the wellbeing of New Zealand troops and their proper efficiency that a higher standard of discipline should be insisted on. With regard to the Orient, the commissioners deal chiefly with.the subject of discipline on th:6 ship, and report that there was lax, if not an almost entire absence of, discipline on board the transport. The 'tween decks, they say, were defiled on occasions, and nobody was punished for the offence. A portion of the 'tween decks was used as and stank like a urinal.

The charge that triopers used disgusting and insulting language with intent that it should reach the ears of their officers, your commissioners fear was too true, and not meiiely of an occasional character, and as such condluct was allowed to go ■unnoticed and unpunis&ied, the moral influence of the (majority of non-commanding officers must have been of the weakest character. Reviewing the circumstances which may have conduced to the absence of proper discipline on board the Orient, the commissioners are immediately confronted with the fact that tihie conditions under which the Ninth Contingent was embodied, employed andi embarked at Durban for New Zealand mad© proper discipline a practical impossibility. Embodied about the Ist; February, 1902, it was) employed only tihree days on the trek and three days returning to the standing camp, and its whole period of service practically concluded on the embarkation at Durban on* the 9th July. Many of the officers were new to their duties, strange to one another, unaccustomed to command and the '- habit of discipline ,and unable to instruct their non-commissioned officers because they did not and could not know even their own duties, and most of the non-commissioned officers were inexperienced and unqualified by previous training for their responsible positions. As to the accommodation, the report) states that whiile the Orient was fitted for 1254 men, there wasi only hammock accommodation for 1000. The mcdi-1 cal staff on the Orient, is highly eulogised.